But one local association seems to have landed a blow of its own - increasing participation as well as keeping its members safe in the process.
Goulburn Murray Golf Association women's Virtual Play At Home Pennant will debut with its first round on Sunday and Monday, in what could be a venture which continues into future seasons if all goes well.
“It's usually this time of year that the women's four-ball pennant begins,” GMGA president David Roberts said.
“We haven't been able to travel much and there were concerns about trying to stage a normal pennant season, so we made the decision that we would play what we're calling Virtual Play At Home Pennant.
“Five pairings will make up each team of 10, and they will play at their home club on either Sunday or Monday each round. The four-ball stableford score they record will then be sent in to association captain Mandy Faram who will compare Shepparton one against Tocumwal one for example and so on, and that's how the matches will be decided.”
The added flexibility of being able to play on either a weekend or weekday - as well as at your home club every week - has been received well across the region.
“We've had a huge response, and we'll have more women playing pennant this season than we ever have before,” Roberts said.
“There's 21 teams involved, so to get 210 women in the one district playing in the same competition is outstanding.
“The feedback has been positive surrounding the idea, they're happy that they can play at home and not have to travel, plus having Sunday as an option has opened it up for working women to play too - with women's pennant mostly being during the week in the past.”
It is yet to be decided whether men's GMGA pennant will also take on a virtual feeling this summer, but judging by the initial response to the women's version it will be around in some format at least for years to come.
“In some ways it is a bit of a novelty but in some ways it's also a great opportunity to have more players involved,” Roberts said.
“The chances are that we may repeat it in the future or run it simultaneously alongside normal pennant. At the moment we're still assessing the landscape for the men's pennant because that usually doesn't start until January.
“I've certainly let the men's captains know that this might be them in a few months.
“Virtual pennant does take away a lot of the social interaction of players mixing from different clubs, but in the current environment it's the perfect solution.”
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