2020 has been an interesting year for golf. From a slightly uncertain start amidst COVID and some patchy weather in May, it’s been a wonderful summer season! Participation has been at its highest for many years and courses have been fully booked. The weather has been amazing! Importantly, golfers have been diligently observing social distancing and the golf course staff have been exemplary in keeping us all safe.
We re-opened for business on October 8th this year, after making the tough decision to close our indoor golf business on March 15th due to the prevailing COVID risks, ahead of the Ontario provincial lockdown. It felt like the right thing to do, and we’re glad we made that choice.
Now winter is upon us and the outdoor golfing season is closing. So far, it’s been quite a slow start for indoor golf compared to the typical year. The winds have been against us with COVID concerns persisting, and the end of season Ontario weather in November has been spectacular! We hope you were able to take advantage of it!
So now we head indoors to the virtual golf environment on our TrackMan golf simulators. We’re looking forward to welcoming new and returning customers back to Swing Golf Lounge. Operations are slightly different this year because of the pandemic. We started initially with only three players per golf bay, reduced from the regular 4 players per bay. Then, when Toronto’s COVID modified stage 2 came into effect only a day after re-opening, we had to reduce to 2 players per golf simulator bay and close 2 bays to be compliant with the 10 person limit for indoor gatherings. That operating profile has continued as Toronto moved from Modified Stage 2 into mid-November’s reclassified Red ‘Control’ zone status. We have COVID-related protocols to keep everyone as safe as possible, including mask-wearing. We’ve installed HEPA air filters in each golf simulator bay. Unfortunately, no food and drink are permitted under that November-December COVID profile. These procedures have been discussed with Toronto Public Health directly.
Beyond these necessary inconveniences, interest in indoor golf continues to grow as players become more aware of the excellent technologies available, such as TrackMan that we use. It’s the very same golf technology as used by the top PGA Tour professionals and the PGA Tour itself. TrackMan now offers more than 80 golf simulator courses in 4K graphics from around the world in addition to unrivalled golf simulator practice and performance analytics. Combine that with our elegant bar and excellent food that should be available again shortly once the rules permit, and you have a complete indoor golf experience of the best quality available anywhere. Check out our Google reviews to see what our customers think!
Stay healthy. Keep on golfing until the summer returns.
Keith & Christine.