The Recreation Centers of Sun City West today announcesits seven golf courses will close on Tuesday, April 14.
They will remain closed until further notice.
The Rec Centers is taking this action as an extension of its earlier progression of closures asthe state and nation
deal with the spread of coronavirus.
“The governor has not mandated the closure of golf courses, but we believe the time has come to take this
action to protect against the spread of coronavirus,” said General Manager Bill Schwind. “We had taken several
measures prior to this to ensure our golfers were socially distancing themselves, not touching flag poles or the
cups, not renting our golf carts. But want to continue being at the forefront of this, so our courses will close on
April 14.”
Residents make tee times seven days in advance in SCW, so this future date means no tee times will be
canceled, but no additional times for play after April 14 will be accepted. “We understand many of our golfers have
prepaid for discount cards(Kachina, Coyote and Annual). This is being taken into consideration. Please bear with us
as we work out the details and check suncitywest.com for updates,” Schwind said.
Maintenance at the golf courses will continue, and aerification projects will be moved forward to take
advantage of the closure. This means the golf courses are CLOSED to the community. Player Assistants will be
reassigned to patrol the courses. No walking, biking, dog walking, or unscheduled golf will be allowed. Any
residents found trespassing may be subject to a loss of their membership privileges when the facilities reopen.
The recreation centers including outdoor amenities continue to be closed. “We understand our residents are
out there using some of the outdoorspaces for walking,” Schwind said. “We aren’t going to police those areas at
this time, but we ask our members to please practice social distancing and wear masks. Covid-19 is not something
to take your chances with, especially given our community’s demographics. The community sidewalks, which are
more extensive, may provide a better opportunity to get outside without getting close to others. We encourage
residents to exercise there, not on the limited spaces on our walking tracks and sports fields.”
The Rec Centers Pandemic Task Force and key staff are meeting regularly and will reevaluate that closure date
as the situation across the state unfolds.
Staff is working with the Governing Board to stay on schedule with its budgeting process by hosting virtual
meetings. Four committee meetings were held last week. A Workshop scheduled for this Friday will be held
virtually. Look for details at suncitywest.com.
Member dues are still being accepted via mail, the online portal or a drop box in front of the Member Services
Office. Anyone who is late on dues that are payable after April 1 will have late fees waived, but dues are still
required per the agreement each homeowner signs when buying a home in Sun City West. Dues go toward
maintaining and operating the facilities, and are not a guarantee of facility availability. The Rec Centers will reopen
the facilities as soon as it is feasible without jeopardizing resident safety.
The Rec Centers is working closely with Arizona Fire and Medical Authority, as well as taking guidance from the
Centers for Disease Control and Arizona Department of Health Services to provide updates. Information can be
found online at suncitywest.com/covid19 and by following the Recreation Centers of Sun City West on all their
social media:
• Facebook: Recreation Centers of Sun City West
• Twitter: @rcscw
• Instagram: @suncitywest_az
Updates also are being shared on Sun City West radio station KSCW 103.1 FM.
Sad, truly sad. I certainly hope you tell the bicyclist they can no longer ride and residents can no longer walk the trails or streets including taking their dogs out to do their business. This has gone too far. Golfers have been practicing social distancing and taking their own carts.
Actually you’re wrong, my wife and I have been golfing several times in the last couple weeks, and even though we saw groups with several golf carts, they were still standing together on the tee boxes and greens. We will miss golfing also, but some people just don’t get it. We also saw two couples golfing, the men were in one cart and the women were in the other.
Actually, your wrong….The average green is 5-6000 sq ft in size and tee box maybe half that size. I believe there is plenty of room for 4 people to all stand and still be 6 feet apart.
It’s comments like yours that fuel the fire to make uninformed decisions.
Golfers ARE respecting and following the rules!
The courses have been open during all this time and you’re going to close them now?
Why wait until Tues instead of closing them immediately? Doesn’t make sense.
One reported case in SCW (85375): Does that justify the complete shutdown of SCW recreation facilities, especially the golf courses?!
https://www.12news.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/arizona-releases-zip-code-locations-of-coronavirus-cases-other-data-for-the-first-time/75-f7569465-433f-4511-8b27-f8366f563813
Closing the courses is a huge mistake. Golfers have been very careful to follow all the new rules to protect themselves and other players. You are taking away a very safe activity accomplishing nothing in prevention.
