Sunset Valley Golf Club To Reopen Under New Coronavirus Order

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — The Sunset Valley Golf Club will reopen Friday under Gov. J.B. Pritzker's modified stay-at-home order with new social distancing guidelines in place to limit the risk of coronavirus transmission, park district officials announced.

The Highland Park Golf Learning Center will remain closed, as driving ranges and miniature golf courses must to stay shuttered under the governor's executive order, which is due to remain in place through the end of May.

The district-owned club began booking tee times — for twosomes only — online or over the phone Monday. Among the changes: no golf carts or push carts will be available for rental. There will be styrofoam in the cup, flags must be kept in place, on-course restrooms are closed, according to the golf club's website.

Players must bring their own supply of balls, tees, markers and other equipment, handle their own scorecards and bring and use their own hand sanitizer. Sunset Valley's restaurant will be open for carryout only via its pickup window.

Illinois Coronavirus Update April 27: Don't miss updates about precautions in the Highland Park area as they are announced. Sign up for Highland Park Patch news alerts and newsletters.

The governor's modified order also allowed boating starting May 1. Power boating will remain forbidden from the Park Avenue boating facility until June at the earliest, but no decision has been made on whether to allow small craft boating for limited hours, according to park district staff.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the shutdown of Park District of Highland Park facility, staffers have posted dozens of videos of free activities and lessons online.

The district also announced plans to offer resident registration for virtual programs, offering live online art, theater and dance classes, golf, tennis, and baseball swing analysis, gaming tournaments and other events.

For people who registered for one of the spring programs canceled due to the pandemic, the district is offering refunds or credit toward the new programs.

District officials have taken several cost-cutting measures in response to the financial impact of coronavirus-related closures and cancellations, according to Liz Gogola, director of communications and marketing.

Among them, the district has identified more than $2.5 million in planned capital spending to consider deferring until 2021, eliminated $600,000 in operational expenses from the 2020 budget and evaluating potential freezes on hiring and raises through the end of the year that could amount to more than $500,000 in savings, according to Gogola.

So far this month, the district furloughed 186 part-time employees classified as class 2 and class 3 employees. All 88 full-time positions and 12 part-time, class 1 positions will see pay cuts due to reduced schedules, cutting down total hours by about a fifth, she said. Combined, the changes reduce the district's payroll costs by more than $151,400 per month after taking the cost of unemployment insurance into account.