Can we safely play a round of disc golf?

[armiller]

I plan to play disc golf this weekend and plan to do it safely.

I will play alone and have no plans to disinfect my putters or discs despite planning to putt into baskets. The courses around here aren't particularly busy, so maybe that's one reason I'm less concerned. But is anyone really concerned about picking up the virus after putting into a basket? Yes, I will wash my hands before and after playing and will try to remember not to touch my face.

If I see you on the course, I will probably stay 6 feet away from you. But I would have done that anyway.

I did play this weekend, and my 3 rounds meant that I played more disc golf this weekend than any in 2020 so far. I have to backtrack a little, particularly because that previous post may have come across as downplaying the seriousness of the current situation.

I noticed several things. 1) Like others have noticed, courses have more players on them than usual. In our case, I noticed at least one car from about 2 hours away, incidentally from an area with more COVID-19 cases than we currently have in this area. I suspect it may be due to how busy the courses are in that other area?

2) I interacted with other golfers more than usual, and one in particular tried to shake hands before we opted for the awkward elbow bump. So much for 6 feet of isolation.

3) I'm still not sure about putting. I'm inclined to thing it's a low risk activity, but there is certainly a chance of contracting or transmitting a virus by putting. Particularly as this situation evolves, I will likely be adopting the "no discs in the baskets" strategy. Unless I ace, of course, in which case I'd be happy to figure out a way to deal with the problem.

4) Normal hand washing facilities at the course were closed. I use hand sanitizer routinely but hate it. In the end, I guess it's something I'll have to embrace.

I currently live in West Virginia, which was the last of the 50 states to officially have a COVID-19 case. But I also have family in one of the centers of the outbreak. I, like most of us, am not 100% sure what to make of this and do not profess to know what things will look like in weeks or months. A lot of us like to downplay our possible role in spreading COVID-19, but we may as well just admit that, without changing our behavior, disc golf as we have played it can contribute to spread.

The larger socioeconomic implications of this whole thing are flat-out mind-boggling. There are ways for us to behave responsibly as citizens and as disc golfers. Looking back on this in a year or two, I hope that disc golfers will have been more of a positive than negative impact on the spread of the disease.

 

[Orioles_Lefty]

armiller, known of this is directed toward you, just using your post as a jumping off point.

A close analysis of social distancing in any location would show, I'd wager, that people are not doing as good of a job as they think. For instance, acting as a possible vector from one geographic location to another is a very bad idea. We have to be risk averse. Any risk should be minimized to the fullest extent possible. Linking together various geographical locations is not risk averse behavior.

Simply, the act of doing anything in public invites failure of social distancing. We should not electively risk failure of social distancing. We should be engaging the minimum number of risks. I know some life requirements are out of our control. Disc golf is not one.

Is your non-solo, non-private course disc golf round as socially distanced as you think it is across tens of thousands of tiny decisions. The answer is almost certainly no. To what degree of severity is the "no"? We don't know, you don't know. Avoidance is the true act of commitment to humanity. Is it overkill? It can't be, at this point. We zoomed right by "reasonable" while people were being way too reasonable..

I did play this weekend, and my 3 rounds meant that I played more disc golf this weekend than any in 2020 so far. I have to backtrack a little, particularly because that previous post may have come across as downplaying the seriousness of the current situation.

I noticed several things. 1) Like others have noticed, courses have more players on them than usual. In our case, I noticed at least one car from about 2 hours away, incidentally from an area with more COVID-19 cases than we currently have in this area. I suspect it may be due to how busy the courses are in that other area?

2) I interacted with other golfers more than usual, and one in particular tried to shake hands before we opted for the awkward elbow bump. So much for 6 feet of isolation.

3) I'm still not sure about putting. I'm inclined to thing it's a low risk activity, but there is certainly a chance of contracting or transmitting a virus by putting. Particularly as this situation evolves, I will likely be adopting the "no discs in the baskets" strategy. Unless I ace, of course, in which case I'd be happy to figure out a way to deal with the problem.

4) Normal hand washing facilities at the course were closed. I use hand sanitizer routinely but hate it. In the end, I guess it's something I'll have to embrace.

I currently live in West Virginia, which was the last of the 50 states to officially have a COVID-19 case. But I also have family in one of the centers of the outbreak. I, like most of us, am not 100% sure what to make of this and do not profess to know what things will look like in weeks or months. A lot of us like to downplay our possible role in spreading COVID-19, but we may as well just admit that, without changing our behavior, disc golf as we have played it can contribute to spread.

The larger socioeconomic implications of this whole thing are flat-out mind-boggling. There are ways for us to behave responsibly as citizens and as disc golfers. Looking back on this in a year or two, I hope that disc golfers will have been more of a positive than negative impact on the spread of the disease.

 

[Monocacy]

I currently live in West Virginia, which was the last of the 50 states to officially have a COVID-19 case.

True, but to date West Virginia has tested less than 500 people. Stay safe out there, for yourself and for others.

West Virginia Dept. of Health and Human Resources

I have seen large groups of probably college-aged folks playing mob disc golf with no social distancing, and piling into cars together afterwards. As one group was leaving the course they toasted each other "Corona!"

:|

 

[DavidSauls]

South Carolina has banned* public gatherings of more than 3 people. Public courses in North Augusta have pulled their baskets**. That should stem the crowds a bit.

* - Well, not quite banned, but authorized police to disperse groups of more than 3.

** - I thought they could have just pulled every other basket, making the courses a real nuisance to play. That would have cut down the crowds, at half the labor.