Two Melbourne golf courses introduce vaccination policy

Two Melbourne golf courses - The Royal Melbourne Golf Course and the public Sandringham Golf Course - have introduced a ‘no jab, no play’ policy.

The Royal Melbourne Golf Course and the public Sandringham Golf Course will only allow people who have had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine to play when they reopen, and anyone wanting to play there will have to be fully vaccinated from the end of November 2021.

Royal Melbourne Golf Course club captain, Andrew Kirby, says the decision has received “incredibly strong and passionate support” from members.

The club’s 2000 members and staff were told this week that players would need to show proof of at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccination to take to the course, whenever the Victorian Government lifted its ban on playing golf.

Golfers who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons will still be allowed to play the two courses after showing proof of their exemption.

However, Kirby, whose day job is commercial litigation barrister, made it clear there would be zero tolerance for anti-vaxxers noting “a legitimate medical reason will not be: I am waiting for Pfizer; I could not get a vaccination appointment yet; I don’t trust the vaccines, the vaccines are a conspiracy to embed us with 5G network tracking devices etc.”

Kirby when speaking to Neil Mitchell at Melbourne 3AW radio station advised the vaccination requirement is no different to other rules golfers already agree to abide by noting “Golf is a game of a lot of rules. You can’t come down and play at our club in jeans and a t-shirt and there’s all sorts of rules that apply.

Kirby says Royal Melbourne expects most if not all clubs in the state to introduce no-jab no play mandates as the sport continues its efforts to convince Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton and Premier Daniel Andrews that courses can reopen safely.

“We think other clubs will follow us and that’s one of the reasons why we did it. It’s a moment where we feel like we need to show leadership.”

Image: Royal Melbourne Golf Course