1) During the pandemic, golf courses implemented several changes like requiring single riders per golf cart, not allowing pin removal, and not raking traps. This led to some adjustments in golf play but did not significantly impact the pace of play. 2) Not being able to remove the pin made holing putts more difficult and hitting the pin tended to slow balls down. Traps containing footprints from previous golfers made sand shots more challenging. 3) While some changes like not having a 19th hole or drink service were inconvenient, the pandemic protocols like social distancing did not fundamentally change the game of golf for most recreational golfers based on the author's experience.

1. Golf and Covid
Now that the world is trying to get back to normal from Covid, I noticed a lot of changes on
the golf course. Some were better, some were worse. During the pandemic I mostly played at
Swan Lake in Manorville, NY.
One thing that took a lot of getting used to was seeing 4-somes where each player had their
own cart. The person I play with and I live on the same property, so we got an exception to the
1 player per cart rule. The course generally wasn’t crowded, so aside from it looking odd, I did
not notice a change to the pace of play. As a guess, I would think it would pick up the pace as
each player could go to their own ball, but it was a non event.
We also weren’t allowed to remove the pin. I know some removed it anyway, but we just
left it in. Thus far, without the restriction, we still tend to leave it in. A noticeable difference,
hitting the pin was not helpful at all to get the putt to drop, but if you went at the pin hard, it
usually slowed the ball down a bit. We decided to implement a rule where if you could hit the
pin and bounce out, it counted as going in. I’m sure some went the other way with this rule.
Over the 2021 season, it saved us maybe 5 strokes total, so another non event. I did notice
more clubs left behind, but I was taught to leave my clubs with the pin so someone would see
them. I got myself in the habit of leaving my head cover on every green, so I got in the habit of
looking for it.
We also couldn’t rake out the traps. I have rounds where I am in the sand a lot. The biggest
thing I noticed is if I went in the afternoon, there were a lot of footprints in the trap. My sand
game is hit or miss on a good day, but I think it did mess me up a bit. On really bad lies, I would
move the ball a bit to take at least a fair shot. How well I hit out of the trap depended more on
if it was mid fairway or right around the green. I am known for hitting from 1 trap to another
around the green, there was no change. I did hear people complain about this.
I know they said there were more people golfing during the pandemic. Maybe I just timed it
right, but if anything, the course was quieter. That could have just been due to travel

2. restrictions. Generally, an average round at Swan is give or take 4 hours, as much as 6 if it is
packed. When empty, I can get through in 2 ½ hours. On average, the rounds were lasting
about 3 hours. I would call this a win.
One thing I didn’t like was that there was no 19th hole or beer cart. Dead of summer, it gets
hot out there. They also stopped putting out the water coolers, so it could get dry out there. I
learned quickly to bring drinks with me. As far as the clubhouse being closed, it just isn’t the
same not being able to sit and unwind after the round. This wasn’t the biggest deal as I live 5
minutes away.
I did golf at other courses during the pandemic. The experience was basically the same at
each course. The other noticeable change, they were not matching up players, so it was just
the 2, sometimes 3 or 4 us by our selves. I like meeting other players on the course, so this was
a negative. Golf can be very social, but that aspect is mostly gone.
What I have noticed is that a lot of the changes they made for Covid are still in place. Some
are starting to pull the pin more often, but I think ¾ groups in front of me are still leaving it in.
Not raking out traps is kind of 50/50 for me. I don’t miss raking them out, but shooting out of
footprints or from the same spot the player in front of me hit from…. None of these changes
are completely changing the game, at least for my level. Better golfers and competitive golfers
may look at this differently.
By Sebastian Wyczawski