RETURN TO GOLF - TEE TIME BOOKING & SAFTEY INSTRUCTIONS

INVERALLOCHY GOLF CLUB – 27TH MAY 2020

 

Dear Member

 

Providing the Scottish Government announces today that golf can be played again from Friday 29th May and further to the letter issued to members and posted on Facebook earlier this week - the committee would like to advise the following:

 

·         THE ONLINE BOOKING SYSTEM ON CLUB V1 MEMBERS HUB WILL GO LIVE FOR BOOKING AT 3PM THURSDAY 28 MAY

 

·         1 TEE TIME PER DAY PER PLAYER CAN BE BOOKED AND THE SYSTEM WILL BE OPEN FOR BOOKING 3 DAYS IN ADVANCE (FOR EXAMPLE – IF IT OPENS ON THURSDAY YOU WILL BE ABLE TO BOOK A ROUND FOR THE FOLLOWING SUNDAY)

 

·         IN ORDER TO GIVE EVERYONE A FAIR CHANCE TO GET A TEE TIME - YOU WILL BE ALLOWED TO MAKE ONLY 1 BOOKING FOR YOURSELF AND ONE OTHER PLAYER PER LOGIN. THERE WILL THEN BE A WINDOW OF 30 MINUTES BEFORE YOU CAN LOG IN AGAIN AND BOOK FOR A DIFFERENT DAY (OR AMEND YOUR EXISITNG BOOKING)

 

·         IF YOU ARE ONLY PERSON BOOKED IN A TEE TIME SLOT THEN YOU WILL BE ALLOWED TO PLAY YOURSELF

 

·         TO ENSURE GOOD TIMING IS KEPT FOR PLAY – EACH MEMBER SHOULD ONLY PLAY 1 BALL (1 PLAYER PLAYING 2 BALLS IS NOT ALLOWED AT THIS CURRENT STAGE)

 

·         A MEMBER MUST HAVE A TEE TIME BEFORE PROCEEDING TO THE COURSE TO PLAY

 

·         AVOID ANY LARGE GATHERINGS AND KEEP YOUR DISTANCE FROM THE GOLFERS PLAYING AHEAD OF YOU

 

·         THE PRACTICE AREA WILL BE OPEN – MEMBERS ARE RESTRICTED TO 20 MINUTES MAX IF THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE WAITING TO PLAY AND SHOULD FOLLOW THE 2 METRE RULE AT ALL TIMES

 

FOLLOWING DETAILS ARE A REMINDER OF THE LETTER THAT WAS ISSUED TO MEMBERS EARLIER THIS WEEK (ONLINE BOOKING SYSTEM AND GUIDELINES FOR PLAY)

 

Online / Pre-Booking System

One of the requirements is that a player must book a tee time in advance – a turn up and play scenario is no longer allowed. This is because as the club must maintain an accurate record for 6 weeks of all golfers as this may be used in contact tracing. This is a huge change to how our club functions but unfortunately this is out of our hands and we hope that our members understand.

 

With that, the committee have been working in order to prepare the current Club V1 system in order to allow our members to register and be able to book a tee time. In order for this to be used, we would like to ask all members to sign up to the Club V1 Members Hub. 

 

This can be done in 2 ways:

 

1)      On a Smartphone or other Tablet device, download the ClubV1 Members Hub app and follow the instructions to set-up your account. The information is the same as you use when logging on to the HOW DID I DO site if you have that already. If not, then you will need to register (please use the e-mail account that was provided to the club when you became a member) and then link the profile to INVERALLOCHY GOLF CLUB;

 

2)      On a computer, use the following link (https://default.hub.clubv1.com/) and again either log on using your HOW DID I DO log on or register your account.

 

Note that you will need to have an email address registered with us in order to sign up to this and be able to book a tee time.

 

The functionality to allow a tee time to be booked will be available from 3pm on Thursday 28th May – assuming the Scottish Government announcement earlier that day gives the go ahead for golf to be played from Friday 29th May.

