Swift return to play on golf captains’ wishlist
IF EVER an island lockdown had to be implemented, now is not a bad time for golfers as the weather has enforced its own restrictions.
‘I have not been down there since this lockdown started, but I imagine the course is totally flooded anyway,’ said L’Ancresse Golf Club captain Alan Mahy, who is into his second year in the role, having had it extended due to the disruption caused by the pandemic.
He is right, too. At the moment, the northern links has many a water hazard that shouldn’t be there.
‘I think I’m jinxed by floods and Covid,’ Mahy added with a laugh.
‘But if there’s going to be a time of the year when we do not have the chance to play because of Covid, now is not the worst – all we have at the moment are our winter fourball leagues.
‘As was the case during the first lockdown, I totally agree with what they [the CCA] are doing and hopefully we can get some decent weather and get rid of this disease as quickly as possible.’
Mahy admitted that scheduled visits to and from other clubs are unlikely to go ahead as planned, but it is simply of a case of ‘wait and see – we cannot do anything else’.
Royal Guernsey GC captain Peter Radford, who is also into his second year of captaincy, hoped that next month’s Valentines Mixed Greensomes might be the only competition affected by this second lockdown.
‘With the amount of rain we’ve had, the course would be shut anyway and I would hope that, with the proper measures in place, golf would be one of the first sports to re-commence as, having gone through this before, we know can play in pairs socially distanced,’ Radford said.
On the off-island trips front, the RGGC captain has informed Ramsey GC and Sonning GC that it is highly unlikely they will be able to visit them in May and June respectively, but added: ‘We are still very much hoping that they will be able to come here later in the year – though that might be wishful thinking.’
Despite all the disruption, Radford is continuing to enjoy his captaincy.
‘I think it better to have two disrupted years rather than me having one disrupted one then handing over to [vice-captain] Jerry Cobb and him having a disrupted one too.
‘Last year turned out to be a pretty good one for us anyway. We were still able to do a lot of things and, all in all, we were fortune in Guernsey compared to other places.’
