At the beginning of this pandemic, there was one hobby that people picked up fast: golf. While some golf courses never closed, people continued to play the sport. 

The boys and girls golf team have been practicing for a few weeks now and they hit the ground running. This season has started off as it usually should with matches and tournaments on the road ahead.

The sport of golf itself is usually played with a huge gap between players, so participating in social distancing procedures is not a problem. These athletes are used to the intense heat that is a part of the Arizona summer to fall transition. The home course is at Bear Creek where both the boys and girls team practice and take part in matches. 

The major difference in this season from the others is that the players must have the mental strength to not also worry about coronavirus. 

Golf is a mental sport and on top of the immense amount of pressure involved in every shot, the players also have to worry about being in the correct spots to adhere to social distancing laws. 

Senior boys’ golfer, Gabe Murillo said, “Golf has changed a lot at the beginning of the pandemic. We had to wear masks in all general areas and since then we have not been able to use rakes in bunkers, touch the pin or bottom of the hole on the putting greens.”

Every sport has been affected by the coronavirus, but golf has had a very strange change of events. Taking away the respect and professionalism that takes place at the end of a match, is something that almost changes the sport.

Girls’ golf senior, Kylie Rehberger, said, “the only ways golf has changed is that we can’t pull the flag out, can’t shake hands after, and get free relief in a bunker because they don’t have rakes out to rake the sand.”

Going on to the physical changes, players are limited to touching only their belongings. Sand traps lost their best tool and are now often messy and unraked. This makes a shot out of the trap harder because there can be a lot of sand in the way.

Freshman Joe Houghton said, “I think that the team will persevere through this awkward time and make the best out of the 2020 season.” 

Despite still being in a pandemic, Houghton is hopeful that the season will survive and play through this year’s season.