PUKALANI — While some residents wondered why certain county parks weren’t included in the first round of reopenings, others were just happy to be at any park again on Friday, the first day of activity for select county parks and golf courses in more than a month.

Meanwhile, Waiehu Municipal Golf Course was busier than expected Friday with players heading back to the oceanside municipal course — but with new safety measures in place.

Friday was the first day for a phased, gradual reopening of Maui County, which made masks mandatory in public and gave the green light for exercise at golf courses and certain county parks. 

Mayor Michael Victorino said Friday afternoon that if Maui County’s coronavirus case numbers continue to stay low and residents adhere to public health and safety measures, then reopening will continue systematically over time. Over recent weeks, the county has averaged about one new case per day.

“Maybe in a week or two we will see how the first round (of reopening) works and then move into round two and round three,” Victorino said during the daily update.

David Crist of Haiku has a specific exercise routine to work around knee issues that he’s been doing for eight years at Eddie Tam Memorial Center in Makawao. Since the park shut down more than a month ago, Crist said he’s been walking roads in rural Haiku, which have no shoulder.

“It scares the hell out of me; I’m 78 and not as spry as I used to be,” he said.

He was walking Friday afternoon at Pukalani Park but wondered why Eddie Tam, which has a police station and other resources, wasn’t opened for exercise.

“They have everything there,” he said. “Why is it not open?”

Carter Barto, a Pukalani resident who was walking in Pukalani Park with three young daughters and a dog, said the family was happy to have park access again.

“We are very stoked it’s open,” Barto said. “We live near the park and it’s been hard for the girls to see it and not be able to go in it. We are excited to use the trails and everything else.”

Down on the north shore of Maui, Ho’okipa Beach Park was also reopened, but its pavilions were still off limits. No one was exercising Friday afternoon on the beach park, which has a narrow shoreline and grassy bluffs that are not as conducive to exercise in comparison with nearby beach parks, such as Baldwin Beach Park or Paia Bay. 

Lifeguards at Ho’okipa said they observed more tourists out Friday than in recent weeks, with some citing exercise reasons of “walking” to see the turtles on the shoreline. 

The lifeguards said they informed the tourists of state rules that mandate distance from the turtles and county rules that beaches are for exercise only.

With some questions arising over why some parks were opened over others, Victorino said that county officials went through a “whole gamut of need as well as assessing the various areas and districts.”

“So the rationale behind our opening is every district would get one or two major parks or beach parks or both open up in phases, so should there be an outbreak anywhere, it’s so much easier to shut down than trying to shut down all of them,” he said Friday.

Meanwhile, Waiehu Golf Course was busy Friday with players and staffers who said they were happy to have the course reopened.

“It’s a great feeling to see the golfers back,” Waiehu Pro Shop co-owner Art Rego said Friday afternoon. “We have rules we have to work with and the golfers are working with them. Everyone is just excited we’re open.”

Rego said he had expected the golf course to reopen in mid-May and that Victorino’s announcement this week to open the course Friday caught him a little by surprise. 

A plastic shield was installed to protect the pro shop counter Thursday evening.

“I think the mayor made the right call,” Rego said.

Pro Shop staffer Catherine Cordero was working behind the shield and wearing a mask as she worked Friday.

“It’s good to be back,” Cordero said. “We wanted to open and then we had to rush. That’s OK, we were getting bored at home. It’s nice to have it open, but you know what, it (the closing) was for our safety.”

Cordero said the plastic shield was a welcome addition to the pro shop, adding she felt vulnerable when the pandemic started and no protocols were in place.

“I was getting scared here working,” she said. “Tourists would come in from Washington state and California and we didn’t have any protection. I washed my hands so many times they peeled. I’m glad we’re open. It’s nice to see the players again. All the golfers are happy.”

Rego said golf carts are being sanitized every morning and after each use. Staffers are not permitted to touch a player’s golf bag or to allow them to take the cart out to the parking lot to retrieve their clubs. Groups of players were going out every 14 minutes instead of a usual shorter interval to keep distance between groups. Plastic fillers were placed in each hole so balls did not fall in the cup and ball washers were covered. Each cart came with a rake since there are none in the course’s sand traps.

Rego said since only one rider can use a cart at a time, he has reduced the fee for a single cart user to $11. Two golfers from the same household can ride together for $21.

“We made it $11 because we need the golfers and the course needs the golfers,” he said.

After teeing off Friday, Derick Kaina said he was happy to be back playing Waiehu.

“It’s great to come out. As long as everybody stays safe, follows the rules, we’ll be OK,” Kaina said.

For a full list of county inland and beach parks that were reopened, along with rules for golf courses that are back in play, visit the county website at www.mauicounty.gov.

Just one new case of COVID-19 was reported on Oahu on Friday, with none among the Neighbor Islands, according to the state Department of Health.

There are now 619 total cases in the state — 400 on Oahu, 116 in Maui County (including two on Molokai and one Lanai resident hospitalized on Maui), 73 on Hawaii island and 21 on Kauai. Nine residents have been diagnosed out of state.

Of the total cases, 72 have required hospitalization and 532 have been released from isolation.

There remain 16 deaths — 11 on Oahu and five on Maui.

* Kehaulani Cerizo can be reached at kcerizo@mauinews.com. Matthew Thayer can be reached at thayer@maui.net.