Golf course architect Jeff Mingay talks to GCA about the status of his projects and how he is keeping busy during the coronavirus pandemic.

“I happened to be in Seattle to start a project the week of 9 March when things really started to get serious in America,” said Mingay. “Since then, I’ve received nothing but unfortunate news regarding my spring projects in the United States and Canada. Clubs are making the right call postponing this work, though.”

Mingay’s scheduled spring projects in Seattle and Minnesota have been delayed, coming at a time where non-essential travel between Canada and the United States is banned. Projects in Edmonton, Lethbridge, Alberta and Ottawa have been delayed as well. The federal government is strongly discouraging domestic travel in Canada currently, and most provinces have cut banned non-essential construction projects.

“I was in Guelph, Ontario, the other day, at Cutten Fields, about an hour drive from downtown Toronto, where I’m based,” said Mingay. “We were scheduled to start a significant renovation project there this spring as well. We’ve been trying to figure out if and how we might be able to proceed with some work. Now it’s a non-issue. Non-essential construction sites in Ontario were shut down by the provincial government last week. And, rightfully so. Time will tell if anything’s going to happen at Cutten Fields this year.”

“Thankfully, I have some planning for new projects on the go. We’ve also been in the process of trying to recreate Jeff Mingay dot com with little time until now. I’m also trying to return to more reading and writing, again, as a means to make good use and thus take advantage of this newfound time.”