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The Westmounter

from the pro shop

ROB STRAHAN
HEAD GOLF PROFESSIONAL

In my 43 years working in this industry, I’ve never

witnessed anything like the summer of 2020. From

the time the pandemic hit in March until the last
leaves fell on the property this fall, the golf season

nearing an end is one none of us will soon forget.

There were several challenges, but also some silver linings and lessons
learned. When things starting going south in March, my team and I analyzed
a number of possible scenarios to prepare for the hopes of the course
opening. Courses in Saskatchewan opened first and I remember looking at
their plans for some guidance. In May, when the Ontario government said
courses in our province could open under certain protocols, we had two
days to get ready. I remember thinking, thinking, ‘We are ready,’ but not for
exactly what the government outlined.
Normally, we could park 20 carts at a time outside the they might only get in a couple of holes, but they still
Following these protocols and procedures, and guided by Brad’s Pro Shop. This year we only parked eight, so my staff enjoyed themselves.
leadership, we determined what we thought would be safe and work well were constantly getting more carts to fill in the holes.
at Westmount. The Pro Shop only had 16-20 people on the property at any This kept people from jumping into a cart that they LESSONS LEARNED
one time between the range, putting green, pro shop, parking lot and the might dirty without us knowing and that would need to One of the other things we learned, which I think we
first tee. That gave members a sense of safety since they weren’t bumping be considered cross-contaminated. might consider carrying forward to next year, was an
into each other. Initially, members could not use the locker room, so we alternative way to run some events. Whether it was
individually helped them get stuff. TEE TIMES a ladies, mens or mixed event, instead of a midday
There have been a lot of challenges with the tee sheet shotgun, members picked their time, so we had people
My team was constantly spraying equipment down—making sure pull carts
a member just used didn’t get into the clean fleet until we had sanitized and the lottery system this season. That was certainly teeing off throughout the day. That might be something
them, and sanitizing the riding carts before and after each use. We had to one of the toughest things to manage. Many do not that stays with us into the future. For example,
adjust on the fly since there were a lot of unknowns. Our staff also tried to understand how they get bumped and how the lottery maybe we won’t have a big dinner after some of the
make sure members stayed at the recommended six feet apart at all times. works. Many members have played 20 percent more smaller tournaments ; we’ll run selected tee times
This was probably the biggest challenge, as members feel so comfortable or double the amount of rounds than normal, so just so participants can play when they want and we will
and safe at the Club and happy to be here. getting people onto the golf course was often an issue. probably get a bigger participation rate.
That said, we had members tee off at 7 p.m., knowing

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