Oak Brook Golf Club Opens With Restrictions

Press release from the Village of Oak Brook:

May 4, 2020

The Butler Government Center (Village Hall), and all the other Village buildings will remain closed to the public through Friday. May, 29 due to the Governor’s state mandate of the pandemic. This includes the Oak Brook Public Library, the Bath & Tennis Club, and the Oak Brook Golf Club. Our offices will now be open Monday through Thursday 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. The Oak Brook Golf Club is now accepting Walking Only Tee Time Reservations 630-368-6400 (additional information including restrictions is available below).

The Police Department Administration and Records personnel will remain open for walk-in services using the red lobby phone Monday through Thursday 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM and will work with our residents and follow the COVID-19 guidelines put in place. People requesting immediate police services outside those times will be connected to our dispatch center (DU-COMM) to speak to on-duty personnel by picking up the red lobby phone. These reduced hours will be in place through Friday, May 29th.

The Oak Brook Public Library also remain closed until Friday May 29th. All due dates have been extended until Wednesday, June 3rd. Please keep in mind, that although the Library building may be closed, online resources are still available to Oak Brook residents. Visit the Library’s Oak Brook Public Library Website for more information on how to access all the Library’s digital content including books, magazines, movies, and educational databases.

The Development Services Department (Building Department) has prepared this Operating Notice (PDF)

Oak Brook Golf Club -- Walking Only Tee Time Reservations 630-368-6400

PLEASE CAREFULLY READ THE SAFETY AND OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES THAT ALL PLAYERS MUST ABIDE BY WHILE ON PROPERTY.

With the precautions and operational restrictions outlined below, golf shall be permitted as a recreational activity, effective 6:00AM, May 1st, 2020. In addition to the general social distancing standards set forth in the Stay at Home Order, golf courses and golfers need to abide by the following controls.

• Golf Clubs and Management restrictions:
  • Require online or telephone bookings
  • Players shall be grouped in twosomes.
  • 15 minutes between tee-times:
    • Average tee-times are roughly 12 minutes apart. Spreading out bookings would ensure people do not congregate at tee boxes.
    • Spacing out the tee times would also limit the number of people at the golf course.
• Signage describing operational changes including: no congregating, increased frequency of cleaning, no handshakes, and maintain social distancing between players
• No practice ranges, chipping greens, or putting greens to limit large gatherings of individuals.
• No golf carts may be used on course (either owned by golf club or privately owned), except individuals with a physical disability or physical limitations that prevent them from walking the course may rent a cart from the golf club.
• Only privately-owned pull carts may be utilized, rental of pull carts from the course will not be allowed
• Elevate the “bottom” of the cup:
  • This can be done by placing the cup upside down so that the new bottom is roughly an inch below the lip of the hole. Golfers could retrieve their ball without having to put their hand in the bottom of the regular cup.
  • Alternatively, place Styrofoam in the bottom of the cup
• Flags cannot be removed from the cup
• Clubhouses, halfway houses, and pro shops shall remain closed.
• Prohibit beverage and snack carts
• Courses shall operate at a minimum basic operations level of staff to limit customer and staff contact; i.e. “starter”, “course manager”, “maintenance crew”, “kitchen staff to prepare to-go only food service.”
• Remove drinking water jugs and prohibit use of water fountains that are permanently affixed with signage
• Elimination of on-course and practice facility touchpoints (i.e. bag drop, benches, ball washes, bunker/sand trap rakes, rental equipment, and water coolers)
• Hand sanitizer and soap in all restrooms, including those on the course
  • Restrooms shall be sanitized regularly
• No indoor events or outside tournaments
• Restaurants can remain open for takeout only; all tables and chairs removed or flipped upside down to prohibit use
• Indoor facilities may be open for minimal operations for use by golf course workers to facilitate the outdoor recreation footprint and activity
• Player Restrictions:
• Any players with any symptoms of COVID-19, should not play
• In addition, any players from a household with someone with symptoms of COVID-19 should not play
• Golfers must walk and carry own clubs; no caddies.
• Bring your own supply of balls, tees, ball markers, and any other equipment needed to play golf.
• Insist on social distancing on tees, greens, and throughout the round
• Players shall maintain adequate physical distancing between other twosomes.
• Golfers should pick up their own ball
• Handle your own scorecard
• Bring your own water/sports drink, towel, and snack
• Do not use the public drinking fountain or ball cleaner
• Leave the flag in place while putting
• Sort out the sand in the bunker with a club
• Put on your golf shoes at your vehicle
• Bring hand sanitizer with you and use during your round and at the end
• No handshakes at the beginning of the round or at the 18th hole

The Village made these decisions based upon guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) in order to begin implementing appropriate ‘social distancing’ precautions into our Village operations so that we may protect the health, safety, and well-being of our residents and employees, while also continuing to maintain essential Village functions and emergency response services. As a local government, it is our shared responsibility to try to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 by following the recommendations of federal and state public health officials.

IDPH Social Distancing Recommendations can be found here (PDF)

This press release was produced by the Village of Oak Brook. The views expressed here are the author’s own.