Things were different – such as outside check-in, riding solo in carts and no sounds of balls rattling in the bottom of cups – but golf returned to Illinois on Friday.

There are restrictions mandated from Gov. JB Pritzker aimed at promoting social distancing and keeping golfers safe amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But players and those managing courses agreed that golf, even with some tight regulations, is far better than no golf.

“It is good. We’ll take anything we can get,” said Quentin Grasso, the head professional at Prairie Isle Golf Course in northeast Crystal Lake. “Everybody’s happy to be out right now.”

Some courses had golfers playing in mid-March just before stay-at-home orders shut down many businesses because of health concerns. Pritzker agreed to let courses open again Friday with tighter rules such as staying in groups of two, one rider per golf cart and having driving ranges and putting greens closed.

“It was great to be out on a golf course, great to be out of the house on a gorgeous day on top of it,” said Cary resident Gary Davis, who played with his friend, Bob Korman, at Foxford Hills Golf Club. “You couldn’t ask for anything better. It was wonderful.”

Jay Craig, co-owner and golf professional at Crystal Woods Golf Club, said the tee times for the weekend fill up quickly with twosomes at 15 minutes apart rather than foursomes.

“We had a variety of people – juniors, a lot of women, some from near and far,” Craig said. “Everybody’s happy to be out.”

Pat Kaulen of Lake in the Hills used the first day back to play at Crystal Woods with his son, Patrick Jr.

“It was absolutely wonderful to get out again, get a little normalness back in your life,” Kaulen said. “We called on the phone, prepaid, somebody met us outside, we wore our masks to the first tee, stood there 3 or 4 minutes and teed off. It was nice to get out and swing.”

John Miles, the general manager at Foxford Hills, felt like courses have had time to prepare for the new rules.

“There’s been a little pushback with comments from customers, but overall, everything’s been going pretty smoothly,” Miles said. “We’re hopefully going to get through this first month and some of the restrictions will be removed and golfers will be happier overall.”

There are subtle differences on the course so golfers don’t touch the same places, such as no rakes are touched in bunkers and no pins are touched on greens. Crystal Woods stuffed pool noodles into the cups so the balls don’t go in all the way; Foxford Hills pulled its cups out of the hole.

“You hear a little ‘ting’ when it hit the metal cup,” said Bob Korman, a Cary resident who played with Davis on Friday. “You pick up your ball and you’re done. You don’t have to touch the pin.”

Restrooms were open at courses, but customers had to wear masks when entering the building. Korman said it was no problem, however, because the toilets, water faucets and paper towel dispensers were all automatic.

“They did a really good job setting it up, checking in, getting everybody where they’re supposed to be,” Korman said. “It went really well. Just being out on a day like this was terrific.”

The biggest issues golfers seem to have are playing in twosomes and not being able to warm up on putting greens.

“People just have to abide by what we say and what the regulations are,” Grasso said. “The 15-minute tee times for twosomes is very tough. It’s just dead time out there. I can’t see any difference in having two people on a hole that’s 500 yards long. It doesn’t matter if there’s two or four people on a tee.”

Davis spent most of the winter in Arizona and played frequently. In Arizona, foursomes were allowed with each player taking their own cart, and players could use the practice green before their rounds.

“My thought is that the governor’s requirements were not put together by people who play golf,” Davis said. “I say that from the standpoint that they don’t really understand. A little more common sense could have been used by whoever put that mandate together, but it’s still better than not being able to play golf.”

Even without any range balls or pre-round putting, Crystal Lake resident Ted Ziarkowski was thrilled to play Crystal Woods with a friend.

“I played with a good friend; it was a beautiful day, the course is pristine. It was great to go out and smoke a cigar and play 18 holes,” he said. “If you’re going out there to play your best round right now, you’re kidding yourself. This is spring training right now.”