NEXT NORMAL: Upside-down cups are one way Kilgore golf course prevents COVID-19 spread

KILGORE, Texas (KLTV) - You do it outside so there shouldn’t be a problem right? Well, with the pandemic even golfers have to be careful at the course. KLTV takes us to a golf course to find out what has become their Next Normal.

At Kilgore’s Meadowbrook Golf Course during the shutdown people could golf, but no services were provided according to Golf Course Superintendent and Pro David Cline and Vice President of the Kilgore Economic Corporation Bobby Beane

“There for about thirty days it was touch and go. We had no revenue hardly at all but everybody had the same problem,” Cline said.

They have opened back up, but with handicaps of sorts.

“We turned the cups upside-down, and we brought the benches in, we brought the sand trap rakes in. Basically, we did everything we could possible during this pandemic,” Cline said.

That cuts down on contact with items, but why are the cups turned over?

“The ball only falls down about an inch below the surface, whereas the other way it’s four or five inches, and so they have to reach in there to get it. They can just take their fingers like this and pull the ball out without touching,” Cline said.

Things have loosened up a little but they’re:

“Still doing the social distancing and people are more careful; wear the masks. We only let three people in the pro-shop at one time,” Cline said.

Beane says golfers are told touching flags is out of bounds and there is:

“No public water; we’re trying to limit contact that people had. And, you know, one person to a cart. So we’ve had really good success with those steps and I think those are pretty universal of what we hear in the golf industry,” Beane said.

There are more groups golfing now, but they:

“Had a lot of individuals come one by one and play. They weren’t in a group, you know. And so I think that people want exercise and they’re going to figure out a way to get out of the house and do it in the open spaces,” Cline added.

Of course, rental golf carts are cleaned after each use.

So if you’ve never golfed before, you may want to take a swing at this public nine-hole course in the Next Normal.

Meadowbrook is owned by the City of Kilgore, so it’s open to anyone. The course has recently received a PGA ranking of the tenth best nine-hole golf course in Texas. They are closed on Mondays.

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