While it hasn't always been the easiest or smoothest road, the Dubbo Golf Club is getting somewhere back to a state of normality after a whirlwind few months.
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On Monday, as restrictions ease across the state, the clubhouse will open up again for food and drinks, in good news for bar staff and punters alike, but the biggest leaps are happening out on the golf course.
General manager Rod Archer says the easing restrictions will finally allow the greens to be attended by people who had previously been barred under the lockdown rules put in place by the state government and Golf NSW.
"We've been able to open up the course to anyone who resides in NSW or the ACT, which is great, we'll be able to get some more social play going out on the course," Archer said.
"There's a lot of people who've got friends in town who aren't members and so haven't been able to play golf together, with travel restrictions dropping as well, it means people from the cities can come out here and play golf and we've seen a lot of enquiries along that line.
"People are looking to enjoy a bit more of a relaxed atmosphere and play a bit away from the city."
The increased chance of visitors playing means the club will likely be able to make good on the optimism brought in the aftermath of the club hosting the NSW Women's Open earlier in the year.
"We were hoping the Open would kickstart golf in Dubbo from a visitor's perspective, with people from the city getting to see the condition of the course despite the drought. It doesn't seem like we've missed out on that enthusiasm," Archer said.
Another sign of positive movement for the club is the introduction of a new competition aimed at the young and more inexperienced.
"That's going really, really good. We're aiming for a June 14 start there, for the new members and juniors, we're encouraging a lot of our existing members to bring their friends along and participate too," Archer said.
The format of the competition will pair incoming juniors with more experienced mentors in order to ensure both are challenged and the newcomers get plenty of opportunities to learn the game.
"Members who do play in those mentoring spaces will play for free because they're encouraging new membership and their job will be to help new players understand the rules and the etiquette of golf, that sort of stuff can be a little bit daunting for people who haven't played or experienced the history of the game," Archer said.
"Hopefully that will help us break down some of those barriers to entry."
The club's other competitions are continuing to see strong numbers as well.
"Our Saturday competitions, we're getting 230 in the field, it's been quite strong throughout this whole process, but we're hoping those people who've revisited because of COVID will stick with it after having their passion reignited," Archer said.
"We really want to hear from those people in terms of what we can do for them."
