New Jersey golf course owners plead with governor's office for clearance to reopen
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A New Jersey golf course owner appeared on “Fox & Friends” Wednesday to break down the social distancing standards planned for the facility as it seeks to reopen safely during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have been sending and communicating with [Gov. Phil Murphy] and his office. They have said that their two most critical concerns are social distancing and congregating,” Joel Moore, vice president of the New Jersey Golf Course Owners Association, told “Fox & Friends.”
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Moore said that his golf course, The Ridge at Back Brook in central New Jersey, created guidelines to satisfy the governor’s concerns, including not allowing more than one person in a cart and eliminating caddies.
“If an individual is coming to play golf, there will not be outside staff that will take their golf bag and put it somewhere. The individual golfer will have to deal with it themselves. In addition, we are requiring that golfers have a choice, they can either walk and carry their own bag, not utilizing a caddy or they can take a golf cart but it’s only one person per cart."
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Last week, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said he'd unveil a plan that would provide a "blueprint" to reopening the state after it has been pummeled by the coronavirus pandemic.
Although Murphy couldn't promise a specific date to return to "some new normalcy," he said he hoped the state can reach significant milestones in slowing the spread of the virus in the next four to six weeks before stay-at-home restrictions are lifted.
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Although the number of new cases of coronavirus in New Jersey has dipped in the last two weeks, Murphy warned that lifting social distancing restrictions and reopening eateries and public places too quickly could cause a resurgence of the coronavirus, which has already killed 4,496 people in the state and infected 88,722 others.
Moore said golf course owners in the state cannot figure out why nearby states like New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania have allowed courses to open, but not the Garden State. Hours after the interview aired, Murphy announced that he would sign an executive order to reopen parks and golf courses on Saturday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News' Vandana Rambaran contributed to this report.