Golf and COVID-19: 'Everything has changed'

By Hunter Cresswell

Golf season started May 20, but the way Gatineau Hills golfers play the game has changed.

On the morning of May 20, Larrimac Golf Club president Peter St.Germain, member Jim Wright, and former president Geoffrey O’Brian pulled into the golf club’s parking lot in separate cars, just minutes before their 9:45 a.m. tee time — their first round of golf at Larrimac so far this season, which was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The trio arrived so soon before their tee off because the club, and many others in this area, have new regulations to follow in order to operate safely during the ongoing pandemic. They didn’t shake hands, and when this reporter asked them to pose for a photo on the first tee, they held their drivers in outstretched arms toward one another to make sure they were about two metres apart.

Larrimac Golf Club member Jim Wright winds up for his first drive of the season at Larrimac from the fir