There is both good news and also bad news with Scottish Golf releasing updated Phase 3 COVID-19 guidelines post the Scottish Government’s advice from Tuesday.

Good news is that caddy services across Scottish clubs can resume immediately but there is to be further restrictions needing to be put in place in reading below

The changes are summarised as follows and unless otherwise stated are effective immediately:

• Any golf club/course which is accessed regularly by over 200 members or visitors, in a single day, must have in place a designated COVID officer and appropriate risk assessments. More detail is available in sportscotland’s Phase 3: Return to Sport and Physical Activity guidelines here.
• For adults, a maximum of 30 people including coaches and officials can combine to essentially create a ‘competition bubble’ as long as physical distancing measures are maintained. Competition organisers should ensure that no two ‘bubbles’ come into contact with each other at any time throughout the day.
• Caddy services may resume, providing all physical distancing and hygiene measures are adhered to. There are no restrictions on the number of households a caddy can have contact with per day but services should be limited to carrying of a bag, providing advice only and not passing golf clubs to the player.
• Indoor and outdoor hospitality will be required to close at 10 pm from Friday 25 September onwards, this includes clubhouse facilities and beer gardens which may have been in operation.
• Golfers from different households should travel separately.

Clubs should also note that additional funding has been allocated to local Environmental Health teams, allowing for greater capacity for inspections of businesses to enhance compliance and enforcement of current restrictions.