In Week Predicted To Rival Pearl Harbor And 9/11, Golf's Leading Organizations Roll Out 2020 "Revised Calendar Of Events"

We are all clamoring for things to look forward to. It’s already been too long without sports and the dearth of competition stings a bit more as Masters week arrives with no Masters. That the planning has gone on behind the scenes is perfectly understandable. There is no playbook for dealing with a situation like this and golf will undoubtedly be the first major sport back.

However, the Surgeon General of the United States warned just yesterday that this week would be “the hardest and the saddest" for Americans.

"This is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment, only it's not going to be localized, it's going to be happening all over the country and I want America to understand that," Vice Admiral Jerome Adams said on "Fox News Sunday."

There was this from the President of the United States on Sunday, too:

"This will be probably the toughest week between this week and next week, and there will be a lot of death, unfortunately, but a lot less death than if this wasn't done but there will be death," Trump said.

Worldwide, 70,000 people have died and as of this post, at least 9,600 in the United States where there are 337,000 confirmed infections. More than 3000 may die in a single day this week. Hospital bed shortages are prompting makeshift hospitals in multiple American cities. Another 600 lost their lives to the COVID-19 coronavirus in Britain yesterday, surpassing Italy’s death toll for the second day in a row. The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, is in intensive care.

Yet, the leading organizations of golf—typically associated with charitable efforts more than all sports combined—have been working hard behind the scenes to help stop the spread by wheeling out a new fall schedule. Even as nearly all experts suggest large gatherings to not be on the table any time soon and doing so on a day when thousands more will succumb.

Feeling the need to share this information publicly, for no rational reason as every other sport quietly waits out this terrible time and with only faint regard for the threats posed by not taking every protective measure possible, diminishes the efforts of those attempting to stop this pandemic.

For Way Too Immediate Release:

Golf World Presents Revised Calendar of Events for 2020

Safety, Health and Well-Being of All Imperative to Moving Forward

April 6, 2020 – United by what may still be possible this year for the world of professional golf, and with a goal to serve all who love and play the game, Augusta National Golf Club, European Tour, LPGA, PGA of America, PGA TOUR, The R&A and USGA have issued the following joint statement:

“This is a difficult and challenging time for everyone coping with the effects of this pandemic. We remain very mindful of the obstacles ahead, and each organization will continue to follow the guidance of the leading public health authorities, conducting competitions only if it is safe and responsible to do so.

“In recent weeks, the global golf community has come together to collectively put forward a calendar of events that will, we hope, serve to entertain and inspire golf fans around the world.  We are grateful to our respective partners, sponsors and players, who have allowed us to make decisions – some of them, very tough decisions – in order to move the game and the industry forward.

“We want to reiterate that Augusta National Golf Club, European Tour, LPGA, PGA of America, PGA TOUR, The R&A and USGA collectively value the health and well-being of everyone, within the game of golf and beyond, above all else. We encourage everyone to follow all responsible precautions and make effort to remain healthy and safe.”

Updates from each organization follow, and more information can be found by clicking on the links included:

USGA: The U.S. Open, previously scheduled for June 15-21 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, has been officially rescheduled for September 14-20 and is confirmed to remain at Winged Foot. For more information and comments from USGA CEO Mike Davis, click here.   

The R&A: The R&A has decided to cancel The Open in 2020 due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, and the Championship will next be played at Royal St. George’s in 2021. The Open was due to be played in Kent, England, from July 12-19, but it has been necessary to cancel the Championship based on guidance from the UK Government, the health authorities, public services and The R&A’s advisers. For more information and comments from The R&A Chief Executive Martin Slumbers, click here. 

PGA of America: The PGA of America is announcing today that the PGA Championship is now scheduled to take place August 3-9 and will remain at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, California.  The PGA Championship was originally slated for May 11-17 but was postponed on March 17.  

Furthermore, the PGA reconfirmed the Ryder Cup remains as originally scheduled, September 22-27, at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin.  For more information and comments from PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh, click here.

Augusta National Golf Club: Augusta National has identified November 9-15 as the intended dates to host the 2020 Masters Tournament, which was previously scheduled for April 6-12 and postponed on March 13. For more information, and comments from Chairman Fred Ridley, click here.

PGA TOUR: While collaborating with the PGA of America to find a viable date for the PGA Championship in August, the PGA TOUR worked with its host organizations and title sponsors to move the Regular Season finale – the Wyndham Championship – and all three FedExCup Playoffs events one week later, starting the week of August 10 and concluding with a Monday, September 7, Labor Day finish for the TOUR Championship.

The TOUR will seek to reschedule tournaments into the weeks formerly occupied by the U.S. Open, The Open Championship and the Men’s Olympic golf competition in June and July.  The TOUR will make further announcements about this potential, as well as its fall schedule, in the coming weeks.  For more information and comments from PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan, click here.

European Tour:  Due to the many complexities involved, the European Tour is currently working through various scenarios in relation to the rescheduling of our tournaments for the 2020 season. The European Tour will make further announcements on these in due course.

LPGA: On April 3, the LPGA released a revised look at the LPGA Tour’s 2020 summer schedule, beginning on the week of June 15 with the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G. In addition, the LPGA Tour announced that they have successfully rescheduled their first two majors of the year (the ANA Inspiration moves to the week of September 7 at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California; and the U.S. Women’s Open conducted by the USGA moves to the week of December 7 at Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas). For more information, click here.

Summary:

A listing of the revised schedule of events announced today follows:

• TO BE CONFIRMED: June 15-21 (formerly U.S. Open week) – potential PGA TOUR event

• CANCELED: July 13-19, The Open Championship, Royal St. George’s GC, Sandwich, Kent, England

• TO BE CONFIRMED: July 13-19 (formerly The Open Championship week) – potential PGA TOUR event

• TO BE CONFIRMED: July 27-August 2 (formerly Men’s Olympic Competition week) – potential PGA TOUR event

• CONFIRMED: August 3-9 – PGA Championship, TPC Harding Park, San Francisco, California

• CONFIRMED: PGA TOUR’s season-ending event/FedExCup Playoffs

  • August 10-16 – Wyndham Championship, Sedgefield Country Club, Greensboro, North Carolina

  • August 17-23 – THE NORTHERN TRUST, TPC Boston, Norton, Massachusetts

  • August 24-30 – BMW Championship, Olympia Fields CC, Olympia Fields, Illinois

  • August 31-September 7 (Labor Day) – TOUR Championship, East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia

• CONFIRMED: September 14-20 – U.S. Open, Winged Foot Golf Club, Mamaroneck, New York

• RECONFIRMED: September 22-27: Ryder Cup, Whistling Straits, Kohler, Wisconsin

• CONFIRMED: November 9-15: the Masters Tournament, Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia

Today In Diversionary Viewing: Supercut Of The 2019 Masters Final Round Shots Into No. 12

Since we have no Masters this week, there is something blissfully hypnotic about watching how the top 25 played No. 12 Sunday.

Michael David Murphy has spliced together the top 25’s shots in order of proximity to the hole (at least, where they landed). And I sound like Ken Venturi, but it’s just amazing to see how many tee shots were played at the hole.

Center of the green! Take your two putts! Listen to Kenny!

At Least Someone's Enjoying The Old Course...

European Tour player Victor Perez, who was in line to make a 2020 Ryder Cup team, posted this after taking his dog for a walk around a deserted Old Course at St. Andrews. Perez won the 2019 Alfred Dunhill links over Matthew Southgate.

We can’t play, but we can still prepare 📝

I had a fun time today reliving my first @EuropeanTour win while getting ready for the next time we tee it up @TheHomeofGolf 😍 #StaySafe #OneDayAtATime @dunhilllinks pic.twitter.com/7ywHolISGy

— Victor Perez (@v_perez2) April 4, 2020

Update On Efforts To Help Brora Links

The Scotsman’s Martin Dempster files an update on Brora’s efforts in protecting the fabled links as the club faces all lost outside revenue.

People around the globe have either been taking out memberships, making advance bookings or ordering club merchandise through PGA pro Malcolm Murray’s shop.

“I went into the pro shop on Tuesday and literally couldn’t see the floor for parcels,” said Stewart. “It has just been incredible. We created an international life membership and we have also created a platinum membership, which is our highest category allowing access to additional benefits. I think we’ve got four of those now, which is also phenomenal.

“While I am nervous about numbers, it would be reasonable to say that we have managed to raise around £70,000, which is phenomenal.”

Here is the “how to apply” page for a membership. And for those on a smaller budget, No Laying Up’s special Brora fundraiser tower.

PGA Championship Pencils In Early August Date Just As California Governor Suggests September Sports Unlikely

The San Francisco Chronicle’s Ron Kroichick and Scott Ostler report that the PGA of America has settled on the first week of August for its postponed PGA Championship. For now.

This early August date may conflict with President Donald Trump’s projection of “August or September” for a return to fans watching live sports in person nationwide. His comment was made on a conference call of sports executives joined by the PGA Tour’s Jay Monahan and the LPGA Tour’s Mike Whan. (Their tours are currently scheduled to return in May or mid-June and June, respectively.)

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s responded to the president’s timeline by saying it was an optimistic goal for gatherings of large sports. From Helene Elliott’s LA Times column on when sports might return:

“I’m not anticipating that happening in this state,” he said, pointing to the return of COVID-19 in Asia after it was believed the worst was over. “We have to be careful not to overpromise. I’m not here to second-guess anybody, but I am here to say this: Our decision on that basis, at least here in the state of California, will be determined by the facts, will be determined by the health experts, will be determined by the capacity to meet this moment, bend the curve and have the appropriate community surveillance and testing to confidently determine whether or not that’s appropriate. ... That’s not something I anticipate happening in the next few months.”

The NFL’s chief medical officer also said over the weekend that widespread testing is essential to sports returning.

The Senior PGA Championship, set for May 21-24 in Michigan, was cancelled this week by the PGA of America.

And all of the schedule talk remains insignificant as the United States faces the fourth day in a row of over 1000 deaths caused by COVID-19, with an unprecedented week ahead. This from Elliott’s column seems an appropriate response to any scheduling concerns:

Dr. Alan Drummond of the Canadian Association of Emergency Room Physicians was blunt when asked by TSN.ca about the resumption of play in the NHL and other leagues. “Nobody gives [an expletive] right now. Better to turn hockey rinks into makeshift hospitals or morgues,” he said. “I love sports as much as anyone but this is really not the time.”

COVID-19: Pro Golfers And Caddies Stepping Up In A Variety Of Ways

Because we know pro golfers are generally the athletes most associated with charity, it’s nice to see the efforts they and some of their caddies are making to help on the COVID-19 front. This is by no means a definitive list, just some of the recent efforts I’ve spotted or that have been shared. (Ryan Ballengee at GolfNewsNet.com is keeping this running page.)

Brooks Koepka donated $100,000 to his foundation that will go to the Community Foundation of Palm Beach and Martin County’s COVID-19 Response Fund.

This unbylined AFP story explains the efforts for Italy, Germany and Spain respectively by Edoardo Molinari, Martin Kaymer and Sergio Garcia. Molinari’s GoFundMe page, though it’s in Italian.

His EuropeanTour.com blog entry, however is in English.

Ewan Murray at The Guardian reports on the efforts of two of the top bagmen from European, Ian Finnis (Tommy Fleetwood) and Billy Foster (Matt Fitzpatrick).

Finnis distributed 1,000 raffle tickets, at a cost of £10 each, to people who donated. Prizes include signed flags by the European Ryder Cup team and Rory McIlroy, a hat autographed by Fleetwood, tournament caddie bibs and an online golf psychology session. The move was an instant hit with the golf fraternity; £10,000 was collected in just seven hours on Tuesday from around 460 donors. One anonymously contributed £500. “Unreal from the golf world,” tweeted Finnis.

Here is Foster’s Instagram page detailing the items he’s been auctioning to raise money for the NHS. And here was Sergio Garcia:

View this post on Instagram

I’ve been taking this time to workout, cook for my family and spend time with them as we wait for our baby boy to arrive any day. Show us how you’re staying safe at home with #hometeam. Thanks to my @adidasgolf family for pulling this together!

A post shared by Sergio Garcia (@thesergiogarcia) on Apr 1, 2020 at 12:08pm PDT

Add Straight Down To Golf's COVID-19 Effort

KEYT’s Dave Alley profiles th effort by San Luis Obispo’s Straight Down to switch its business into mask and gown-making for frontline workers in central California.

The effort is the brainchild of Straight Down’s longtime owner, Mike Rowley.

"I called Alan [Alan Iftiniuk, French Hospital Medical Center President and CEO], he's been a great partner and friend, and I asked, do you need any masks?" said Rowley. "He said we can take all the masks you can get."

Soon afterwards, Rowley checked to see if his manufacturer in China could help out.

"We made a call to them to see if they can make us masks, and they were able to," said Rowley. "So we're able to get to the county hopefully 72,000 masks here in the next week, and 30,000 gowns."

The link above includes the story version that aired on KEYT with more from Rowley. Definitely worth checking out and noting yet another of golf’s great small companies chipping in.

"Venue entry changed dramatically after 9/11; a similar shift may be coming"

The Athletic’s Daniel Kaplan explores the future of sporting events when fans can return and considers what hurdles there may be to attendance.

For anyone putting on an event, some of the notions are surely daunting and while professional golf may not face some of the seating issues other leagues will be forced to consider. But admittance will likely lead to a new kind of security featuring thermal cameras, digital certification and other measures that will likely require significant investment.

From Kaplan’s item (not behind The Athletic’s normal paywall):

“Whether it’s a digital certificate or a wristband, that typically sounds really bad, but this has actually been done before,” said Mark Miller, CEO of TicketSocket, an event management and ticketing platform that works with sporting events, food and beer festivals, races and obstacle runs. “Certain kinds of events you have had to have had a health check … to provide certain records because otherwise, you were a liability.”

Miller is referring not to fans, but participants in endurance contests, whether for Spartan races or marathons. But the concept of liability is similar. A marathon organizer does not want to let physically unfit competitors into the race. Now, does a team or event want a sick fan who could infect others?

There are of course complicated logistical and privacy issues. How and when do fans buying tickets send over their medical proof? And what if they don’t want to? Surely there are medical and personal privacy laws that come into play, though in a post-pandemic world such laws might come under scrutiny.

Royal Dornoch After A Light Dusting Of Snow And A Glimpse Of The Remodeled 7th Hole

There wasn’t any golf at Royal Dornoch a couple of days ago for another reason beyond COVID-19. But it’s still somehow soothing to see one of golf’s best views from the 7th hole looking down on the links as the birds chirp and the gorse blooms. The clip by noted golf photographer Matthew Harris, was posted by Royal Dornoch.

And for architecture buffs, the very last portion gives a glimpse of the remodeled 7th hole, positioned closer to the ridgeline.

Winter still lingers this morning as the camera pans from the 5th green,11th green,12th tee,the beach,11th fairway,the North Sea & finally a view down the new 7th on our Championship Course. 📹 Clip by: golflife_matt . . . #winter #scotland #snow #video #flowers #landscape #ocean #beach #weather

281 Likes, 23 Comments - Royal Dornoch (@royal.dornoch) on Instagram: "Winter still lingers this morning as the camera pans from the 5th green,11th green,12th tee,the..."

A Timely Replay Of The Augusta National Women's Amateur Will Remind Golf What Matters

As NBC prepares to re-air the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur (1 pm ET Saturday), I’m anxious to see how it all plays out on television after witnessing the Jennifer Kupcho-Maria Fassi duel in person.

Numerous moments from the day stand out a year later, from the epic shots played on the back nine par-5s to the crowd size building as the duel played out and word filtered through the property. Remember, this was a first time event, many were there just to get on the grounds and pick up some merchandise, so interest in two relatively unknown golfers was not exactly fever-pitch.

However, by the final holes fans were walking briskly (ok, I saw running, apologies Mr. Roberts) hoping to position themselves to witness these two exceptional golfers battle. In person, it remains one of those exceptional moments where the combination of shotmaking and sportsmanship rose to a level only seen surpassed by a handful of moments in modern golf history. It was an “instant classic,” as Beth Ann Nichols wrote at the time.

There are also the smaller lessons from the day to be learned about what values really matter in a golf course, tournament golf and how the sport is played. I wrote about the retro vibe to the day down to the restoration of momentous decisions that we so rarely see any more. In lieu of happier times without so much human suffering and a second edition of the “ANWA”, it should be enlightening to witness this duel all over again.

And in the coming days, months and years, let the lessons of the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur influence how the sport searches for what really matters.

Women's Clothier Katherine Way Making Masks, Gowns For Jacksonville Hospitals

Another day, and another one of golf’s small, All-American made companies doing its part to help those on the front lines.

This time it’s Katherine Way, the maker of women’s wear you’ve seen emerge to great acclaim in recent years and a staple at major championship shops, is doing her part for the greater Jacksonville area.

News4Jax’s Lauren Verno explains how Way’s team is using fabrics and a mask kit that allows volunteers to produce masks and soon, isolation gowns for local hospitals.

"We have about 30 women that are making masks for us right now," explained Way.

The people who put together the masks together are not employees. They are volunteers who also want to give back to their community.

Starting this week, Way and her volunteers will start making isolation gowns for Baptist Health hospitals.

For more information on the effort or how to obtain one of Way’s kits from the Jacksonville headquarters, this page explains and updates what is happening.

The company is also accepting donations to purchase more material.

U.S. Women's Open Moves To December And Will Use Both Champions Courses

One bit of good luck in all of this postponement news: Champions Golf Club has two courses and now both will be employed to (hopefully) be able to contest the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open in December.

For Immediate Release:

LIBERTY CORNER, N.J. (April 3, 2020) – The USGA today announced that due to the evolving dynamics of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the 75th U.S. Women’s Open, originally scheduled for June 4-7 at Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas, has been postponed to Dec. 10-13. 
 
“The USGA remains committed to hosting the U.S. Women’s Open in 2020,” said USGA CEO Mike Davis. “We are grateful to the LPGA and our broadcast partner FOX for their terrific collaboration in finding a new date for the championship. Our priority remains ensuring the safety of all involved with the U.S. Women’s Open, while still providing the world’s best players the opportunity to compete this year.” 

To account for reduced daylight given the move to December, the Jackrabbit Course at Champions Golf Club will be used in conjunction with the Cypress Creek Course, which was originally slated to host all four rounds of championship play. The Jackrabbit will co-host Rounds 1 and 2. 
 
U.S. Women’s Open qualifying, which is run in conjunction with Allied Golf Associations and international federations, is expected to be held on rescheduled dates and potentially some new locations. The USGA is also reviewing how the postponement will affect exemption categories, and definitive changes will be communicated when they are finalized. 

“We are incredibly thankful to Champions Golf Club for its flexibility and support during this uncertain time,” said Davis. “The club, led by Jack and Robin Burke, has been such a great friend of the USGA for some time, stepping up in 2017 to host the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur on short notice after it was displaced by a hurricane, and now accommodating a significant schedule change for our premier women’s championship, not to mention allowing us to use both golf courses. We’re confident the combined efforts will lead to an incredibly special 75th U.S. Women’s Open.” 
 
Champions Golf Club was founded in 1957 by World Golf Hall of Fame members Jimmy Demaret and Jack Burke Jr., who currently serves as president. The Cypress Creek Course, designed by Ralph Plummer and opened in 1959, has hosted four previous USGA championships: the 1969 U.S. Open, 1993 U.S. Amateur, 1998 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and 2017 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. The Jackrabbit Course was designed by George Fazio and opened in 1964. 
 
Additional information about the postponement can be found at uswomensopen.com. The USGA will continue to rely on CDC and WHO recommendations in determining schedule considerations for the remaining 2020 championships. Decisions regarding the U.S. Open, U.S. Senior Open, U.S. Senior Women’s Open as well as the eight remaining amateur championships will be made in the near future. 

Murray: What Are The Governing Bodies Waiting For To Cancel The Opens?

While we all enjoy the break of imagining fall majors or any kind of tournaments to anticipate, it is becoming increasingly difficult to imagine scenarios where any significant professional tournaments are played.

We’re a long way from large crowds gathering. And when they do, at the minimum there will there be spacing, temperature checks, masks and even travel restrictions that still might alter fields even after the return. But, we’ll let the five families keep jockeying over fall dates as the rest of the sports world appears frozen by COVID-19’s spread.

With yesterday’s news of The Open likely headed for cancellation and rather forcefully refuted by Chief Executive Martin Slumbers in a statement, The Guardian’s Ewan Murray is trying to understand what the R&A is waiting on as the pandemic worsens. Is it money? Or their love of matching up certain years with anniversaries?

If the R&A doesn’t know precisely what to do about this year’s Open, something is seriously amiss. Sport has been paralysed by coronavirus, with events and seasons dropping from billboards one by one. It is fanciful to suggest the Kent coast can – or should, in respect of public services – host 200,000 visitors and global competitors in a golf event in little over three months’ time. The R&A, for its many faults, cannot be ignorant over a pandemic.

At the very least, if not providing a full explanation of contingency, the R&A should have put a public line through Sandwich in its standard slot long before now; spectators alone deserve that much. Augusta National is still to issue detail of a 2020 Masters alternative but it was swift in postponing when coronavirus took hold. That the United States Golf Association hasn’t ditched plans for the US Open in New York in June catapults golf into territory beyond Clubhouse Cuckoo Land. They and the R&A set the rules for this game, you know.

Today In Virus Diversionary Content: A Modern (Or Sad?) Take On The Masters Theme

I’m reluctant to ever question the world’s preeminent historian and expert on golf television music, however…

Alex Myers of GolfDigest.com has spotted this “dark twist” on the Masters theme, aka the instrumental version of Dave Loggins’ “Augusta”.

I would agree with Myers that a certain sadness prevails hearing the opening chords while knowing Masters week will be without…The Masters. That said, freelance music producer John Houston channels his inner-Hans Zimmer top serve up a sleak modernization without forgetting the syrup we all adore.

PS - What a world where someone can create that kind of reimagination and share it on The YouTube. This is also my nice way of saying, please Lords, don’t take Houston’s video down.

A One To One Contribution: Seamus Golf Now Offering Masks

The good folks at Seamus Golf briefly shut down their store to move full time into mask making, and they’ve since reopened their online store for orders. And now, you can buy much needed (Made in the USA) masks that will also help fund the company efforts to get more reusable masks to those on the front lines.

While I know Seamus would much rather be making cool golf gear, their timing is excellent for all of us. With some form of facial coverage now suggested by doctors, the task force and local governments, it does not take a great leap of vision to see masks as an essential way of life for some time, perhaps even to gain admittance to a concert or sporting event when a form of normalcy returns.

But in the short term, they are offering two options: $100 for five masks with five going to front line workers, $200 for the same package and a Yes Sir! putting cup.

Protect yourself, protect others and help first responders protect themselves.