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Mill Creek courses open with guidelines

Changes intended to prevent further spread of coronavirus

Staff photo / John Vargo Brian Tolnar, PGA director of golf at Mill Creek MetroParks, saw the north and south courses open Saturday for play under new guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

BOARDMAN — Saturday was opening day at the Mill Creek MetroParks golf courses off U.S. Route 224.

Brian Tolnar, the PGA director of golf at the courses, said people flocked back to the fairways and greens.

Tolnar said that this past weekend he was taking tee times up until 5:50 p.m. The course is open until 7 each day. The vacancies to golf on Saturday were sold out and came close to doing the same on Sunday. Every riding cart in the fleet was out over the weekend.

Others took advantage of the flatness of the Donald Ross-designed course and walked the 18 holes on the north or south courses.

“It’s was great to see everybody, just looking at their eyes,” Tolnar said. “The majority are wearing masks when they come in.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way everything is operating as Gov. Mike DeWine’s stay-at-home order is trying to limit the spread of the coronavirus. However, things are opening in phases, which included Mill Creek golf courses. The course is following guidelines set forth by the Mahoning County District Board of Health and DeWine.

Changes have been made to the golf course to protect the customers. Putt stoppers have been put on greens so golfers don’t reach into the hole to retrieve their golf balls. Flags remain up and are untouched.

Ball washers and rakes for sand traps have been removed. Golfer’s shoes should smooth the sand. One person is allowed per riding cart, along with limited numbers on the putting and chipping greens.

The par 3 course, which opens Monday, will follow the same guidelines.

The complete list of guidelines can be found at www.millcreekmetroparks.org.

Tolnar said protecting the clientele is the No. 1 priority.

“It is different for the golfers, but it does give them the ability to come out and get the cabin fever away,” he said.

During the course’s closure through March and April, the paved paths of the north and south courses were open for people to ride bicycles, jog or walk.

“Honestly, between 3 and 5 o’clock, if you were to pull in our parking lot, it looked like we were open and full for golf. There were about 200-300 people out there walking. We were catching the overflow from the East Golf trail.

“It was neat to see people. Everybody was home so long, it was nice to be out, be seen and see others.”

Stacie Butler, Mill Creek head golf professional, said she had many people texting and calling, asking when the course would open.

“You would’ve loved to have seen people out there,” Butler said. “You’re seeing them walking the golf course while it’s closed. You wish they could’ve been playing.”

She said some older clientele have expressed concerns about coming into the clubhouse to pay for their rounds. The clubhouse has a plastic barrier between the employees and the customers.

In addition, keeping 6 feet between people and keeping the capacity inside the clubhouse to 10 or fewer has been enforced.

Butler said she tries to ease those concerns.

“I told them they can call in, take care of it over the phone if they’re really that worried, or they can put a credit card on file,” she said. “They can call, say they’re going to play nine and take care of it. There’s definitely been a few that have expressed that. They walk by, wave and I charge it.

“We want to get them out there. We want to see them walk and get the exercise and everything.”

Tolnar said league play is slated to start up at the end of the week, still following guidelines. Tee times are set so there are no large groups gathering.

Of course, no shaking hands before, after or during rounds.

“The goal is to make sure nobody shows up in groups,” Tolnar said. “They’re not congregating, whether it be here on the patio, the putting green or the parking lot as well. We want to keep that spacing. We want to keep groups to under 10.

“If we can do that, we’re in pretty good shape as far as leagues starting up.”

There are no group outings until phase three of reopening begins, which Tolnar hopes is in the not too distant future. Phase three includes opening bars, gyms and large venues with social distancing in place and proper sanitation.

He said a lot of the April, May and June events have been pushed back to August, September and October. Only one event has been canceled and rescheduled for 2021.

“We’re hopeful we’ll get those in,” Tolnar said. “A lot of those are charity events that people depend on, whatever the fundraising for whatever their organization is.”

Mill Creek is trying to get back to business as usual, as best they can during the pandemic.

“Brian and I were going out to mark some stuff on the golf course,” Butler said. “As we drove by the one group, they yelled, ‘Thanks for being open.’ It makes you feel good.

“A lot of them said they were walking when we were closed. They saw us doing work on the golf course, mowing, mulching and all of that stuff. We should give you a hug for the fact that you took care of the course while we were closed. Seeing everybody and seeing how excited they are back playing golf and how important Mill Creek is to them.”

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