Golf in Maine took a step toward normalcy last week.

The state relaxed restrictions on golf courses, allowing pro shops and clubhouses to open. Furthermore, driving ranges are available and players are no longer limited to courses in their county.

“It’s been a huge impact,” Belgrade Lakes Golf Club course director Kyle Evans said. “A lot of our traffic comes from southern Maine. … It’s nice to be open, it’s nice to have the golf shop open, we’re able to have a few people in at a time. We’ve got a little, modest snack bar with a nice deck outside, which has been quite popular with plenty of space. It’s as good as it can be.”

For a destination course like Belgrade, which relies on visitors from around the state and beyond, the updated restrictions are a game-changer.

“Not having people (be able to) come from down south was huge for me,” Evans said. “That’s the majority of my business.”

Even for the courses with a more local player base, the relaxed restrictions were welcome news.

“We’ve got a ways to go before it feels normal. But no question about it, it’s much better than it was at the beginning of May,” said Joe Golden, who along with his wife, Jeannine, runs Springbrook Golf Club in Leeds, which lies primarily in Androscoggin County but also touches Kennebec County. “A lot of people, perhaps, in Kennebec County thought they couldn’t come here. … Initially, there were faces we didn’t see that we’re now seeing.”

Nick Pelotte, the general manager at Waterville Country Club, said the lightened restrictions are a good sign going forward.

“It’s obviously a real nice situation to have some of those other sources of revenue open up,” he said. “We were doing takeout for the first couple of weeks here at the club, and that was nice. … But it just doesn’t drive the same amount of revenue that is driven once you actually open the facilities and people can sit down and people can come in and get a beer after their round.

“We must be doing what we’re supposed to be doing, because now we’ve been given the opportunity to get some of these things back.”

Golden said the social element is a big part of golf, and a part that was missing when restrictions were in full force at the start of May.

“We look at golf, and I know a lot of our members do, it’s as much social as it is the game itself,” he said. “They miss being able to come in and sit at a restaurant or sit on the deck together, all those things. That’s been a big adjustment.”

Even with the relaxed restrictions, courses are still playing it safe. At Augusta Country Club, for instance, employees working indoors will still wear masks, and tables on the outside deck are spread further apart than usual.

“I want to make sure we don’t get complacent,” Augusta general manager Dave Soucy said. “We haven’t had very many cases up here in Kennebec County recently, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take the right precautions.”

• • •

Waterville Country Club got to kick off the Maine State Golf Association season on Tuesday morning. The course hosted the first MSGA member play day, which became a two-day event that will bring around 250 golfers to Oakland between Tuesday and Wednesday.

Pelotte was enthused about Waterville being able to hold the event.

“It’s a real positive for our club,” he said. “It’s a good day for everybody. It’s a good day for golfers that are getting back to their normalcy in terms of MSGA play, it’s a good day for Waterville Country Club because we’re in great shape and our club is getting exposure to more people than just our members. And it’s a good day revenue-wise too.”

The event filled up in minutes after registration was opened, and MSGA executive director Brian Bickford asked Waterville head pro Don Roberts to stretch what is normally a one-day event over two days. Roberts obliged, and the MSGA worked with Waterville to make sure the course could handle the number of players with the restrictions in mind.

Pelotte said the MSGA’s assistance eased any concerns about how the play day would go.

“They’ve been very much involved with the state leadership, and they’ve had some time here to figure out exactly how they can host these events,” he said. “I didn’t have any major health concerns with it because of the fact that the MSGA, along with us, were very in tune with what was being asked of us.”

• • •

The qualifiers for the Maine Amateur championship are set to begin next week. The first will be Tuesday at Willowdale Golf Club in Scarborough, followed by another on Thursday at Brunswick Golf Club.

A third qualifier will be at Poland Spring Golf Course on June 16, and the final one will be at Bangor Municipal Golf Course on June 18.

The championship will be held July 7-9 in Biddeford-Saco Country Club. The Maine Women’s Amateur Championship will be held July 20-22 at Augusta Country Club.

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