BOISE — As the COVID-19 virus shuts down most of the sports world, Treasure Valley golfers are still hitting the links.

Boise Parks and Recreation reopened Warm Springs Golf Course, one of two municipal golf courses in the city, at noon on Friday after closing it earlier this week.

As of 2 p.m. Friday, the course was starting to see tee times fill up, as nearly 100 golfers had signed up for tee times on Friday and Saturday, according to a Boise Parks and Recreation official. Tee times were still being booked at the time The Idaho Press was provided with the numbers.

“As long as you're not with other people, you're fine,” said Kim Bissell, a season pass holder at Warm Springs, who got in a round on Saturday afternoon. “The fresh air, to be honest with you, is good for you.”

Most of the golf courses in the Treasure Valley have remained open even as the number of known cases of COVID-19 has shot up both around the country and in Idaho. As of 4:45 p.m. Saturday, Idaho had reported 41 cases of the virus. But the rising numbers haven't scared away Bissell, who at the age of 70 said he still plans on maintaining his rate of playing five times a week. Even when Warm Springs was closed, he played at Plantation Country Club, where a friend is a member.

“If you don't have a life, staying at home sucks,” said Bissell, “no matter what age group you're in.”

That isn't to say some people haven't thought twice about changing their golfing habits through the outbreak. Jake Forsythe, an avid golfer and member of The Club at SpurWing, said he while he was still trying to play his normal two or three rounds this weekend, he has been trying to schedule rounds later in the day, when there are less people on the golf course.

“Being with fewer people, maybe I'll be with somebody else that's in a different golf cart, or maybe somebody that would walk,' said Forsythe. “But as far as playing in tournaments, and stuff like that, there was a tournament that I would have played in this weekend, possibly. And because of this, I decided definitely not to do it.”

The tournament, the Green Monster at Boise Ranch Golf Course, was still played.

Forsythe said he's seen SpurWing do its part in terms of sanitation methods on the course, including wiping down golf carts before and after each use and workers wearing gloves. He said that the course is also recommending that golfers leave pins in their holes and not rake the bunkers unless it's needed.

“They've done a good job communicating to the members what they're enforcing and how they're trying to follow all the rules,” said Forsythe. “They practice safe golf for everyone, if you will.”

For many golf courses, sanitation has become the key word as they try and keep operations open. At Warm Springs, the cups have been raised to stick out of the hole so golfers don't need to reach in to retrieve their balls. Golf carts are not available for rent, and golfers are advised that they should be prepared to walk all 18 holes if they wish to play. Quail Hollow Golf Course, the other course run by Boise, remains closed.

Warms Springs has also kept the putting green and the driving range closed, much to the dismay of Brent Casarotto and his 12-year-old daughter, Trinity, who went to the course Saturday to try the driving range for the first time. Casarotto said he had bought a pair of golf clubs from the Main Street Auction earlier in the day after Trinity had been inspired when she watched videos of golf bloopers online.

“It was horrible, she has never been golfing before,” Brent said about the driving range being closed. “We were watching funny videos on the internet of the golfers and she said 'let's go do that,' because it's right down the street.”

Several courses in the valley have their clubhouses either closed or limited and several have posted notes on their websites detailing sanitizing methods and instructing where golfers are able to find soap and hand sanitizer.

The City of Nampa has kept its two municipal golf courses, Centennial Golf Course and Ridgevue Golf Club, open for play. However, the Centennial Senior Golf Association, which holds tournaments on Wednesdays, has suspended play through April 8. Tournaments are currently scheduled to resume April 22, although that is subject to change. Centennial Men's Golf Association and Centennial Ladies Golf Association have both also canceled tournaments.

According to a press release from the City of Nampa, clubhouses at its courses will be closed except for tee time check ins and concession operations. Only prepackaged items and beverages are available for takeout.

Nampa has also increased sanitation precautions, including sanitizing golf carts after each use and removing ball washing stations and water coolers.

Shadow Valley Golf Course has said on its website that it has created a full-time staff position to sanitize any areas players might come into contact with.

Despite the precautions, golfers are still getting out on the course. On Saturday afternoon the parking lot at Warm Springs had plenty of cars in it, although some of that may have been for the Tram Trail, a popular hiking trail up the backside of Table Rock which has its trailhead directly across the street from the course. The Boise River Greenbelt also passes by the course.

But even as he continues playing under precaution, Forsythe said he knows that he could be forced to quit playing if players at SpurWing start testing positive for COVID-19.

“It's not the most important thing in the world to me,” Forsythe said about golf. “As a matter of fact, I didn't play yesterday because my wife didn't want me to go play because of her concerns. She's a physician, so I'm going to listen to her. If we don't play golf for a while, we don't play golf for a while. But it's nice to get out and it's nice to exercise and it's nice to get out and have fresh air and sunshine. To a certain degree, you still have to live life. Just be as careful as you can being with yourself and everybody else in mind.”