SASKATOON -- This year there’s a void for those ready to come out of hibernation and hit the driving range as soon as the snow is gone.

Bonnie Day golfs at least once a week near her home in Regina as well as at courses around the province. She’s wondering when she’ll be able to hit the links with the province’s indefinite COVID-19 restrictions on activities like golf.

“It’s hard to get out and do something and feel good. You need that. It’s so good for mental health to get out and do physical activity,” Day told CTV News.

The province released a list of allowable businesses in late March and golf was not on the list.

Day realizes that golf is not an essential service and that safety is the prime concern so that the virus doesn’t spread further, but she thinks there should be exceptions considering some courses in B.C. are open.

“B.C. has courses running and to me it’s like they have way more cases than we do,” Day said.

A course in Langley has been open since April 1 and three courses in Kelowna are open this week. All have strict physical distancing rules in place including closing the clubhouse, restaurant and driving range while some are not offering power cart rentals.

Alexander Crizzle, a professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Saskatchewan, said rules have to be consistent across the board to limit the spread of COVID-19. That includes golf courses.

“You always have people that think ‘I’m immune, I’m fine or I don’t have any symptoms.’ We know from what’s happened in other areas that social distancing just hasn’t worked in some cases,” Crizzle told CTV News.

Saskatchewan must stay the course, he said.

Day doesn’t see the problem with golf if proper restrictions are put in place like waiting in your vehicle until your tee time and spreading out those tee times more than usual. She wants to see Saskatchewan reconsider its stance on allowing golf, as it is set up for social distancing, she said.

While she admits that some people might not abide by rules for distancing on the course, she wants to see golfers given a chance.

“We’re not children that we have to barricade the playground off. We understand social distancing. I get there’s always going to be the bad apple. I understand it. I have my wipes and hand sanitizer and we have our own balls and clubs. There’s no reason to have any contact.”

She’s also a small business owner who runs Trusted Regina, a directory of local businesses. If golf courses can make some money to recoup the losses that this year will bring, they should be allowed to do that, said.

She would like to see fewer golfers on the course to allow physical distancing and that revenue will be better than nothing, she said.