Student health improves as golf courses and fishing reopen during the pandemic

PHOTO: Wildhorse Golf Course was one of many golf courses in Yolo County to reopen in the first phase of Yolo County’s Roadmap to Recovery.

By Paige Ochoa,

BlueDevilHUB.com Editor–

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has almost held people hostage within their own homes to keep the spread of the virus contained. All activities both indoors and outdoors had been closed because of an order where “to protect public health, I […] order all individuals living in the State of California to stay home or at their place of residence,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said. However effective April 27, fishing and golf courses reopened to the public.

For seniors Ben Janousek and Adam Brugger, this means being able to get back out and enjoy their favorite hobbies of the spring and summer. 

“Though I was honestly a little surprised that they had been allowed to open back up so soon, when the golf courses opened up, I was so excited to get back out there and start grinding again,” Janousek said.

As a senior on the varsity golf team, the 2020 spring season would have been Janousek’s last time to play the sport for Davis High, and possibly the last time competitively for his golf career.

“Words can’t describe how much I miss the golf season,” Janousek said. “I would give just about anything to get our senior season back.”

While the Davis Golf Course, Wildhorse Golf Club, El Macero Country Club, Yolo Fliers Country Club, Wild Wings Golf Club and Yocha DeHe Golf Club have all opened back up for the public to play, new safety precautions have been set in order to keep both players and staff members safe and healthy during a still unprecedented time. 

As both a golf player and staff member of the Wildhorse Golf Club, Janousek admits that it’s “definitely strange” getting used to the new normalities of playing the sport during the pandemic.

“There’s a ton of new safety precautions we have to follow which is pretty weird for a golf course, like wearing masks, sanitizing all the carts and having to keep at least six feet of distance between players,” Janousek said.

Wildhorse Golf Club’s manager Charlie Klein mentions that other precautions include “removing sand trap rakes, disabling ball washers, no lingering after the round, spaced out range stalls, single rider golf carts, having the restaurant and clubhouse shut down” and more. 

“As like any business that was shut down due to the county mandate, we knew there was a way for us to continue to operate, while being non-exposing to COVID-19,” Klein said. “As with every decision made, there will always be residents who will oppose it. But we’ve had many supporters of our golf course reopening, many who were golfers, but also many neighbors from around Davis, including many doctors… and UC Davis professors.”

Klein made it very clear that his most important job in reopening during the pandemic is to make sure that golfers are staying safe and socially distancing while playing. 

“Golf is a non-contact sport, which we see being safer than taking a jog on a jogging path or taking your dog on a walk. Golf is easily a game of social distancing,” Klein said.” Believe it or not, many of our customers think that golf improves their mental health.”

When posed with the statement if he feels that golf improves his mental health, Janousek instantly agreed, mentioning the upsides and downsides to being away from the sport for over a month. 

“It’s been frustrating to not be able to play for four weeks,” Janousek said. “But it’s also nice to get a break and focus on other things.”

In agreement with Janousek, Brugger adds that without the shutdown of “basically the whole world,” he would not even have the opportunity he does now to start fishing this early in the season.

“I definitely missed [fishing] but I’m not able to go fishing really until summer because I’m usually so busy with school,” Brugger said. “So I wouldn’t have been able to go at all if school wasn’t shut down.”

Getting into the sport as a child following his father’s passion for fly-fishing, Brugger has come to enjoy the beauty of the sport in its entirety.

“Well, my love for fishing initially began when my dad took me fly fishing when I was really young,” Brugger said. “But now I also have friends who I fish with and it’s also a really great way to appreciate nature.”