Why I stopped playing golf
 

Note: I normally play golf 4-5 times a week, love the game, am very skilled at it, and it's my main form of entertainment/exercise. This is not meant to tell others what to do.

So a couple of weeks ago I had an appointment with my Cardiologist. It was routine, nothing major going on. My Doctor is also an avid golfer, so I asked him if he was still playing. He said no, not worth the risk, even if very small. He explained to me that the virus was very contagious, and even though golf is a low risk activity, its catchable almost anywhere. But Doc, I said, I play by myself, not in a group, I wear golf gloves on both hands!

Yes I understand he said, its low risk but not zero risk. You could walk thru a sneeze cloud of infected individual a minute or two after. An infected individual could sneeze on the tee box or green in a group in front of you. Your ball picks up virus, gets on your gloves, you scratch your forehead, you are sweating, virus rolls down to your eyes, nose, mouth. Yes risk is minimal, but not even close to zero. Doctor basically told me to avoid all contact with people, get delivery or pickup of groceries, and lower all risks.

I've read many first person accounts of this virus, from people 20-30 year younger than me, and its like the flu on steroids. I hate even the regular flu, so I don't want this.

So I'm Howard Hughes now. Stay safe

As much as it pains me to say this, I am done playing golf for the foreseeable future unless I can get a guaranteed twosome only with my wife. I won't play with anyone else. I played the other day with my best friend and he just doesn't get it. There was no personal space or social distancing. He is living life like we all did a couple of months ago and has no respect for the very real and potential dangers we all are facing. I will not let that situation repeat itself. Everyone please stay safe.

I think that is a prudent choice.

I live in a home with a beautiful view across a lake to the golf course. Watching people out there every day is a giant pain. I console myself with visualizations of my last round, which was a good one. Plus my back thanks me for the rest!

I understand your concerns. I continue to play on the execs. I walk and carry sanitizer for myself and bleach wipes that I use whenever I touch a ball. Since I walk, when our group plays a scramble format, I usually go retrieve balls that aren’t being used on that hole, using a bleach wipe to pick them up and deliver them to their owner “never touched by human hands”. I also use the wipes on ball markers, tees, etc. It’s a bit of a pain, but it allows me to be out of the house.

The group I play with has been good at keeping distance, although old habits do die hard. But a quick reminder if someone starts to encroach works.

Stay safe. I may be joining you in house arrest if the spousal unit demands.

Its so sad what life is like right now. I watch movies and see people kissing, hugging, touching, licking their fingers and I think nooooooo, then realize that was a different reality. Its so bizarre.

Chinese government has blood on their hands, hiding the severity of the outbreak until too late and 5 million people traveled out of Wuhan and spread this crap all over the world. I like Chinese people, but their predilection for filthy wet markets that are proven to breed viruses has got too stop, but it won't, they are already re opening them.

All that good protection is meaningless if someone sneezes 6 feet in front of you or behind you or to the left or right of you assuming no one is "encroaching" 2-3 feet away and the wind is blowing in your direction unless you plan on gargling or snorting the bleach. Remember, MANY people are Asymptomatic or PREsymptomatic. You never know where you "friends" may have been and picked up something unless you trace their movement (as in travel/shopping) history over the last 5 or 6 days before "the sneeze." Unless you are wearing a medical grade mask you could be SOL.

Good life, my sentiments also. I stopped playing golf 2 week ago.

I only play with myself ! Uuuu, that didn’t come out right!:ohdear:

My husband had no trouble giving up his golf....

Totally agree with you & your doctor. People just don’t ever think it will happen to them. This killer is unknown, lethal, silent, invisible. Stay at home folks, for the sake of everyone.

The governor has issued a statewide stay at home order that is very specific concerning which businesses may stay open and which activities are permitted. This carries force of law and should be obeyed by all citizens.

Those people who go to the grocery store or pharmacy, and those people who go cycling, golfing, walking and fishing are FOLLOWING THE LAW---Get off their cases!

There appears to be a subset of Villagers who are separating themselves into some kind of uber-class coronavirus crusaders. They are EXCEEDING the requirements of the executive order by limiting their activity beyond the scope of the order, whether out of paranoia or ignorance, while some are going around and taking photos of their neighbors who might be violating the order.

It's perfectly fine to stay home, but it doesn't make you MORE law abiding, compassionate, caring and smarter than those that are also following the law. And it certainly doesn't entitle you to call those people idiots, selfish or entitled

There are many who share the blame if one is to assign blame to a natural event. Our great intelligence community, if it had not been eviscerated under the current administration, could very well have identified the issue early on. Just another missed opportunity.

As for Chinese wet markets, why not visit one of our slaughterhouses. I think the experience might very well turn the visitor into a vegetarian.

Let's just not assign blame until we look in the mirror and ask ourselves if we or our government did all that was possible. When this event passes, we might be well served by an investigatory commission to see where not only others failed, but where we failed.

Whoever replied to this post needs to face reality. A governor's order, particularly this one, does NOT give you free license to hide behind it. Stop your foolishness by saying you are now only obeying the law of the state, so you can still golf. How about stop being selfish and notably protect your life but the lives of anyone else that live in this community. Try staying away from golf for a couple of weeks, and expand your horizons into other endeavors.

Thank you.

With great respect, just because people are following the law does not mean they are safe, or that they aren't spreading this virus. Intelligent experts are telling us the only way to contain the spread is to STAY AWAY FROM OTHER PEOPLE. Just because our government leaders can't listen and order it, doesn't mean we, the people, should put ourselves and others at risk. THE ONLY WAY TO STOP THIS VIRUS IS TO STAY AWAY FROM PEOPLE!