Since the Governor has not closed golf courses my hope is that this decision was not influenced by the negative comments by non-golfers. After all this is a golfing community or there would not be 9 golf courses here! The resident golfers have been very diligent in following the restrictions imposed. One suggestion : close the courses to all non-residents during this time. I have observed groups of young people golfing together on weekends, not following restrictions. The fresh air, sunshine and physical activity are very important to our immune systems. Thank you for addressing concerns of those golfers who have invested in the golf cards. Hopefully the closures will be of short duration. Thank You.
I thought that this social distancing and all that goes with it was to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
It seems to me and I haven’t been told any different that there is any coronavirus on the golf courses to keep from being spread at this time.
It may be possible, to keep everybody safe and God knows we have to keep everybody safe, that we are going to have to go into some kind of shut down on the golf courses eventually.
But the BIG Question is why do you feel that it is needed to shut down the only thing you haven’t shut down before there is a even problem?
I think you may want to rethink what I think is a bad decision.
Rich, this decision is based on the estimated peak case and death load in Arizona, which is predicted to be one to three weeks from now. We wanted to give a week’s notice before closure.
Social distancing is far easier on the golf courses than it is on the sidewalks by our homes … if I walk as far as 5-6 blocks I will pass at least 2-3 other walkers, often couples …. on the golf courses I never come anywhere near other people …. there are comments about seeing people not keeping proper distances on the courses, but it is usually married couples or friends who are likely not social distancing anywhere else, either …. this decision was obviously made by people who haven’t personally taken the time to observe first hand what is actually happening on the courses … people long on theory, but pathetically short on reality !
Golfers will find a place to play. Revenue will leave our community. Someone commented keeping the courses open was “all about money”- Don’t complain when your owner/member dues have to significantly go up. Golf as our governor states is good for mental health, likens it to bike riding, yoga, hiking, walking. etc. Concerned that many of our leaders don’t actually live here and make decisions for us.
My friends and I will find other places to play, please note these are friends who play up to 7 days a weeks, all of which, practice GREAT social distancing. Not one person in my VERY wide circle of friends has COVID-19. Further, according to the world wide COVID-19 mapping, the number of infections, around the world, and more specifically in Arizona are leveling out, this is in addition to an increase in recovered.
Further, the CDC has not recommended the shut down of golf courses, nor has the Governor of Arizona. I’m not sure how the Sun City West decision makers, can legitimately make a decision affecting such a large number of its residents, based on Mr. Schwind’s desire to “continue being at the forefront of this” as stated in the 4/6/20 press release. Does Mr. Schwind have expertise greater than Dr. Fauci of the CDC, or the Governor’s office? If so, maybe he should join one of those teams, and provide his expertise their, rather than a, baseless, I think its a good idea, decision.
Granted the measures taken to date were well thought out and are more than adequate . Shutting the courses down is ABSOLUTELY not necessary, particularly, when it is not based on any expert recommendation and/or requirements from the CDC or the Governor.
In addition, those of use who paid for seasonal cards need to be refunded so the money can be used at other courses that are still open.
Mr. Schwind, there is still time to reverse your decision, I would recommend you do so before you cause your community to take a huge financial hit for absolutely no fact based reason.
Watch the Utube video on how far droplets spread after sneezing and coughing. Golfers could wear masks, be stagger t time to keep far apart in distance and time, and maintain social distancing at all times. Better they’re on the course than everyone on the sidewalks. How about a course turned into a park for us residents who like to walk?!!!
the sad part of this we gave into the complaints of other people that play pickle ball and other activities,I felt sun city west did a great job at handling the coronavirus and yet you still elect to close something that generates income to the community there was an easier way to handle this putting money in our account and eliminating outside golfers and keeping it to just members
Hi I golf and work at the bowling alley and was sorry that it had to close but I understand that we need to be safe and yes it is a shame that you have to close the course ‘s. But as the old saying goes it is better to be safe than sorry later. And I believe that the board is trying to be as safe for all of us that live here in Sun City West.