England Golf has been seeking clarity and advice on the implications of the localised ‘lockdown’ in Leicester and surrounding areas as this situation has evolved. We will continue to work with government, local authorities and the police but our current advice on playing golf in the local area is below.

The local lockdown measures do not currently require golf clubs or facilities to close, so they may remain open and continue to operate for the time being •

Pro shops at golf clubs and facilities must close for retail purposes. Bars, restaurants and other hospitality facilities such as Clubhouses must remain closed and may not re-open on 4 July

Players should not travel either into or out of the ‘lockdown area’ defined by government in order to play golf

This advice may change as the situation and overall advice develops.

Some of you will be considering the start of the championship playing season and this may well include foursomes golf. England Golf have now received advice from the R&A n terms of the Rules of Golf and the impact of Covid-19 on this particular format.

Should you wish to play foursomes golf the following is recommended:

• Each partner should use their own golf ball, which is only handled by that player. For example the player teeing off from hole 1 is the only one that touches the ball from teeing off through to completion of the hole. The partner teeing off from hole 2 does likewise with their ball. Under the Rules of Golf a partner is permitted to drop the side’s ball in taking relief. It is also permissible to drop another ball when taking relief.
• When marking and replacing the ball on the putting green this should be conducted by the partner the ball belongs to. Under this situation (or any other where the ball must be replaced) the original ball must be used and must not be substituted by another ball.    

Please abide by England Golf’s Play Safe, Stay Safe guidelines (https://www.englandgolf.org/playsafe/). In addition they also recommend that each player carries their own hand sanitiser in case they touch their partners golf ball in error.

COVID -19 Update as of the 20^th May 2020

We hope you are all enjoying your return to golf and having the opportunity to play our great sport even if it means our conversations on the course have to be a little louder to facilitate our social distancing.

We thought we would take this opportunity to provide you with a County update as we have been busy behind the scenes. We recently held our first Executive ‘Zoom’ Meeting and although a little bit manic at times it was a productive meeting and lovely to see everyone as opposed to just hearing a voice on the phone.

Despite a lot of effort, and in response to feedback from our Clubs, the Executive took the decision to cancel the Scratch and Handicap league as well as the Ladies Foursomes event for 2020. We felt that this was the fairest way considering the number of clubs that had indicated a reluctance to participate given the COVID-19 situation. The County Championships and the County Shield have both been rearranged for September, so fingers crossed. To ensure they remain viable we would ask members/clubs to enter these competitions if possible - entry forms are on the website.

All County First and Second Team games have been cancelled so far and it is with sadness that we have decided to cancel the forthcoming  EG Midlands North Inter County Championships which was due to be hosted by ourselves at Hinckley Golf Club next month. The good news is that we will host the event in 2021 – something to look forward to.

A decision has been made that the County Management Meeting that was due to be held In July will be cancelled but a document containing a report from each Executive member will be circulated for your perusal and comment and if you wish to raise an issue you will be able to contact the Hon Secretary direct.

Representatives of the Executive Committee have been participating in group calls with representatives from England Golf which has provided us with some up to date information all of which is available to Clubs via the EG website.

England Golf CEO, Jeremy Tomlinson, urged Clubs to use the EG framework “PlaySafe/StaySafe” in conjunction with the Governments Covid-19 Operating Guidance to ensure clubs met the required operating standards moving forward. England Golf also has a great section on the website around FAQ’s which are updated daily – worth a look.

England Golf do recommend that Clubs have their polices and guidelines in relation to Covid-19 in order and available should they be required to evidence adherence to Government requirements.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of any further help – Play Safe, Stay Safe

In addition to our Safeguarding Policies & Procedures which are to be found on both the Adult & Junior website sections, I have added today's notes from England Golf which are particularly relevant to the higher potential risks for both Children & Vulnerable adults during this Covid19 Lockdown. The document is dated May 15, 2020.

It is relevant for all Clubs and Counties alike.

Hope it is useful!

Thanks for your continuing support

Anita Higginson

CJO

The L&RLCGA have been liaising with the  LRGU regarding our tournaments. The moratorium on tournaments by England Golf until and including the 7th June will have an impact on all County events. With this in mind both the Union and Association are working on contingency plans for post 7th June should the current restrictions be relaxed.

We hope to post a joint statement to our members at the end of next week