TOLEDO, Ohio — On the same day that Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz provided some good news for Ohio golfers, he pulled away the welcome mat from the state's neighbors.
At a morning news conference, the mayor said he was reopening the city-owned courses - Detwiler, Collins Park, and Ottawa Park - even as the Ohio Department of Health coronavirus stay-at-home order remains in place.
When a Blade reporter asked if he was concerned about Michigan golfers playing in the city, he said the benefits of exercise outweighed any possible risks and he wasn't sure how many Michigan players would come to the area.
But on Wednesday, I visited three local courses that were open and 41 cars in one lot, 24 in another, and seven in the final course lot were from Michigan. Once I presented him the results of the survey during the news conference, the mayor said it was a valid concern.
"I will ask (Gov. Mike DeWine) today if he thinks that maybe one of the restrictions, short of building a wall, which is ridiculous because we live in a free society, maybe this is a restriction that the governor could order," Kapszukiewicz said.
Within two hours of the end of the news conference, the mayor's office sent out the following statement: "Following conversations with the governor, lieutenant governor, and local health officials, Mayor Kapszukiewicz announced that provisions will be put in place requiring that only Ohio residents are allowed to golf."
Ohio golfers are being encouraged to pay ahead of time and no carts will be allowed, unless the player has a disability that requires it.
Several other courses around the region - in Sandusky, Fremont, Clyde, Swanton, and Defiance - are already refusing to allow out-of-state players.
Doug Michael, the co-owner of Sycamore Hills Golf Club in Fremont, said he is now only allowing members after five men from Michigan played 27 holes last week.
"One of my members came in and said, 'You know there are Michigan plates in the parking lot?' I said, 'oh no.' That made me really nervous."
Michael cited the explosive COVID-19 outbreak in Michigan. He said the men were from suburban Detroit, the hardest-hit area in the state. On Thursday, Michigan said its COVID-19 cases had increased to 21,504, including more than 6,000 in Detroit.
"When they paid, I went back into the cash register and cleaned all the money with sanitzer," Michael said. "I got nervous. I was scared, man."