Telegraph photo by TOM KING Tony Joyce likes his first tee shot in two months on the first hole Monday at Nashua Country Club.

How happy were local golfers to get back out on the course after the state’s coronavirus ban was lifted for Monday’s return?

Take the case of Nashua Country Club member Tony Joyce of Amherst.

“I’m psyched,” he said after hitting his first tee shot in nearly two months. “This is psyched. I’m playing six days in a row now. I’ve got six tee times.”

Mother Nature gave local golfers an unexpected beautiful morning but dealt a couple of curves as rain arrived in the afternoon. And despite the early sunshine, Green Meadow of Hudson had a frost delay in the morning as temperatures were in the 30s, so tee times had to be pushed back an hour.

“Of all things, in this current situation, wouldn’t you know we’d have a frost delay from Mother Nature this morning,” Green Meadow general manager Pete Dupuis said. “But it beats rain or snow.

“But our golf has been fantastic. The golfers have been understanding, very cooperative, and really just anxious and happy to be out here playing.”

Dupuis said golfers called the pro shop early to check on any delay and thus didn’t show up early to congregate on the tee. And thus, despite the delays, that made for a great Monday

morning.

“Fantastic,” Nashua’s Marty Edwards said. “Absolutely fantastic. It’s like a breath of fresh air, it’s great to get out here, meet some new people, play with my good buddy, take in the fresh air, it’s fantastic.”

How did the process go?

“Good, not bad,” Edwards said. “Some hiccups because it’s the first day out. But taking into account all the variables we’ve got to deal with, pretty good.”

“It felt excellent,” Tom Magee of Nashua said. “We’re blessed today, actually. We got a little sunshine, wasn’t supposed to happen, and we got to play golf. On the 11th of May. It’s a little later than normal, but we’ll take it.”

Souny Voung of Lowell, Mass., could play since he’s what is known at Green Meadow as an “inner member”, despite being an out of stater.

“It’s a beautiful day today to play golf,” he said.

Ken Quigley of Lowell, Mass., another Green Meadow member, was glad to finally get out.

“It feels great,” he said. “We haven’t been out in five or six weeks since they shut down. So we’re happy to be back.”

On the first tee, it was quiet – social distancing to the max.

“It was great,” Quigley said. “Nobody got near us. It was just the four of us and the starter, and he stayed away. You can see we’re all trying to walk around and keep our distance.”

A little awkward with that first swing?

“Absolutely,” he said.

There was no delay at Nashua Country Club, because tee times weren’t scheduled until 8 a.m. A foursome had a clear first hole around 9:40 a.m.

“It’s the greatest thing ever,” Joyce said after his tee shot. “It’s been too long. Inherently we’re six feet away from each other by nature of the club.”

Merrimack’s Tom Feller, playing in Joyce’s foursome, said that first swing felt great.

“Wonderful,” he said with a big grin. “I hit the ball.”

Indeed, the general feeling was joy to be playing; worry about how you played later.

Edwards put his second shot in the wooded area on the right hand side of the hole he was on and had to maneuver his way out of trouble.

“I didn’t have such a great start, not like the other two,” he said pointing to his playing partners. “But that’s OK. We’re here.”

Having missed about a month and a half of the season, Steve Actis unloaded his golf bag, put on his shoes and made his way to the first tee for his 9:48 tee time on Monday morning.

The first shot was right where he wanted it and he and his group were off and running at Amherst Country Club.

“It’s nice, as long as everyone follows the rules,” Actis said. “Everybody follows the guidelines and stayd away. It’s safer outside as long as we stay 6-feet away or further on a golf course. Just enjoy yourself and be outside.”

Players, employees and ownership alike were happy to be back.

“A lot, it’s been a long few weeks,” Dan Mladuc, playing with Actis said. “It’s good to be out here, so we’ll take the guidelines and go with it.”

Gov. Sununu lifted some of the guidelines of the stay-at-home order last week and as May 11 at 6 a.m., golf courses are able to reopen.

One of the safest sports, where no contact of any kind is required, was forced to be shut down at the end of March.

With the opportunity to reopen, comes a new set of guidelines that courses will be forced to follow.

Those guidelines include the following:

Golfers must handle their own golf bag and remain into their car until 15 minutes prior to their tee time, when they can call the clubhouse or check in online.

Golf carts will available on a first-come, first-serve basis for a fee for a single rider. Carts will be sanitized between uses.

Greens fees will be paid online and over the phone.

You must be a NH resident or a member of the course.

Customers and staff will be instructed to maintain a distance of at least six feet from others (staff and other customers) at all times while playing and on the grounds.

On Monday, Amherst CC has a raised cup to about an inch from the putting surface, marked by a red flag.

They used a window for customers to pay for their round as well as being able to purchase things such as golf balls and anything else necessary to play the game.

No one seemed to mind any of the changes, and on Monday, things seemed to run just as smooth.

“Everyone so far has been receptive,” Bill Boyd, the starter said. “No one has complained about it. Everyone pretty much is social distancing. As far as taking carts, unless it’s a family and they live together, everyone is driving their own cart. I would say 85-90 percent of golfers are walking today.”

In the past, any kind of jams on the course came from the nine or 10 minute tee times with faster golfers catching slower golfers.

Extending the length between times, seems to have helped with that issue to ensure those jams didn’t happen.

“It’s helping quite a bit,” Boyd said. “It’s making sure everyone is safe and far enough away. There’s no backups. It’s running very smooth this morning.”

It also helped that there was no play in April, when courses are often in their worst shape due to the winter season and the bad early spring weather.

“The course is in great condition,” Boyd said. “There were no divots until they got out there today. Steve Wilson, who is the head groundskeeper, did a tremendous job out there with the course.”

That’s something Actis found out when he got to his ball in the fairway on No. 1.

Things at Overlook Golf Club in Hollis were almost identical.

Everyone playing paid for their golf over the phone ahead of time.

The course – and golfers – followed the rules – not just since the Monday reopening, but in March before closing.

Even in March, golfers were keeping their distance and the course took away things like the rakes for the bunkers.

On Monday, the cups were upside down and marked by a flag.

“I think it’s going to speed up play a bit,” Byron Pitarys, a worker at the course and a golfer as well said. “There are a lot of things that are in effect that they’re not going to have to do. I think they are moving along pretty good right now as we watch them.”

There is hope that some things will gradually be let go of.

Ron Hubbard is a starter at the course for the last 15 years and a player at Overlook the last 30.

“I hope (the guidelines) will (help),” Hubbard said. “I also hope at some point they will relieve some of the guidelines in terms of carts and putting green. I think it’s gotta help.”

Hubbard has no set day or time to get back on the course again, but he’ll be happy when he is.

“I’m very excited to get back out there,” Hubbard. “It’s been a long winter. Soon.”

The course was in excellent condition.

It had more of a fall feeling than a May one, considering the weather thus far this spring.

“A lot of it has to do with the temperatures,” course manager John McNeil said. “If it’s not warm enough, nothing is going to grow anyway. It was nice that we were able to aerate and get everything done that we would have been doing during play. Now we’ve already got that stuff out of the way. Now we just need some warmer days so things can start growing.”

Some nicer weather can only help, but for now, the golf industry pretty much shares the same sentiment.

“They’re all excited to be back out there,” Jeff Henderson said. “They’re all really happy.”