Lamenting Life Without Golf 

Writing this column in the garden of my house in Wales on a brisk spring afternoon, I can understand why golfers increasingly want to be allowed to return to golf. The sun is shining, and one can feel unseasonably warm, when out of the wind. The sky is blue and cloudless. The normal hum of distant traffic is absent and in its place is birdsong. It would be the perfect weather for golf – if the current lockdown rules in force in the United Kingdom were not in force.

The clubhouse at my club is not open, so there is no temptation to sneak in for a quick coffee before going out to play, nor to stay after a game to have a drink. It is not difficult to change one’s shoes in the club car park and walk straight to the first tee. No touching the flagsticks or holes and abiding by social distancing and staying at least 6 feet from one’s playing partner. None of that is difficult. Surely, surely, the time has come to allow golf in the age of the coronavirus.

Golfers anxious to get out to start playing again received support from an unusua...