As the fight against the coronavirus intensifies and restrictions of life in Ireland tighten, golf is among the sacrifices to be made for the greater good.

No-one is complaining about the reason for closing down courses in Ireland, but the golf industry is understandably nervous about the effects an extended period of confinement could have on the sport, its significant contribution to the Irish tourism industry, the jobs already lost, and those still under threat.

Cork GC general manager Sands is working from home while three-person crews are working opposite shifts to stay safe and maintain the course for when the lockdown is lifted.

“The grass keeps growing, that won’t change,” Sands told the Irish Examiner.

He will have been as relieved as everyone else in the industry that the Government yesterday confirmed that golf course maintenance staff were classified as essential workers following lobbying by the Golfing Union of Ireland.

“We’re hoping it won’t last too long and we’ll pick up the pieces when it reopens.

"The clubhouse is closed, the course staff are working away and I’m working remotely from home, the same as most golf clubs. We need to keep the show on the road as best we can,” he said.

Golf tourism is a hugely lucrative sector for Ireland, with Fáilte Ireland figures stating more than 221,000 overseas visitors play golf here, contributing almost €300m to the Irish economy.

Cork GC is among a number of Irish courses on the visitors’ bucket lists, for whom the loss in green fees in March and April will take hundreds of thousands of euro in revenue off their balance sheets.

“An awful lot of the emails I’m dealing with are cancellations,” said Sands.

“I’m dealing with a fella right now in North Carolina who was due to come, but he said he’ll be back next year so at least we can reschedule stuff and it’s just a case of keeping the contacts going with people who have had no option but to cancel. It’s going to be a nightmare year, but lost green fees are nothing compared to someone’s health.

“We’ll just try and be ready to hit the ground running when it does end.”

With no overseas visitors and golf clubs vulnerable to the effects of unemployment on their memberships, it is easy to be downbeat about their prospects if the pandemic continues into the summer.

In a statement given to the Irish Examiner, Fáilte Ireland, which is providing online support tools for all tourism businesses, said it has “continued to reach out to the golf industry in recent weeks, through our Key Accounting process.

“We know that during this Covid-19 crisis, our golf clubs are being challenged in the areas of cashflow, staff welfare, staff retention, course maintenance, and financial restructuring.

“Fáilte Ireland has developed a wide range of supports for the tourism industry and will continue to develop supports as we receive feedback as to their most pressing priorities at this difficult and challenging time. When the time is right, it will be a focus for Fáilte Ireland to rebuild golf tourism.”

Maurice O’’Meara has been general manager of Killarney Golf & Fishing Club, its Kerry neighbour Dooks, and The Island in Dublin. He is now a golf tour operator having founded Discover Golf Ireland Tours in 2019.

He had been due to host his first event of the year last weekend, but was forced to defer the Links and Lakes Championship until October, thanks to plenty of cooperation from customers, hotels, and the host courses.

It is that cooperation and collective spirit which gives O’Meara optimism that Irish golf can quickly get back on its feet when the current crisis has subsided, but warned that clubs are going to have to become innovative about getting through the rest of 2020.

“The uncertainty is the big issue for everybody,” said O’Meara.

“A lot of bookings have been cancelled, but in fairness to people, they’ve been quite understanding.

"Operators have been offering a deferred date or a raincheck for when things settle and we can rearrange everything and there seems to be a sense of unity so the clubs, hotels, and all the other companies involved are singing off the same hymn sheet.

“People can be resilient, and if they are smart I think one of the big focuses for the clubs is going to have to be membership.

"Middle-of-the-road clubs without a lot of green-fee revenue are going to have to be a little bit more inventive when this is all over.

“They’re also going to have to have a common-sense approach between now and then.

“The home market for the rest of the 2020 season is going to be the key revenue stream, so maybe we need to run more events that are socially inclined for the membership and visitors.

“Target the home market. The American and UK markets will come back eventually, but possibly not this season because of the nature of what they do in planning so far out and the issues are bigger in those markets (in relation to Covid-19).

“So we need to look at the home market. Golf clubs will need to be a little bit more flexible.

"They are normally quite stringent in the way they enforce membership rules, but they have to have a flexible approach because some people just won’t be able to afford to pay the membership.

"You don’t want to castigate them and drive them away forever. You want to retain them and hopefully attract new members.

“When all this is over, everyone is going to have cabin fever and they’ll want to get out and play golf, so let’s create events that can give that an outlet.

“We got through 9/11, SARS, the recession — we’ll find a way to get out of this, but we just have to be optimistic and work together and work smarter.

“And don’t panic. Don’t take the kneejerk reaction to get rid of key people or make decisions under pressure.

“That longer-term view has to be seen, despite the current uncertainty.”

Fáilte Ireland’s supports: https://www.failteireland.ie/Supports/Managing-Business-in-Unprecedented-Times.aspx