UPDATE: Don’t screw this up, N.J.! Before parks and golf courses reopen, here are new coronavirus rules.

Weeks after he made the controversial decision to close them during the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Wednesday that New Jersey’s state parks and forests will reopen and county parks and golf courses will be allowed to reopen — all under restrictions — starting Saturday morning.

It’s Murphy’s first major move to begin lifting the near-lockdown orders he installed to slow the virus’ spread in the Garden State.

The governor signed an executive order that puts the changes into effect sunrise Saturday. He stressed parts of parks — like playgrounds and restrooms — will remain off limits, visitors and golfers must continue to practice social distancing, and all will be “strongly” encouraged to wear face coverings.

Murphy also said he reserves the right to reverse the decision if people don’t comply.

“We’re basically saying: We’re prepared to trust you,” he said during his daily coronavirus press briefing in Trenton. "You’ve been trusting us, and we will never forget that. We’re returning some amount of that trust by saying, ‘We’re gonna open these up, but you’ve got to behave in a certain way.’”

“I’m not trying to be a jerk about this,” Murphy added. “If we see congregation of people and they’re not social distancing, they’re not wearing face masks, we will reconsider.”

MORE: A full list of N.J. state parks to reopen Saturday

The move comes after weeks of intense criticism from residents and lawmakers — especially Republicans — who said the Democratic governor had gone too far by closing parks and golf courses at a time when he’s ordered New Jerseyans to largely stay home as the state copes with the second-most COVID-19 cases and deaths among American states. One big concern has been that residents in urban areas need parks because there’s not as much open space in cities.

But Murphy insisted Wednesday he wasn’t bending to critics. Instead, he said, this comes after more than a week of improving coronavirus numbers in New Jersey and after New York and Pennsylvania announced they were reopening their parks and golf courses.

“I did not want to see us in a situation where residents would be needlessly crossing state lines in either direction,” Murphy said.

Though Murphy’s order directly reopens state parks, it’s ultimately up to county and municipal officials to decide whether county and local parks and public golf courses open or stay closed. Private golf courses are also now permitted to operate.

Sandy Hook is a national park and will remain closed, according to the U.S. National Park Service.

The decision does not include most beaches in New Jersey. The only beach the state controls is Island Beach State Park, and Murphy has left it local governments to decide whether other beaches will be open as the summer approaches, though the governor could overrule them.

Murphy did say reopening parks could serve as a barometer.

“We’ll see how it goes,” he said. “If folks do what we’re asking them to do, that will have a huge impact on our ability to take other what I call ‘baby steps.’”

Under the order, parking at parks will be limited to 50% capacity. Picnic areas, playgrounds, exercise stations, chartered watercraft services and rentals, swimming, pavilions, restrooms, and visitors centers will remain closed. Picnics, team sports, and other organized activities won’t be allowed.

But “passive recreation” will be permitted, including fishing, hunting, boating, canoeing, hiking, walking, running, jogging, biking, birding, and horseback riding.

Recreational campgrounds and transient camp sites will stay closed.

Murphy said he’s also asking residents to “stay close to home” when visiting a park.

Golf courses, meanwhile, must stagger tee times so they are 16 minutes apart; limit the use of golf carts to one person except for immediately family members, caretakers, household members or romantic partners; require frequent sanitations of “high-touch areas;" keep all golf centers, pro shops, and other buildings closed; remove bunker rakes, benches, water coolers, and ball washers; discontinue club and equipment rentals; and prohibit caddies.

Tee times will also be limited to two players, except for immediate family members, caretakers, household members, or romantic partners. Players should remain 6 feet apart.

Miniature golf courses and driving ranges will remain closed.

Though he’s not mandating face coverings at parks and golf courses, Murphy said it’s a “strong recommendation to cover your face" and that officials “reserve the right to mandate that.”

The governor announced the order hours after state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, and a bipartisan group of state senators called on him to begin allowing parks, golf courses, and some other businesses to reopen as long as they adhere to social-distancing guidelines that takeout eateries and grocery stores are already using.

But Murphy swore his critics didn’t sway him.

"I don’t know how to say this delicately, but with the exception of the mental health case that many of you have (made), your interventions to me did not matter one little bit,” he said. “So with all due respect to all the pressure that’s been out there, we couldn’t frankly care.”

“We make this call based on data, science, fact, and, again, the exception is, also on mental health,” Murphy added. “Trust me, I didn’t make these closures on a whim. They were made only after detailed discussions … with our public health and public safety personnel.”

Still, Sweeney issued a statement thanking Murphy for “listening to the bipartisan legislators and thousands of state residents."

Republicans lawmakers also commended the governor and said they hope he will soon reopen other businesses under social-distancing restrictions.

“There’s no reason a shop on Main Street has to remain shut when the convenience store next door is open,” state Senate Republicans said in a joint statement.

The New Jersey Outdoor Alliance applauded Murphy for allowing a “common-sense reopening" of the parks.

The news came as Murphy announced New Jersey — one of the nation’s coronavirus hotspots — has seen at least 6,770 deaths attributed to COVID-19, with at least 116,264 cases. That’s after officials reported another 329 deaths and 2,481 positive tests Wednesday.

But Murphy said the state has seen a drop in the number of hospitalizations for 15 days.

Last month, Murphy began issuing broad and unprecedented restrictions to help curb the virus’ spread, including ordering residents to stay home, banning social gatherings, closing schools, and mandating non essential businesses close.

The governor added state and county parks April 7, saying it was needed to prevent crowds from gathering as the weather got warmer.

A poll from Monmouth University last week showed a vast majority of New Jersey adults agree with Murphy’s restrictions, though the percentage of those who agree with the park closings was lower than others — 70%.

Murphy said the outbreak has forced him to make “hard choices.”

“But these choices I know have saved lives," he said. “I am the one who bears the burden of making theses decisions. I am hopeful we are getting on the road back.”

As for the rest of Murphy’s orders? Nonessential businesses and schools remain closed in the state.

On Monday, the governor unveiled a broad road map outlining the steps New Jersey needs to take before his can begin gradually lifting his restrictions. But Murphy did not provide a specific timetable, and he said the order will stay “in its entirety until further notice."

The governor said officials first need to see a 14-day trend showing drops in numbers, at least double the state’s testing capacity, and institute plans for robust contact tracing and isolation of the infected.

Don’t be shocked if parks and golf courses are crowded this weekend. The National Weather Service is forecasting heavy rain Thursday and Friday in New Jersey but sunny skies with highs in the 60s on Saturday. Temperatures could hit 70 on Sunday.

“Please adhere to the guidelines,” Murphy said. “And if you do, it will be the first weekend I hope of many, many more to come where we’re able to get out there, get some fresh air, and enjoy a little bit of the extraordinary spring we get every year in New Jersey.”

NJ Advance Media staff writer Michael Sol Warren contributed to this report.

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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com.