Wow! Read my post again. Or is it obvious I am talking to a brick wall.

The governor did not make up the list of approved activities on his own, he went by the recommendations of public health experts (of which you are NOT one)

No one is "hiding" behind the order, we are FOLLOWING it.
So people following the order are "foolish" and "selfish"? Clearly, you are one of the self appointed uber-Villagers, no point in explaining to you, you've convinced yourself that your way is the only way and everyone else is an idiot. Good luck with that

And that is what people who participate in the list of approved activities are doing---social distancing---you DO NOT need to hide under your bed to stay away from people

The law makers are learning as they go just like we are. No one seems to really know how it is spreading, and what little rules they give us it keeps spreading like wildfire. Then they update us with more rules. If you want to believe them and not take extra precautions fine, but you are putting us all at risk. Are we panicking, of course we are , we would be fools not to do everything possible to avoid getting and passing this horrible virus. God bless you and keep you safe and well, as well as the rest of us.

TMI, I think.

So many people with so much knowledge. No golf, then don’t go to a grocery store, don’t go for a cart ride, don’t walk down the street, don’t pump gas, don’t bike ride, don’t go to a doctors office, don’t receive packages, don’t pick up your mail, don’t breathe! Let’s face facts, we don’t really know how this disease is carried....by sneezing, by touch, by simply breathing. We don’t know how to treat, we can only treat the symptoms and wait to see if the body can fight it off.

That is a very sensible decision. Thank you for writing this. Many people still believe that we are living during a period of needless caution and hyper sensitivity to a problem that is being inflated by the press. I feel sorry for those people and because they are out there, my time out in the community is very limited. Stay safe everyone.

Blood on our hands
 

Our government also has blood on our hands. Every health organization and official warned that what was happening in China and then Italy, no matter who was responsible for the initial outbreak, was inevitably going to happen here and we needed to prepare immediately. Our government downplayed the situation and we didn’t prepare in time. Of all countries we could have prevented this pandemic from spreading in this country.

For those of you that want to stay in the confinement’s of your own little world, by all means do so.

But, for those of us that still work out in the public (yes, I do even with a great retirement) and those of us that still play golf (and yes, I still can compete with the best of them), do not throw stones at us because this is the choice we are making.

Smart man.

Giving up golf is hard. But it is the right thing to do for your safety and mine. We need to minimize our time away from home. Golf is open not so much for our health but for their $$$. Please, stay at home as much as possible for the safety of all.

You can spin it anyway you want. But, IT ORIGINATED in CHINA like 90% of rest of viruses.

If you want to play with just your wife, request a tee time and add two guests. You can do that a few days before you want to play. When tou get to the course tell the starter your guests cancelled. You will get “cancellation points”, but it won’t matter if you make reservations a couple days before you play.

I play golf almost every day and adhere to the six feet rule and all the other changes which have recently been made to make golf safer for everyone. Selfish? Maybe, but I do what it takes to maintain sanity and stay alive. I live alone and golf is my only socialization other than the telephone. I do have other hobbies (I'm currently writing a second novel) and am not bored at all but I do need to be outside and have some daily contact with others. It's very easy to be judgmental if you haven't walked a mile in someone else's shoes.

Exec courses are FREE.

Per your Dr's expert advice then every cyclist or person in golf cart is putting peoples health at risk if one is infected while riding through a neighbor hood and sneezes or coughs
Were at risk sitting outside our own homes?

After reading some of the informed comments and also not so informed comments, it brings to mind a quote from one of our past presidents. “I despise people who go to the gutter on either the right or the left and hurl rocks at those in the center”. Dwight D. Eisenhower Enough said.

You did not have a 0 chance of dying driving to Dr. Please stay home quietly.
 

Let us play!

I agree with what your saying, however, what about the delivery person or products having something on it. We touch the item then it’s on our hands and who knows where else we spread it.....stay safe as possible....

The entire point of the sneeze cloud is real ... but it is limited to being in a closed environment and relevant to a doctor being in a room where a patient sneezes. It does not apply to outdoor activities. To imply there is risk to playing golf without touching anyone else's "stuff" ... irresponsible?

There is a risk no matter what you do or where you go. The risk of somebody sneezing and it being airborne outside on the golf course and hitting me in the face and then sweating and rolling down into my eyes or mouth…… wow! Do you have a better chance of dying driving in your car. The flu has killed 20,000 people a year and we didn’t have this paranoia.

You could get hit by lightning. You could be swallowed up in a sinkhole. An idiot golfer could kill you with an errant drive. Your golf cart could explode. God could just say "Come see me." Like Ben Franklin said, the only sure things are death and taxes. If you're willing to live your life in fear of infinitesimal chances of getting the virus, then do so. Reasonable precautions will also protect you. When playing, don't touch anything not yours, like the ball washers. After playing, leave everything in the cart but your clothes and you. When inside, put your clothes in the hamper and wash your face and hands (or shower if you feel the need).

Paranoid and ignorant........... I am staying home I do not want to risk getting the virus or even a 1% chance of giving it to someone else. Now who is being selfish

I stopped 4 weeks ago along with men's day, and when I started a thread and announced it, I was blasted.

even our genius Dr said in March, he didn’t see a problem arising out of this. but, then nobody knew much about it. i assume our government took his lead since he is the expert, even tho they did stop travel, thank goodness. but blame, ? i don’t think there should ever be any blame on any individual here, it’s all China’s fault.