Tee time comes early as golf club reopens doors post-Covid lockdown

A group of golfers greeted the easing of England’s coronavirus restrictions by hitting the fairways at just after midnight.

Seven teams used glow-in-the-dark balls and floodlit greens at the Morley Hayes Golf Club, near Derby with their opening drives coming at 12.01am.

Golf is among the outdoor activities which can now take place in England with courses allowed to reopen along with football and cricket pitches, tennis and basketball courts, and outdoor swimming pools.

The seven-hole tournament was held to raise funds for the Nottingham Breast Cancer Research Centre.

Andrew Allsop, managing director of Morley Hayes Golf Club, told the PA news agency the idea for the nocturnal tee-off was made “on a whim”.

He said: “It filled instantly, there was so much interest because I don’t think there are any places in England that do night golf and we obviously want to try and get in the records that we’re the first ones to reopen on March 29.

“I think the buzz has been made even buzzier because it’s such great weather forecast this week. All the fair-weather golfers, everyone’s out and the tees booked from Monday morning first light, 6.30am, right through … and it’s like that all week.

“We’ve been shut six months out of 12 so it’s been very difficult but we’ll survive and good times are ahead and like Captain Tom (Moore) said, tomorrow’s another day, so I’m looking forward to it.”