By RICHARD ESSEX
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
Jessica Lynch and her husband opened Birdies Miniature Golf course last summer. They had just reopened for this year as the weather improved and stay-at-home orders softened.
On Wednesday afternoon, two people claiming to be Indiana Excise Police showed up and ordered the course closed. The police also said they were coming back Thursday, Lynch says, and the two were so aggressive that she asked the Westfield Police Department to come over.
According to Westfield Mayor Andy Cook, the decision is local on whether to allow golf courses to reopen, but the state claims they must remain closed. (Photo provided)
“He said that state police should have provided documentation and/or citation to show like how we were in violation,” Lynch said.
According to Lynch, the officers didn’t leave any paperwork. She later was told that someone had filed a complaint. The manager of Birdies Miniature Golf, Tyler – he asked News 8 not use his last name – was on duty when the excise officers showed up.
“They just flashed their badge real quick. They were pretty rude to me in front of three families that were waiting to play golf, which I think is unacceptable. If you are gonna tell somebody they are going to have to close their business, at least be nice about it,” Tyler said.
Lynch and her staff believed they followed all the rules of reopening. They have marked the sidewalk in compliance with social distancing practices, groups on the course are separated, and the equipment is cleaned after each use.
Westfield Mayor Andy Cook says he talked to Lynch before she opened.
Cook
“Voluntarily, these owners called me and asked, ‘May we open,’” the mayor said.
Cook says the decision to open and or close golf courses rests in the hands of the mayors.
“Stage 2 (of the state’s Back on Track plan) means we can have our golf courses open. This is a golf course,” the mayor said.
News 8 reached out to Indiana Excise Police and were directed to the Joint Information Center, which in an email said that minigolf courses are to stay closed.