The Warren Golf Course at Notre Dame, closed this spring due to the coronavirus pandemic, will open Tuesday, June 2, to the general public and University community with new policies in place to ensure the health and safety of golfers and staff.
Site of the 2019 U.S. Senior Open, the Ben Crenshaw/Bill Coore-designed course closed when the University suspended in-person classes and shuttered all but essential services in mid-March as the virus spread across the nation and world. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb’s statewide orders two months ago allowed for golf courses to remain open.
The opening of Warren will feature a wide array of policies based upon advice from health experts and best practices within the golf industry. Among them:
On the course
- Tee time intervals will be increased from 10 to 12 minutes to provide ample spacing of groups.
- Only one rider per cart will be allowed, with an exception for players who can show through proper identification that they reside in the same household.
- There will be no rental of clubs or pull carts.
- Bunker rakes and ball washers will be removed.
- Cup inserts will be inverted to limit holed balls to falling to a depth of 1 inch, and flagsticks are to remain in place.
- Golf carts will be thoroughly sanitized after each use.
- GPS messaging will remind players to adhere to social distancing guidelines.
- A Warren staff member will be on the course to ensure policies are being followed.
Clubhouse
- The clubhouse will be closed with the exception of the entry foyer and two restrooms.
- An automatic opener will be available for the exterior entry doors, and the interior entry doors will be kept open.
- Restroom occupancy will be limited to one person at a time.
- High-touch areas in the restrooms and foyer will be sanitized every other hour.
- Restroom faucets are touchless.
- Locker rooms will be closed.
- A hand sanitizing station will be in the foyer.
- Beverages and limited take-away food items will be available beginning June 3 at a walk-up window on the northwest side of the clubhouse.
Parking lot/cart staging area
- Players must unload clubs from their cars and load onto carts.
- Carts will be spaced 10 feet apart.
- Cart attendants will wear masks.
- Cart attendants wearing gloves will clean and sanitize all high-touch points on golf carts prior to and after each use.
Starter’s cottage
- All business will be conducted through the sliding glass window at the starter’s cottage.
- The window will be opened no more than 6 inches for communication, and the staff member at the window will wear a mask and stand behind the closed portion of the window.
- Hand sanitizer will be available outside the window.
- No cash will be accepted; a credit card processor will be outside the window and require guests to insert their own card and press only one key to submit payment. The processer will be sanitized after each transaction.
- Barriers, arrows and markings on the ground will be used to ensure one way in, another way out and proper distancing for guests checking in or purchasing range balls, golf balls or tees.
Driving range/practice putting and chipping greens
- Signage will remind guests to practice proper social distancing.
- Hole flags will be removed from the greens and cup inserts will be inverted.
- Signs will designate specific driving range hitting spaces of at least 12 feet apart.
- Range baskets will be sanitized after each use, and range balls will be cleaned using a 1 percent bleach solution.
Warren is a public course and will have tee times from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Information on the opening of the nine-hole Burke Golf Course at Notre Dame will be provided in coming weeks.
Opened in May 2000, the William K. and Natalie O. Warren Golf Course was made possible by a gift from 1956 Notre Dame graduate William Warren in honor of his parents. It stands on 250 wooded acres on the northeast side of the Notre Dame campus and, at par 72, runs 7,020 yards from the back tees, 6,657 from the middle and 5,302 from the front tees.
In addition to hosting the U.S. Senior Open — the first major professional championship to be played on a college campus — the course also has been the site of NCAA regional tournaments, two U.S. amateur championship qualifiers and the 2010 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship.