The PGA Tour will kick off on 11 June with the Charles Schwab Challenge in Texas. However, players and caddies returning to the USA for the tour face the headache of 14 days in isolation due to the strict quarantine rules in place in the USA.
Today is the day we can all get back on the course after an almost insufferable seven weeks or so. Golfers have been rushing to book tee times and clubs systems have been crashing under the volumes.
It was good news for golfers in England as Boris Johnson announced in his Sunday address that recreational sports could resume, so long it is with members of your household. Sadly, the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have refused to follow Westminster’s lead
Hot on the heels of the Tiger and Phil announcement we have some more golf on telly coming our way with Team TaylorMade. In the socially distanced red corner, and standing a good six feet or so apart, will be Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson and in the blue corner will be Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff. The players will be taking to the fairways in a $3 million charity skins game on 17th May.
The LPGA announced its revised calendar for 2020 on Wednesday with a planned return to play at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational in Michigan on 15th July. There will also be more cash available due to increases in the purses for many of the events. Players will compete for an average of nearly $2.7 million per event.
Without wishing to tempt fate, it looks like we may be fine-tuning those swings and getting back on the links soon in the UK. A UK Parliament's All-Party Group has suggested that golf should return quickly, and the R&A has prepared guidance for operating courses under COVID-19 restrictions.
Players such as Rory McIlroy may believe that a Ryder Cup without fans is not a Ryder Cup and so should be postponed but the truth is Europe cannot afford to postpone the event if the knock-on effect is the pushing back of the 2022 match.
Golfers will have an opportunity to tee it up with a top-ranked tour player, schedule their next golf lesson with a world-renowned instructor, get fit like a professional, or even experience Pebble Beach with a local resident, while ‘Chipping In’ to make a difference with the COVID-19 Relief Charity Golf Auction.
We reported last month that Lefty might be taking on Tiger in a rematch of ‘The Match’ which took place in November 2018 for an obscene prize pot. The good news is that the match is confirmed and as we hoped this time it is for charity.
American Golf has teamed up with Golf Alchemy and Cleveland Golf to give away an exclusive set of three NHS branded wedges to one lucky donator. The prize is truly unique, as the team at Golf Alchemy has branded each club with the NHS logo, and carefully added a message of thanks to all NHS workers from 3-year-old Henry Brown, whose mother Emma Marshall is a healthcare provider for the NHS in Watford.
The European Tour today confirmed the cancellation of the BMW International Open and the Open de France and the postponement of the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, a Rolex Series event, due to the continuing threat posed by the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19). At the same time, the PGA Tour announced its plans to resume the 2019-20 season with the Charles Schwab Challenge between 11th and 14th June.
We have had a great response to our survey of club members, but the results so far do not paint many golf clubs in a great light. Over half of the respondents told us that their club had not offered any form of reduction or deferral during the COVID-19 crisis.