 

In this first stage, the following rules will be implemented:

-          2 balls only, you will be able to play with someone from a different household;

-          Tee times will be available from 6:30am to 8pm every day with 10 minute intervals. Please do not be late for your tee time – if you are late, then you will not be permitted to play at another time as will be likely that time will already be booked;

-          you will be able to book only 1 tee time per day;

-          you will be able to book for yourself and 1 other person as long as they are a member and are registered on our Club V1 system;

-          a tee time must be booked prior to heading to the course. This is to ensure no gatherings and maintain social distancing;

-          members should arrive no more than 15 minutes prior to their tee time;

-          the clubhouse will be fully closed so you should change your shoes in the car park;

-          after your round, return directly to your car to change shoes and leave immediately.

 

Some members (e.g. retired, furloughed offshore, self-employed) will have greater access to the course than others – especially Monday to Friday in the mornings and afternoon. If those members could consider, at least initially, avoiding play on midweek evenings it will be appreciated by the members still at work. 

 

We are aware that there are members with no e-mail address and so the committee would encourage all members to sign up for one and reach out to a friend or family member for help in order to do this. This online booking system is a requirement before our club can open for play – if we did not implement this then we would not be allowed to open. 

 

Course Guidelines When Open for Play

 

Once we are back playing, please ensure that the below criteria is followed – some of which had been put into place prior to the full lockdown being implemented:

 -       Avoid any bodily contact especially handshakes;

-          Avoid touching your face with your hands;

-          Please follow social distancing rules and avoid congregating in large groups if waiting on a tee to become available before playing;

-          Leave the Flag in at all times – when the course is open the holes will be partly filled so that the ball cannot go fully into the hole. As it is only social golf initially, we would encourage “gimmes” to be used as an alternative to holing out;

-          Ball washers will be removed from the course;

-          Soil seed containers will also be removed. Consequently, members will be asked to replace any divots that may be taken; 

-          Bunkers will be in play but will have no rakes in them. Players will have to flatten out their marks in the sand by using their feet and/or club. As it’s only bounce games, the players can decide what (if any) relief can be given and the committee recommends a lift and place without penalty in the bunker as the preferred method;

-          Bring your own hand sanitiser to the course and use regularly during the round;

-          Travel to the golf course from your home should be in line with Scottish Government regulations;

-          If you are in the highest risk group outlined by the Government, then you should stay at home and not play golf;

-          If you, or any other member of your household are ill or have any symptoms of COVID19 then you must stay at home;

-          The clubhouse and course toilets will remain during this current phase, therefore please use the toilet at home before you leave

 

These guidelines try and follow social distancing rules as much as possible and the committee also ask players to remember this and use common sense to avoid contact with a fellow player. The country has been doing this for a number of weeks so we should be used to it by now!

 

Medal Play

 

There will be no club medal golf competitions put on for this first 2 week period. The committee hope to re-start these a later date.

 

Clubhouse

 

Clubhouse remains closed and will be for the foreseeable future. 

 

Best regards

-- 

Michael Ritchie

Secretary

Inverallochy Golf Club

CLUB UPDATE (Covid 19) 24/05/20

Dear Member

In light of the recent Scottish Government announcement, the committee are now working in order to prepare the course for re-opening.

We have been advised by Scottish Golf to get ready for opening on Friday 29th May 2020 (pending any further government announcement). The club has received extensive guidance from Scottish Golf which will mean big changes to how we play golf at Inverallochy during this phase 1 of the current lockdown measures. This guidance can be read in detail at https://scottishgolf.org/guidance-for-golf-clubs-and-golfers-on-returning-to-golf-in-scotland/.

Note that members are expected to follow the social distancing regulations in place at all times, the golf course is no different to anywhere else.

At this stage, the course will only be open to MEMBERS ONLY. We are still accepting new members (even though the clubhouse is still closed) should you wish to join – if you do then please message us through Facebook, email to secretary.inverallochygolfclub@gmail.com or contact any member of the committee.

Online / Pre-Booking System

One of the requirements is that a player must book a tee time in advance – a turn up and play scenario is no longer allowed. This is because the club must maintain an accurate record for 6 weeks of all golfers as this may be used in contract tracing.

This is a huge change to how our club functions but unfortunately this is out of our hands and we hope that our members understand.

With that, the committee have been working in order to prepare the current Club V1 system in order to allow our members to register and be able to book a tee time. In order for this to be used, we would like to ask all members to sign up to the Club V1 Members Hub.

