Golf ball on a white tee. File photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo / MolkaGolf ball on a white tee. File photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo / Molka
Chatham

Local junior golf tour tees off today

Not all local sports leagues are cancelled this summer.

The 2020 Jamieson Junior Golf Tour kicks off Tuesday morning at Seven Lakes Golf Course in LaSalle.

The 95 players at the first event, which is also a qualifier, will play "touchless" golf.

"There's no rakes in the bunkers, the pins will stay in the hole, there's little devices now that you can use your putter to pop your ball out of the hole," said Tour Director Dan DeMarco. "The kids will only maintain their own scorecards, normally in competition you exchange scorecards, but we won't be doing that."

DeMarco adds that a number of other changes have been made this year, including volunteer marshalls on the course to make sure players stay six feet apart from each other.

"We occasionally had shotgun starts, but we're not doing any of those this year because it lends itself to too much congestion where everybody starts at the same time and everybody ends at the same time," he said.

In case of bad weather, each player must have a vehicle they can go to in the parking lot since they can't all gather in the clubhouse.

The volunteers will also have to follow safety protocols.

"We're all going to be physically distanced from the kids," said DeMarco. "Any time we're making a ruling or anywhere near them, we'll be wearing the appropriate mask. We [will] make sure all of our volunteers, before attending, have no symptoms. They self-diagnosis, they take their temperature."

However, the players will not be required to wear a mask while on the course as they will be outside and at least six feet from other people.

There are nine events scheduled at golf courses in Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent. To find the full schedule, click here.

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