Golf courses in England are set to reopen from Wednesday, after the government announced on Sunday that the public can practise sports in "the least risky outdoor environments".

This can be played alone, with members of your household, or with one other person from outside your household, provided they remain two metres apart, according to a government guidance document published on Monday entitled 'Staying alert and safe (Social distancing)'.

READ MORE: Golf courses are set to reopen in England on Wednesday

But while standard social distancing rules apply, golf clubs and their members must also abide by strict protocols issued by the R&A, which are aimed at reducing the risk and spread of coronavirus.

Course set-up

All rakes and ball-retrievers must be removed, ball washers and drinking fountains must be covered up, and benches and bins to be removed, covered or sign-posted in such a way that players don’t touch them.

Flag sticks in holes can be retained but it is strongly recommended that a sign is put on the flag stick stating that it is not to be touched.

A method of inserting the hole liner must be used to ensure that all of the ball does not fall below the surface of the putting green and can be easily retrieved by handling the ball only.

Practice areas, including practice nets, must be closed unless safe sanitising practices can be guaranteed.

Before the round

Advance tee time bookings should now be made to play, with these ideally being made online, unless the club can find a safe way to make bookings on site.

There is to be a minimum of ten-minute intervals between tee times, but longer intervals may be more appropriate depending on the club.

Clubhouse and locker room facilities will be closed, with golfers being instructed to spend as little time on site as possible between arrival and teeing off.

No trolleys, carts or other items will be available for hire unless safe sanitising practices can be guaranteed.

During the round

Golfers must keep two metres apart at all times.

With no rakes allowed on the course, golfers must make their very best efforts to smooth the sand using their club and/or their feet.

Golfers must not touch the flag stick.

After the round

Golfers must leave the course and the club/facility immediately so that there are no gatherings around the clubhouse area.

Accepted temporary rules

It is recommended that non-competition play is used initially, with stroke play competitions involving players in different groups to be avoided.

If competitive stroke play is played, a method of scoring needs to be used that does not require any handling or exchanging of scorecards.

Scorecards can be electronic, which could include emailing or texting scores to the committee.

If a club feels that the enjoyment of the game is being significantly affected by there being no rakes, it may introduce preferred lies in bunkers and provide that a player may place a ball in the bunker within one club-length of the original spot and not nearer to the hole than that spot.

The hole liner is to be set in a way that means that all of the ball cannot be below the surface of the putting green, so the ball is considered holed if any part of it is below the surface of the putting green.

To minimise the need to lift the ball from the hole, it is recommended that a ball is holed with the next stroke if it is within 12 inches of the hole (which is just over the length of a standard putter grip). This does not prevent a player in match play conceding a stroke that is outside this length.

The hole liner may sit above the surface of the green and a ball can be treated as holed if it strikes the liner.