This can be done in 2 ways:

1) On a Smartphone or other Tablet device, download the ClubV1 Members Hub app and follow the instructions to set-up your account. The information is the same as you use when logging on to the HOW DID I DO site if you have that already. If not, then you will need to register (please use the e-mail account that was provided to the club when you became a member) and then link the profile to INVERALLOCHY GOLF CLUB;

2) On a computer, use the following link (https://default.hub.clubv1.com/) and again either log on using your HOW DID I DO log on or register your account. Note that you will need to have an email address registered with us in order to sign up to this and be able to book a tee time.

The functionality to allow a tee time to be booked will be available from around 3pm on Thursday 28th May – assuming the Scottish Government announcement earlier that day gives the go ahead for golf to be played from Friday 29th May.

In this first stage, the following rules will be implemented: -

2 balls only, you will be able to play with someone from a different household; - Tee times will be available from 6:30am to 8pm every day with 10 minute intervals. Please do not be late for your tee time – if you are late, then you will not be permitted to play at another time as it will likely be that time will already be booked; - you will be able to book only 1 tee time per day; - you will be able to book for yourself and 1 other person as long as they are a member and are registered on our Club V1 system; - a tee time must be booked prior to heading to the course. This is to ensure no gatherings and maintain social distancing; - members should arrive no more than 15 minutes prior to their tee time; - the clubhouse will be fully closed so you should change your shoes in the car park; - after your round, return directly to your car to change shoes and leave immediately.

Some members (e.g. retired, furloughed offshore, self-employed) will have greater access to the course than others – especially Monday to Friday in the mornings and afternoon. If those members could consider, at least initially, avoiding play on midweek evenings it will be appreciated by the members still at work.

We are aware that there are members with no e-mail address and so the committee would encourage all members to sign up for one and reach out to a friend or family member for help in order to do this.

This online booking system is a requirement before our club can open for play – if we did not implement this then we would not be allowed to open.

Course Guidelines When Open for Play Once we are back playing, please ensure that the below criteria is followed – some of which had been put into place prior to the full lockdown being implemented: - Avoid any bodily contact especially handshakes; - Avoid touching your face with your hands; - Please follow social distancing rules and avoid congregating in large groups if waiting on a tee to become available before playing; - Leave the Flag in at all times – when the course is open the holes will be partly filled so that the ball cannot go fully into the hole.

As it is only social golf initially, we would encourage “gimmes” to be used as an alternative to holing out; - Ball washers will be removed from the course; - Soil seed containers will also be removed. Consequently, members will be asked to replace any divots that may be taken; - Bunkers will be in play but will have no rakes in them. Players will have to flatten out their marks in the sand by using their feet and/or club. As it’s only bounce games, the players can decide what (if any) relief can be given and the committee recommends a lift and place without penalty in the bunker as the preferred method; - Bring your own hand sanitiser to the course and use regularly during the round; - Travel to the golf course from your home should be in line with Scottish Government regulations; - If you are in the highest risk group outlined by the Government, then you should stay at home and not play golf; - If you, or any other member of your household are ill or have any symptoms of COVID19 then you must stay at home; - The clubhouse and course toilets will remain during this current phase, therefore please use the toilet at home before you leave. These guidelines must be adhered to, follow social distancing rules and the committee also ask players to remember this and use common sense to avoid contact with a fellow player.

The country has been doing this for a number of weeks now so we should be used to it by now!

Medal Play There will be no club medal golf competitions put on for this first 2 week period. The committee hope to re-start these a later date.

OTHER CLUB NEWS

Course Activity When the Government laid on the COVID-19 restrictions, certain course maintenance work was allowed to continue so the course would not suffer and be in a position to open as soon as possible once rules are relaxed. Taking essential health and safety into account it was decided a single greenkeeper would work to ensure the course would not permanently deteriorate / be overly damaged. To this end, we carried out detailed risk assessments and lone worker measures have been adopted. This essential maintenance covers mainly the cutting of fairways and greens so that the course can be opened as soon as possible.

The committee would like to thank all of our greenkeepers for their understanding, hard work and diligence during these uncertain times.

The course is looking great!

The Clubhouse remains closed and will be for the foreseeable future. It’s unlikely we will be allowed to open this until rules for bars and restaurants are relaxed and it is unknown when this is likely to be. Committee members and volunteers with clubhouse keys are taking in turn to check it daily and of course it is fully alarmed with all monies removed.


And finally – THANK YOU

The committee would like to thank all of our loyal members for their continued support, understanding and patience in these extraordinary times. Without the support of you all we would not have a club or a course to play on.

