The death of a 15-year-old boy after he drank contaminated water from a cooler on a Phoenix golf course is causing concern in Minnesota as course operators look for safe ways to quench golfers' thirsts.
Most golfers have not hesitated to step up to those 10-gallon yellow or green coolers that dot the landscape of most of Minnesota's nearly 500 courses. And there is good reason to keep drinking: Dehydration and heatstroke are real risks during a hot, 18-hole round.
No one has reported getting ill in Minnesota from drinking golf cooler water, health authorities say. Yet the Phoenix case - in which 83 people also were sickened by a norovirus two years ago- has put golf course managers on notice that the water in the coolers must be as pure as that served in restaurants.
The Minnesota Department of Health and at least one county health department have warned golf course managers that they must make sure their water is safe.
The 2002 outbreak in Phoenix also underscored a legal liability. The boy's parents recently reached a $3 million settlement with the course.
Water coolers are a familiar sight on Minnesota golf courses, but except for the occasional grumping by golfers that the water isn't cold enough, the coolers have been out of sight, out of mind for years.
Coolers traditionally have been filled outside the clubhouse kitchen, mainly in maintenance and cart storage areas, said Shaun Peltier, head pro and general manager at Eagle Valley Golf Course in Woodbury.
It's a practice that doesn't meet state and local food codes. Water coolers can be exposed to insects, pesticides, dirt and debris that way. They also are vulnerable to the elements and to the inadvertent spread of germs when they are placed on the course.
"I wouldn't say it was anybody's fault; it wasn't a priority," Peltier said. "The health departments are just realizing that this was an oversight."
Golf courses that serve food have long been regulated for food safety. Washington County notified courses in June that the county food code requires equipment approved by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) in all licensed food establishments. The NSF is a nonprofit firm that tests water-related products; submission of products for certification is voluntary.
Gary Edwards, supervisor of metro-area food inspectors for the state Health Department, said golf course coolers may not always have been inspected before, but they will be now. Most golf course restaurants are inspected once a year.
The Health Department has urged courses that can't meet the NSF standards to provide bottled water to golfers. Golfers also could bring their own water.
To Mary Burg, dehydration is a greater risk than unclean water. She is general manager of the Bridges of Mounds View Golf Course and Learning Center and president of the Midwest Public Golf Managers Association.
Two years ago Burg called 911 three times in one day for golfers suffering from heat exhaustion on her course. "I think we'd be neglectful not to have water available for people who need it," she said.
Her course has changed its water dispensing practices. "Before, when they looked bad, we'd clean them," Burg said. "Then every two weeks we'd take them in and bleach them."
Now, the coolers are cleaned daily by clubhouse workers who wash, sanitize and fill the coolers inside and change spigots that become discolored, she said. The course purchased a second set of coolers so there always would be a set of sanitized coolers ready to go back onto the course.
It seemed like a lot of work at first, Burg said. "Now it's normal. We don't even think about it."
Peltier of Eagle Valley has taken water sanitation a step further. There was a time when he wouldn't drink water from golf course coolers because he knew how they were being handled. "I call it the 'I-work-in-that-restaurant-I-won't-eat-there' syndrome," he said. But when he became a course manager, he did his best to clean and sanitize the coolers.
After the outbreak of illness in Phoenix, the process became more urgent. Peltier devised a solution as he watched his wife used a bottle with a disposable liner to feed their baby. He came up with a large liner with a spigot and hose that can be placed inside existing coolers. "The water never actually touches anything except the disposable liner," he said.
The liners, which won NSF certification, are now distributed by a Minnesota company.
Source: Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minn.)