NATO Golfers, we have good news and bad news. First, the good. Golf will slowly start again, as of 04 May. There are a host of rules put forward by the Belgian Golf Association. Arvid has put together an English translation of what we have received from Brabanste. Those are below.
Now, for the bad news. As a result of these rules we cannot officially hold our President's Cup on 10 May.
Two reasons for this. Firstly, competitions are not allowed. Secondly, with the restrictions on tee times, clubs across Belgium can only allow members to play on their courses. No green fee paying play will be allowed.
As a result, the 10th May event will be a friendly and ONLY open to Brabanste Members. We have 4-5 slots left, if there are any Brabanste Member who wish to play on 10 May and have not yet signed up.
We need final Brabanste sign ups by Sunday, 04 May.
Finally, the Executive Committee has chosen to postpone trophy events and season long points, until we return to normal. Hence, 10 May is now a friendly.
For those who are not members of Brabanste, we hope you find tee times at your various clubs and get out as much as you can.
Note on Rules:
From Monday May 4 we can play golf again. This is excellent news but, in the first phase of the restart, very strict conditions apply. As Brabantse Golf, we are committed to rigorously applying the "Park & Play Golf Protocol", which was developed by Golf Vlaanderen. We count on all our members to do the same.
The main new guidelines, to which no exception will be made, can be found below. These are based on currently available information. The final instructions from the government are not expected until the end of this week. We hope that nothing will change in a negative way, but this cannot be entirely ruled out.
• You must reserve a start time in advance via i-Golf. Without a start time you are not allowed to enter the Brabantse Golf. You are welcome at the club 15 minutes in advance. Keep federation card and start time reservation handy in case of police check.• You can book a maximum of 2 tee times per week. Guests and green fee players cannot play on our site for the time being. We count on everyone's solidarity and discipline.• Flights of maximum 3 persons are allowed. Play with regular partners and avoid mixing generations.• Competitions are not allowed.• The sections will not organize any activities for the time being. This means that all existing reservations, both on the free start list and in the senior, ladies and weekend competitions, will be canceled. From Friday morning, May 1, you can book a new start time via i-Golf.• The secretariat remains closed. The service is provided by telephone and e-mail.• Everyone only uses their own material. Buggies and trolleys are not rented.• The caddy house and dressing rooms remain closed. Members can only collect their material by appointment. Contact the secretariat for this. After the round, your own equipment must be taken home.• The driving range remains closed. Only the pros are allowed to use this practice facility for private lessons or lessons for multiple people from the same family.• The catering industry will remain closed.• Go to the first tee maximum 5 minutes before your start time. You can use the putting or chipping green for a few minutes before your round, but with a maximum of 3 people at a time.• Everyone starts on hole 1 and follows the numerical order of the holes.• Play "ready golf" and always stay connected to the flight in front of you.• The flag must remain in the hole. Nobody touches the flag and corona cups make it easy to pick up your own ball.• There are no rakes in the bunkers. Leave it as neat as possible and erase tracks with feet or club.• The toilet on hole 6 remains closed. Limited facilities at the castle will be opened.• At the end of the round, immediately leave the track and return to your car.It goes without saying that all social distance rules also apply: do not shake hands and always keep a minimum distance of 1.5 meters from each other. We provide disinfectant hand gel in various places. Stay home if you feel sick.You can read all this in detail on the website of the Brabantse Golf.Finally, we explicitly ask everyone to strictly follow these guidelines and possible instructions from the personnel. We are asked to exercise control and penalties are provided for golfers who do not: 1 week suspension for the first violation, 1 month suspension for the second and exclusion for the third violation.The clubs themselves will also be strictly sanctioned if the "Park & Play Golf Protocol" is not observed. These rules and restrictions, developed and imposed by the golf federations, are the explicit conditions that allowed us to be one of the first sports to restart. It is up to us to work together to ensure that this decision is not overturned by the government. We assume that everyone understands the importance of these measures and look forward to seeing you on the Brabantse Golf from a safe distance. Tomorrow you can also expect a message from our chairman Willy Donckers.
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