Should contactless flagsticks be made mandatory?

IT was difficult to think of a better day for golf this year than a vaccine getting the OK at the same time our courses re-opened after a lockdown. But a major factor in the fight against Covid-19 remains unpredictable. How many people will follow the rules?

Ajay Bedi is the right person to ask if this is another plus factor for golf. For almost a quarter of a century, this 55-year-old Irishman from Coleraine was a GP in Jarrow, near South Shields, a coastal town in the North East of England at the mouth of the River Tyne.

Now retired, he’s in private practice and enjoys a respected TV presence in his region. For 20 years he’s been the resident medical expert on ITV Tyne Tees & Border as a result not only of his hands-on NHS experience but also a reassuring CV containing medical degrees from two universities, Queen’s in Belfast and Newcastle.

He also had a long career in medical education, latterly as Dean of the Foundation Medical School at Newcastle University.

Equally relevant, he’s a 13-handicap index golfer who plays twice a week at his beloved Northumberland club, which he cherishes as his second home and the main focus of his social life. He is a past captain and a previous chairman of the house committee.

So what does he think?

Said Ajay: “If we take our safety approach to the pandemic to the extreme then one could say, to be entirely safe we should all stay indoors all the time.  However, if there was no golf that would only be ‘safer’ in inverted commas. Would that be the right thing to do? Is it the appropriate thing to do?

“We have to adopt a balanced approach and evidence-based approach. I believe that in these challenging times we should encourage golf for all the best reasons. This is a time in our history when the best principles of the sport will stand us all in good stead. Golf is a game of honour, principle, self-regulation and probity.

“These are all excellent attributes to have if you are thinking about protecting yourself, your colleagues, your friends and society in general. Golfers tend to follow the rules. We are dealing with an unprecedented situation and the long term effects of the epidemic on the health of the nation have still not surfaced.  We are going to have to manage this in the future.

“I am a great believer in preventative medicine and golf very much falls into that category in terms of the benefits fresh air and exercise provide to our cardiovascular and immune systems. Equally as important, the social side of the game and the human interaction can only be good for your mental health.”

I had a bee in my bonnet before interviewing Ajay in that I am highly averse in the current circumstances to placing my hand anywhere near a hole on a golf green let alone in it.

After discovering contactless flagsticks playing as a neighbour’s guest at his club, Astbury in Cheshire, I was surprised to discover the head greenkeeper, Andy Brougham, had persuaded the club to buy them as a result of information gleaned from a social media golf group he belongs to on Twitter.

Surely, between them, our vast array of national golf authorities should see to it that contactless flagsticks are mandatory and have been negligent in not seeing to it that they are?

Ajay, like myself, is among those who signed the recent mass petition to parliament requesting the return of golf and he says: “I hesitate to say everybody has to do something because I would not want to come across as an authoritarian individual.

“I feel that golf as a sport has been at the forefront of developing Covid safe practice because we were in a fortunate position initially during the first Covid wave. Outdoor activities were generally encouraged and those of us who play golf were able to get out and do so.

“That encouraged golf clubs, England Golf and the sport’s other authorities to work out how best we could continue to play golf while at the same time protecting the health of golfers and minimising risk for all.

“Even so, I would have thought that most sensible golf clubs who have the well being of their members at heart and who are interested in effectively risk managing health and safety would advise players not to touch a flagstick.

“It depends on your outlook. I am not a politician. I am a humble and simple physician and a humble and simple golfer and I am not mandated to issue edicts.

“But on health and safety grounds and, from a medical perspective, then anything which reasonably reduces the risk of Coronavirus has to be helpful. Certainly, any individual going to a golf club, whether they are a member or not, has to bear in mind the Covid guidelines for their particular area and it is important to follow that advice.

“In the current climate, every responsible golf club should be thoroughly examining all the ways in which risk can be minimised for those of us who love the game.

“We also have a responsibility as golfers and as social and human beings to protect our fellow golfers. So anything that minimises contact is vital in terms of preventing the spread of Coronavirus.”

Ajay drew on his own experiences at the Northumberland club when he added: “It used to be commonplace that, before Covid, if we wanted to play and the coast was clear and there was no comp on, we were allowed to tee off without anybody knowing we were on the course.

“That cannot be allowed to happen now because in terms of anybody catching Covid it is essential every golf club knows who is on their course at all times to comply with the track and trace requirements.

“But be in no doubt, I am firmly of the opinion that golf is a valuable ally in terms of protecting our physical and mental health during this era of restrictions.

Have your say . . . Let us know how your club has handled the return to golf after the recent lockdown and should contactless flagsticks be made mandatory?

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