As a result of your support, the committee are confident that your club will survive this crisis and we will back playing as normal again soon.

Stay safe!
Best regards.

Ian Ross Captain


For and on behalf of Inverallochy Golf Club

IMPORTANT INFO ON ONLINE BOOKING

Dear Member

Most of you will have heard that we will returning to golf soon but with many initial restrictions. One requirement will be that we MUST book our tee times prior to playing.

Please read the below for instructions, and I urge you all to download the app.

full updates on other requirements will follow soon.

The all new smartphone app for android and iPhone. Everything your members need to interact with their club in one game changing app. Tee Time Booking, Diary, comp results, members directory, live leaderboard on competition days. The club can also keep the members up to date with club news and push notifications on course status, so the app is a must.

You can access the member’s area by;

1) Downloading the android or Apple IOS app from the appstore. Search for 'ClubV1 Members Hub' or click the relevant link below:

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.clubsystems.clubv1hub

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/clubv1-members-hub/id1247886260?mt=8

PLEASE NOTE YOU MUST USE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS LINKED TO YOUR HowDidiDo account if you have one.

Any problems please contact any committee member.

regards

Ian Ross, Captain

Latest SGL update 11/05/20

Following on from the Prime Minister’s announcement last night, we are writing to confirm that the position outlined by Scottish Golf on Friday, 8 May for Golf in Scotland remains unchanged. The message is still clear – Stay at home and save lives.

We remain in daily dialogue with the Scottish Government and other golfing bodies throughout the UK, to ensure that when it is deemed safe to do so in Scotland, that we are ready to support our golf clubs with a concise protocol for reopening. 

We will update our membership as soon as the Scottish Government agrees a plan on a safe return to golf. Scottish Golf would like to thank all of our members for their continued support in following the guidelines in such difficult times.

Latest update 10/05/20

Following on from the speach made by Boris Johnson tonight First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has stressed the "stay at home" message remains in place in Scotland.

Therefore currently nothing has changed, Scotland is still in lockdown. Ms Sturgeon stated people must still stay close to home and emphasised the move to remove the once-a-day exercise limit from Monday does not extend to permitting picnics, sunbathing or barbecues.

She also emphasised the ongoing need for people to maintain social distancing and NOT mix with other households.

We will keep you updated as soon as announcements are received from SGL.

Kind Regards Ian Ross Captain

Club update 8/05/20

We at Inverallochy Golf Club are thankful to our members for adhering to the current Government advice by staying at home and staying safe.
Whilst we appreciate it is an extremely frustrating situation we will just have to wait. We would like to assure our members that as soon as we receive the appropriate guidance and instruction to re-open no matter on how limited a level, we will be ready.

Due to much speculation and rumour this week regarding clubs opening next week SGL issued the following statement today.

“In response to increased speculation and rumour around timing of the re-introduction of golf, Scottish Golf can confirm that nothing has been finalised regarding a date, or any details of potential phasing with Government. Scottish Golf has been, and will remain in regular dialogue with Scottish Government, with regards to the planned procedures for the safe return of our sport when the time is right. We also continue to collaborate with our partners in golf throughout the UK and act as a collective at every opportunity. The recent update provided by First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, confirmed that lockdown restrictions remain in place and the clear public health message is to stay home and save lives. This responsibility sits with each of us and golf is no exception.

Joe Fitzpatrick, Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing “I recognise the importance of golf to many across the country, and the eagerness to return to the course as soon as possible. However, that can only happen once it is safe to do so – and the focus at present must be the continuation of measures to slow the spread of the virus, protect the NHS and save lives. The Scottish Government and sportscotland are working closely with Scottish Golf to ensure the right preparation and risk assessment is undertaken to allow golf to return at the appropriate time.”

Karin Sharp, Scottish Golf, “It has been disappointing to hear that some golf clubs in Scotland have communicated to members their intent to re-open their golf course ahead of restrictions being lifted. We urge all member clubs to continue to follow the Scottish Government advice, that continues to have the best interest of the public at heart. Golf is a sport where integrity and rules sit at the very heart of the game and we ask all golfers to respect the position of Scottish Government and show patience at a time when the virus continues to have a devastating impact on society. I appreciate the frustrations and desire to play golf as soon as possible, but I urge you to continue following Government guidelines and save lives."

Kind Regards Ian Ross Captain