WHILE the courses at the Portland Golf Club and Heywood Golf Club remain shut due to the global coronavirus pandemic, in backyards, garages, paddocks and even lounge rooms around the region, many golfers are continuing to work on their game.

In late March, Golf Australia issued a nation-wide recommendation that community golf clubs shut their doors in accordance with government recommendations around COVID-19.

Initially many had hopes that golf would be spared from closure due to the individual and outdoors nature of the sport, but with the administrative body of the sport following the advice of medical, courses in Portland, Heywood, Warrnambool, Port Fairy, Terang, Camperdown, Mortlake and Cobden all temporarily shut down.

So instead, the region’s local golfers have been left to putt, swing and chip in whatever space is available at home – a phenomenon Portland Golf Club president Ben Cumming has been compiling to share with his members.

“If you’ve kept an eye on social media lately you would’ve noticed by now that a lot of people have been getting up to all sorts of things when it comes to golf,” he said.

“We’ve had members practice those chips shots in backyards and in paddocks and a few instances we’ve had golfers designing little mini at home courses which is great to see.

“Something else I’ve really enjoyed seeing is people getting their kids at home involved, Brad Tozer and his kids (Sienna and Aston) is one great example of that.

“Brad and the family have been sharing what they’ve been up to via Facebook and I think that sort of content is just a great reminder that we’ve got some really loyal and passionate golfers in this part of the country and at the moment, a lot of them are really missing the sport.

“Golf is a funny sport, you can work on your game in some pretty small spaces at home or even in an apartment hallway, but when it comes to play of course, golf courses are huge open areas.

“I think as long as you’ve got a bit of time and an appropriate amount of room, and maybe some ingenuity, it’s easy to keep working on your game while we’re in this time away from the club.”