Golf sees spike in popularity during pandemic

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Golf is one sport you can do while social distancing. 

And that makes the sport a hole-in-one for people looking to get outside during the pandemic.  

The popularity of the sport has skyrocketed during the pandemic. Indian Hills Country Club in Bowling Green has seen an increase in the number of people spending the day on the courses.

“There are a lot of people working from home, so it’s a great place. You can obviously bring your kids out, you can get out with your buddies, get out with your family. There are so many options to get your family out to play and get out of the house,” said John Mullendore, head golf professional at Indian Hills Country Club.

Mullendore said the club has seen a huge increase in people and is about to hit a record high 25,000 rounds this year. 

Assistant golf professional Jacob Schakat who works at Indian Hills as well said the club is working to keep guests safe.

“We started out doing one person per cart and we have enough carts where we can do that. A lot of members drive their own cart on or have their own golf carts so it’s pretty easy to social distance in a cart. You just go straight to your ball and that’s about it,” said Schakat.

With other sports not fully practicing, other athletes are finding this outlet to stay active. Another age group that benefits from golf during the pandemic is senior citizens, who can stay a safe distance from others but still see their friends. 

It’s just a great way to socialize in general.