The great lockdowns and enforced segregation of masses of society and the inability to travel and socialize has created a newfound interest in golf or is it the only outlet and escape and chance to interact with humanity in a socially distanced fashion? Perhaps all the above but it has created a huge volume to deal with where in the course I Marshall at 78 foursomes are hunted eagerly online by 500 people every day. And many of these golfers were former golfers and rusty and there are the dreaded newbies clogging up time and patience. The sheer volume makes Marshalling potentially stressful with hot pressure to limit 18-hole time to 4:20 hours virtually impossible on the week-ends where the drinkers and inexperienced dominate. In the courses that still have Marshalls the week-end pressure is, for many Marshalls, simply not worth the “free golf “as management bears down and places assembly line pressure on Marshalls many of whom were highly paid professionals making as Marshalls nothing or less than the toilet cleaners of the porta potties on the golf course. Are we talking slave labour?
At my course golf carts are hosed down but not sanitized and for the summer period unpaid students were washing the carts as part of their “community volunteer hours”. Something not quite right there. And there was no disinfecting at all. Something not quite right there. Even the towels used to dry the carts after they were hosed off (and not thoroughly cleaned) were soppy and dirty more germ spreaders which would no doubt cause the politico medico elite ruling the province a bird!
By the way at least 25% of the weekday golfers are “working from home”.
