By Brian Argabright
After nearly a month of being closed, the San Felipe Del Rio Springs Golf Course is once again open.
Course management announced the course was reopened to the public Monday after it had been shuttered Jan. 2 due to “the severity of COVID-19 in our community.” Members were asked to come to the course and retrieve their belongings as no official date to reopen had been announced at the time.
It was the third time in the past 12 months the course had been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was first closed March 24, 2020 and reopened May 9 after Texas Governor Greg Abbot called for the re-opening of golf courses as part of his plan to re-open the state to sports in stages. Golf and tennis were the first sports allowed to resume.
The San Felipe course was closed again July 1, again as a way to slow the spread of the coronavirus. It reopened just over a month late, Aug. 15, by order the Del Rio City Council as it moved to reopen the San Felipe Creek and parks adjacent to the creek.
While the course has reopened, the hours of operation will be different this week. The course will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Beginning Tuesday, Feb. 2, the course will resume its regular operating hours of 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
With the reopening of the course come some changes. Among the changes golfers will find when they return to the course are a closed pro-shop, restrooms closed to the public, but portable restrooms will be available; no more than four players in a group; 15-minute increments between tee times; no gathering before and after rounds; no club rentals; no cash transactions, only credit or debit cards; no walk-ups will be allowed as golfers will need set tee times; cups on the green will be raised and no players will be allowed to take the flag out in order to putt.
A full list of guidelines is posted on the course’s official Facebook page here and is also the photo above.
The re-opening of the course is also beneficial to the Del Rio High School golf team. The team can resume practicing, but they’ll need to do so on their own as the school district, as of Wednesday, had not allowed UIL activities to resume yet out of precaution against COVID-19.
