Irish Golfers Fuming After "Mind-Boggling" Decision To Close Courses

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published 21 October 2020

Courses in the Republic of Ireland will close for at least six weeks

Irish Golfers Fuming After "Mind-Boggling" Decision To Close Courses

Irish clubs received the news they were dreading today when the Golfing Union of Ireland confirmed that courses and facilities must close for six weeks.

It's after 48 hours of discussions between the GUI and Sport Ireland since new tier 5 Covid-19 restrictions were announced on Monday.

Professional rugby, football and horse racing will continue and the GAA hurling championships are also still going ahead.

The news comes a day after Welsh clubs were told they must close as well in a much shorter circuit breaker lockdown for just over two weeks.

We saw on our social media channels that Welsh golfers were angry and disappointed and it is the exact same story with Irish golfers.

Some were upset that golf in its basic form couldn't continue with clubhouses closed like we saw earlier in the year.

Others have mentioned the infamous #golfgate from earlier this year where more than 80 people attended an Irish parliamentary golf society event in County Galway.

Elliott Heath is our Senior Staff Writer and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news, features, courses and travel sections as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. Elliott has interviewed some huge names in the golf world including Sergio Garcia, Thomas Bjorn, Bernd Wiesberger and Scotty Cameron as well as a number of professionals on the DP World and PGA Tours. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as four Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays at West Byfleet Golf Club in Surrey, where his handicap index floats anywhere between 2-6. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!

Elliott is currently playing:

Driver: Titleist TSR4

3 wood: TaylorMade SIM2 Max

Hybrid: TaylorMade SIM Max

Irons: Mizuno MP5 4-PW

Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58

Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x