Coronavirus hits Illinois golf courses and charities that raise funds with tournaments
Rachel Budko’s golf tournament was less than a month away, and she had to make a decision.
The Columbia woman had been hosting the annual PEG Can Help Benefit Golf Scramble in Illinois for more than 10 years to raise money for victims of domestic violence. But in mid-May, Tamarack Golf Course in Shiloh couldn’t guarantee that it would be able to accommodate 100 golfers and volunteers on June 20 due to Illinois restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Budko called a few golf courses in Missouri, where restrictions were looser, and decided to move the tournament to Oak Valley Golf Course & Resort in Pevely.
“I didn’t pull the trigger until May 24 or 25,” said Budko, who donates proceeds to Lydia’s House women’s shelter in St. Louis. “I mean, it was late in the game. But I thought, ‘Any tournament is better than no tournament. If I have no tournament, I can’t donate anything.’”
Budko’s action paid off. All her regular teams showed up, plus a few newbies, and her golf tournament raised about $13,500, compared to $10,000 last year, she said.
Other charities haven’t been so lucky.
Tamarack, which had at least one golf tournament planned every weekend in May and June, was able to reschedule most, but not all, for later in the year, according to Clubhouse Manager Walsh Keeley.
Few organizations want to hold tournaments in the hot months of July and August, he said.
Some charities canceled tournaments
Some charities in both Illinois and Missouri canceled golf tournaments altogether this spring. They feared for the safety of older participants, who are considered high-risk for severe illness from the coronavirus, or doubted their ability to raise as much money as usual.
“The problem is, a lot of the normal sponsors, the people who sponsor the charities, weren’t able to do so,” said Tom Conway, business development manager at Oak Valley. “Their businesses were closed, whether they be hair salons or restaurants, so they couldn’t donate items to give away.”
Some of Budko’s sponsors had reopened their businesses by early June, but she elected not to ask for donations because it seemed inappropriate given their pandemic-related hardships, she said.
Illinois golf courses are still subject to a gathering limit of 50 people, reduced clubhouse capacities and 6 foot social-distancing standards under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Restore Illinois plan for recovering from the COVID-19 shutdown. That creates challenges for tournaments with shotgun starts, clubhouse banquets, award ceremonies or silent auctions.
“How do you put 140 people who would normally be inside outside, and with the spacing, how do you accommodate that?” Kelley asked.
Individual golfers crossed the river
Illinois golf courses were closed for more than a month as part of Pritzker’s efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus, which causes the respiratory disease COVID-19. They reopened May 1 with “strict safety guidelines,” including a one-person limit in golf carts, two-person limit in tee boxes and 15-minute spacing between tee times, nearly double the standard.
Gov. Mike Parson didn’t close golf courses in Missouri, and counties were allowed more leeway in developing other restrictions.
Oak Valley, which is in Jefferson County, west of Valmeyer, picked up three tournaments, including the one for PEG Can Help, that were originally scheduled in Illinois, Conway said. But the real boon to business was the number of individual golfers crossing the Mississippi River this spring.
“We’ve been allowed to stay open the whole time, and we’ve been crazy busy because everybody from Illinois came over here,” said Terri Ziegler, Oak Valley office manager.
The golf course rented 40 extra carts to supplement its regular 72-cart fleet so golfers could ride solo due to coronavirus concerns. It also sanitized carts, installed plexiglass at the pro-shop counter, provided gloves and masks, limited number of people in the clubhouse and voluntarily closed the restaurant for a few weeks before reopening May 15, Ziegler said.
Illinois restaurants, including those at golf courses, were limited to carryout, drive-thru, curbside pickup and delivery services for about 10 weeks before the state allowed outdoor dining on May 29 and indoor dining with capacity limits on June 26.
“A lot of golf went to the other side of the river this season,” Keeley said.
Golf courses now busier than ever
The COVID-19 shutdown also kept Illinois golf leagues from starting this spring, according to John Kueper, executive director of the Southern Illinois Golf Course Superintendents’ Association, which has 70 members from 40 locations.
But despite a rough start, business is now booming at golf courses, he said. Kueper, who’s based in Carlyle, recently traveled to the metro-east and stopped by Stonewolf Golf Club, which had 250 golfers signed up for the day and no available tee times.
“I’ve seen quite a few owners all smiles lately,” he said. “But they were pretty grumpy in April and the first part of May.”
Kueper attributes the current golfing surge to the fact that some Illinois businesses are still closed, many people aren’t working, they’re looking for things to do and they feel more comfortable participating in outdoor activities than being indoors due to COVID-19. He also has noticed more “junior” golfers out with their families in recent weeks.
The high demand doesn’t benefit charitable organizations that raise money with golf tournaments, Kueper said, because courses may not want to close to the public for several hours and loose higher revenues generated by open play.
Golf courses can now allow foursomes in tee boxes and space tee times eight or 10 minutes apart. But charities going ahead with tournaments have to deal with coronavirus-related gathering and capacity limits and other safety precautions.
“We can now ride two in a cart, but you have to limit your gatherings to 50 people or less,” Kueper said. “So If you wanted to have a really nice tournament with 100 or 120 players, you would have to divide them up.”
The Superintendents’ Association normally hosts a golf tournament in September, and Kueper suspects it will have to do away with the shotgun start that has everyone teeing off at the same time. It’s also unlikely that organizations will be able to hold clubhouse banquets with awards ceremonies or silent auctions at that time, he said.
This story was originally published June 30, 2020 at 12:50 PM.
