AURORA, Colo. — The golf season is in full swing. Parking lots are packed and tee times have become a hot commodity.
"This is definitely more rounds, especially when it came to (the month of) April," said Drew Kish, the first golf assistant at CommonGround Golf Course.
He continued, "We did almost 20,000 more rounds than we did last year. The tee sheet is jam-packed every single day. Every tee time is taken from sun-up to sun-down."
Social distancing guidelines have added to Kish’s responsibilities.
"Making sure people aren’t touching flagsicks, they’re staying 6 feet apart," he said.
The sport of golf and social distancing go hand in hand.
CommonGround has an answer to the most glaring question when it comes to playing the game in the age of COVID-19: How do you get the ball out of the cup safely?
"We had the raised cups when we first started. By USGA standards, they said, ‘If it hits the cup its good within reason,'" Kish said.
The E-Z Lyft ball retriever takes guesswork out of the equation.
"It’s the easiest thing, just to use your putter. Lift (up the handle with you club) and the ball rolls right out (out of the cup)," Kish said. "You don’t have to touch the flagstick. And the ball gets to go in the hole, so you know it’s a little bit more real."
If only this gadget cut down on the number of strokes it takes to get to the cup.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS | Sports