Wellington to Level 3, Tuesday 31st, 11.59pm

Golf and Alert Level 4
The Prime Minister has announced this afternoon that all of New Zealand will be at Alert Level 4 until at least 11.59pm on Tuesday 31 August and the Auckland region will likely stay at Alert Level 4 for a longer period. All areas outside of Auckland and Northland will move to Alert Level 3 at 11.59pm on Tuesday 31 August 2021.

Alert Level 4, the implications for golf are as follows:

1. All golf club facilities are to remain closed.
2. All golf courses are to remain closed for the playing of golf.
3. Only essential golf course maintenance can be undertaken.

The specific rules for Sport and Recreation at Alert Level 4 can viewed at this link: https://sportnz.org.nz/covid-19-response/alert-level-information/

Golf and Alert Level 3

Early next week, Golf New Zealand will publish guidelines on the implications for golf at Alert Level 3.

Indications are that the regulations will be very similar to the last time we were at Alert Level 3. This will mean a range of measures will need to be at place to enable golf to be played. Whether a golf club opens for play is entirely decision for each golf club to make. For those that do decide to open for golf, all facilities (club houses, pro shops etc) will need to be closed and solo/bubble golf will be all that is permitted. No pin flags or any other shared touch points (bunker rakes etc) will be able to be on course.

Please note that the government is currently reviewing all guidelines for sport and recreation at Alert Level 3 and have indicated there may be changes from last time we were at Alert Level 3. We do not expect any confirmation until Monday at the earliest. More details as soon as we have it.

Essential Turf Maintenance

At Alert Level 4, golf course maintenance can be undertaken for minimum operations necessary to maintain condition or value. This directive is under the Government’s Workplace Guidelines as published at https://www.business.govt.nz/covid-19/operating-at-alert-levels 

Where essential maintenance is undertaken, a golf course must:

1. Minimise, or eliminate if possible, physical interactions among staff.
2. Ensure appropriate health, hygiene and safety measures are in place.
3. Restrict activity to only what is essential during the Alert Level 4 period.

Financial Support for Organisations Affected by Lockdown
Applications for the Wage Subsidy scheme are now available and will be open for a period of two weeks. Businesses can apply for the Wage Subsidy if they expect a loss of 40% of revenue as a result of the alert level increase. The Wage Subsidy can only be used by businesses to support them to continue to pay employee wages. You can find the link to the application form here. For privacy reasons, businesses must obtain consent from each staff member who the employer wishes to name on the application for the Subsidy.

Businesses may also be able to apply for the Resurgence Support Payment to help with business costs, if the business has incurred a loss of 30% of revenue as a result of the alert level increase. Applications for the Resurgence Support Payment scheme opened at 8am on Tuesday 24 August 2021. A business can receive both the Wage Subsidy payment and the Resurgence Support Payment, if the eligibility criteria is met for each payment.

The government announcement about the assistance that is available can be found here.

Please note: This advice may be updated after further consultation with government. The most up to date information on the COVID-19 pandemic (as it relates to golf) is on the Golf New Zealand website: https://www.golf.co.nz/news-detail?newsarticleid=23479&tags=Industry