Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2021 - 32

Carnival's medium is the spokenword
community and his vocation, " the
confluence of education and advocacy
best delivered in person, " he says. Yet, as
of Thanksgiving, he had not met with
a single lawmaker in person since last
March. All communication had been via
telephone, email, texts and virtual meetings
online.
" The key is relationship building, " he
says, adding, " lawmakers know you and
trust you and have faith that you're being
straight with them. It's knowing who to
call, and how to phrase the request. "
Dealing with executive orders in a
time of a public health emergency found
everyone in uncharted waters, including
lawmakers and lobbyists, says Carnival.
The closure, and subsequent stay-athome
order caught everyone by surprise.
No one quite knew what it meant, or
whether industries related to essential
businesses and services were likewise
considered essential.
Golf's leaders were equally perplexed
but, above all, they sought clarification
and desired a dialogue with those writing
the language in the
executive orders.
The
path ahead wasn't necessarily
clearly paved, and
thus developing consensus
among the group's
members on certain tactics
was occasionally difficult.
Some wanted to
be aggressive advocates
for opening up golf,
despite the industry's
classification as nonessential,
while others
The Allied Golf Group came together
on March 16 after the Governor's
executive order 20-04, closing bars,
restaurants and places of public
accommodation, including golf
courses. Over the next three months,
the group of industry stakeholders
met frequently on a virtual basis,
sometimes 2-3 times a week, to discuss
strategies to reopen golf once
it was considered safe to do so. The
crisis communications model was
shared with other states around the
country as they came to grips with
similar executive orders closing nonessential
businesses and services. In
Minnesota, the team included:
MGA: Tom Ryan, Tom Smith,
Mike Malone, Ede Rice, W.P. Ryan
McGrann, Shea, Carnival, Straughn
& Lamb: Doug Carnival,
Jessica Tabbutt
MN PGA: JD Drimel, Joel Burger,
Ryan Hanford, Phil Anderson,
Reid LaBeau
Club Managers: Rollie Carlson,
Bill Chrysler
MGCSA: Jack Mackenzie,
Scott Thayer
Golf Course Owners: Dan Howard,
Steve Whillock
counseled patience.
" Tom Ryan was
our quarterback, "
says
Carnival, explaining, " Tom was the one
who kept all of the allied golf associations
under one tent, on strategy and
with one consistent message. "
In the meantime, Carnival was delivering
the golf industry's message to
his contacts who had the ear of the
Governor's chief of staff. Golf has support
from the highest levels of government,
Carnival assured the allied group.
Correspondence was crafted to persuade
the Governor and his commissioners
that golf course maintenance
was crucial to protecting the golf product,
that the window of opportunity was
narrowing with warming spring temperatures,
and that maintenance could be
done safely with social distancing.
Perceiving the department of health
was a bottleneck in the process, the allied
group stressed that social distancing is
an inherent part of the game, and that
they, the allied golf associations, would
introduce best practices for the entire
industry to abide by and follow. These
golf operations safety protocols and best
practices came together in a document
titled " We're Ready to Go. " Some were
cribbed from other golf associations and
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MINNESOTAGOLFER Directory 2021
trade groups, while others were conceived
by the allied group.
These initiatives seemed to resonate
" We came to [the
state] with concrete
proposals on how
to make everything
work safely with
social distancing
in mind, and with
few exceptions,
our proposals were
approved. "
- Tom Ryan
well, as comments favorable to the opening
of golf courses began to appear in
the Governor's remarks during his daily
pressers. On April 8, Walz acknowledged
that golf turf needed work. Later
in the same presser,
Steve Grove, the DEED
commissioner, said the
department was continuing
to add exemptions
for non-essential
industries.
" We're encouraging
people to get outdoors
and be healthy, " Walz
said.
" It's not going to be a
typical summer... [but]
golf is a healthy, mental
health activity that
many people prefer, " he
said, declaring, " [it is]
not elitist. "
Whether or not the timing was coincidental,
the April 8 presser was validating.
The allied golf group was eager to communicate
with the Governor's people
that the golf industry was indeed " ready
to go " and could be opened safely.
Shortly thereafter on April 17, the
Governor signed executive order 20-38
opening outdoor recreational facilities
including public and private golf courses
and outdoor driving ranges, effective the
next day.
Not surprisingly, given it came on a
Saturday and the weather was ideal, the
opener brought 275 and 300 golfers,
respectively, to Oak Marsh Golf Club in
Woodbury, and the Ridges of Sand Creek
in Jordan. The pent-up demand would
feed a golf surge that continued for the
remainder of the season and well into
the fall as golfers showed up in record
numbers. By November, daily fee rounds
were up a staggering 30 percent. In spite
of the late opening, municipal, private
and resort facilities would all report double-digit
increases over the previous year.
By no means was the April 18 opening
the end of the golf story. Organized
mngolf.org
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2021

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