Shirley Leung: Golf Courses Should Have Received More Notice Before Reopening

Virus Outbreak Massachusetts — A group of golfers walks with their clubs off a green at the Weston Golf Club, in Weston, Mass., Thursday, May 7, 2020.

Arjun Singh is a producer for Boston Public Radio. A California native, Arjun moved to Boston to study international relations at Boston University. Prior to working at WGBH, Arjun worked at a tech company and for a political campaign.

May 08, 2020

Updated August 07, 2023

On Thursday, Gov. Charlie Baker announced that golf courses in Massachusetts are allowed to reopen with strict restrictions. Prior to Thursday’s announcement, several golf course owners publicly announced their plans to reopen their courses in protest of the governor’s closure of non-essential businesses.

Though golf courses are still not considered essential businesses, Baker said he felt comfortable with the decision after reviewing what other states that have allowed courses to reopen have done. Boston Globe business columnist Shirley Leung said she agreed with the decision to open golf courses, but said that the sudden manner in which it was done appeared hasty.

“I think about what happened with golf courses,” Leung said during an interview with Boston Public Radio on Friday. “The governor and Lieutenant Governor [Karyn] Polito went through great pains this week to say, ‘Nothing magical will happen on the 18th, we are not opening anything.' And then suddenly golf courses get to open that same day. ... What happened to safety first?”

Leung said that rather than giving businesses short notice that they are allowed to open, it would be safer to provide businesses with an opening date to allow them to properly ensure they can open their businesses safely.