Local

Hundreds flock to Snohomish County golf courses on reopening day

MARYSVILLE, Wash. — Following the easing of Gov. Inslee’s stay-at-home order, golfers turned out in large numbers for the reopening of golf courses across Washington State.

Golfers will likely notice several changes on the green. Among the new rules, only groups of two people are allowed on a golf course at any given time. Payments will now have to be made with credit or debit cards only, instead of cash.

Additionally, only one person is now allowed to be in a golf cart.

At Cedarcrest Golf Course in Marysville, players will also notice a large sponge-like material inside all the golf holes.

Workers said they installed pool tubing inside the golf holes to limit the number of surfaces that players touch.

The new rules did little to dissuade golfers from hitting the links on reopening day.

At Cedarcrest, 220 golfers made reservations to play in a single day.

Putting those numbers into perspective, Cedarcrest’s general manager Shayne Day said that's usually how many golfers come out on the weekends in the middle of summer.

"We had numerous phone calls, numerous emails of people saying, 'what are you hearing?' They just wanted something on the horizon,” said Day.

“You can book two weeks out and if you don't book two weeks in advance, you're not going to make anything early,” said golfer Gary Stevensen.

Golfers also told KIRO 7 News they didn't mind the new rules.

“The ball is sitting above the cup and you just pick it up, so you don't have to touch a flag, you don't touch anything,” said golfer Jack Kristianson, referring to the pool tubing inside the golf holes.

“You don't have to mess with the flag … it’s perfect!" added golfer Darla Lewis.

Cedarcrest Golf Course is booked up for the rest of this week.

“I’ve got 50 phone calls today of people who couldn’t get out here (because everything is already booked),” said Day.