Standing underneath a tree and some 50 yards away from the ninth green at Burns Park Golf Course on Tuesday afternoon in North Little Rock, McCall Hogan kept a watchful eye on his 17-year-old son, Liam, as he finished up his round.
The Burns Park Junior Invitational had brought out more than 50 junior boys and girls golfers, each ages 14-18, for what was the first competitive event on the Arkansas State Golf Association schedule since tournament play was suspended back in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Liam Hogan, who will be a senior at North Little Rock, was one of the many juniors who strolled up and down the fairways, and McCall Hogan was one of the many parents who came out to support their child.
"It's not business as usual, but it's on everybody's mind," said Hogan, a 47-year-old anesthesiologist from North Little Rock. "You can't get more distanced than this out here."
That was a feeling commonly felt by multiple parents and golfers.
Neil Gordon, a 47-year-old rental property owner from Hot Springs, was another parent out at Burns Park. He was there to watch his 14-year-old son, Will, compete. Gordon said he didn't have any concerns about his son playing tournament golf again.
"We were at a tournament last week in Dallas, and it was the same type deal. We just stayed away from everybody, and that's the great thing about the golf course," Gordon said. "I'm not gonna walk into that pro shop and sit down and have coffee with somebody that I don't know right now, but no, I'm not worried about it."
In a climate where social distancing has become part of everyday life, golf is an activity where repeated close contact with individuals isn't necessary and the natural outdoor setting is unfavorable to mass spread.
"These kids are out here walking and they're not stuck indoors. They've been isolated for, what, six weeks now or whatever, and sitting in front of a screen all the time is not any good," Gordon said. "Anything we can do to get them out, I love it. I think it's great."
Golf courses around the state and across the country have taken safety precautions over the past few months to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Those measures have not gone away, and there were measures in place Tuesday at Burns Park.
Players were spaced out on the driving range as they warmed up prior to their tee times. Normally exchanged prior to the round, scorecards were instead kept by each player. After rounds were over, players arrived at the scorer's table -- which is about as close contact of a setting as there is at amateur golf tournaments -- but had to sit with distance between each other and the tournament scorers. A hand sanitizer station stood nearby, and others were located on the driving range, and at both first and 10th tee boxes.
Spectators were allowed to come watch, but they weren't allowed to use carts and were encouraged to space out.
On the course, bunker rakes and ball washers had been removed, and players were not supposed to touch the flag sticks.
"I'm real proud to have all the kids out," said Steve Ralston, 68, the longtime head golf professional at Burns Park. "We've done everything we can to make it safe for the kids."
A Styrofoam doughnut cutout was placed inside of each hole, which allowed for golfers to still hole out to satisfy the rules of golf but also to easily pick up their balls without digging deep into the hole or touching the flag stick.
But that might have worked against Scotty Jolly, 17, on the eighth green, his 17th hole of the day, when he nearly chipped in from off the green but was met with some bad luck.
"It literally took a bounce on the green, went into the bottom of the cup, stayed in for like a second, and spun all the way back out to the top, like a trampoline almost," said Jolly, who plays for North Little Rock. "It definitely would have [normally gone in]."
The ASGA has tournaments that continue this week and over the course of the next month. The state amateur championship has been moved to June 26-28 at Hot Springs Country Club's Arlington Course.
Tuesday marked the first step of the ASGA's return.
"I was just glad to be able to come back [out] and play another tournament," Liam Hogan said. "We didn't know if we'd be able to."
Sports on 06/03/2020