Waugh: PGA Championship Prepared To Play Without Fans

GolfDigest.com’s Daniel Rappaport sums up PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh’s comments to satellite radio.

In short, the PGA of America is confident they will play a “fairly normal” PGA at TPC Harding Park rescheduled for early August.

“If the safest and/or the only way to [hold the PGA] is to do it without fans, we’re fully prepared to do that,” Waugh said. “We believe that having it as a television event is worth doing regardless of whether there’s fans there or not.

“Obviously that’ll change the experience, but we think the world is starved for entertainment—particularly in sports—and we think golf has the unique ability to be first out among sports in that we’re played over a couple hundred acres.”

Oh no, the acreage thing again.

Anyway, Gavin Newsom, the Golden State’s Governor, spoke today and presented primary issues as part of a three-state effort to restart the west coast economy. He indicated that large gatherings will almost assuredly be unlikely this August:

Gov. Newsom: “The prospect of mass gatherings is negligible at best until we get to herd immunity or a vaccine.”

But... “Things can change radically” if there’s therapeutics and tracing.

Says any sort of large gathering of strangers in June, July, August is extremely unlikely

— Dieter Kurtenbach (@dieter) April 14, 2020

Here is the clip of Waugh speaking to Sirius/XM’s Dave Marr:

.@PGA CEO Seth Waugh currently has 3 plans for the @PGAChampionship scheduled August 6th-9th at @TPCHardingPark:

Plan A) Hold it as normal with fans
Plan B) Hold it as normal without fans
Plan C) Stage it at another site pic.twitter.com/uc6CeT5vPf

— SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio (@SiriusXMPGATOUR) April 14, 2020

NGF's Updated COVID-19 Survey: 44% Of U.S. Courses Open, Older Golfers Support Play Restrictions

The National Golf Foundation has updated its COVID-19 survey page for the week of April 6-12, 2020.

Since the various graphs and data pieces posted cannot be hyperlinked, I’ve grabbed a couple of note.

For starters, it’s an older demographic that is okay with golf courses closing to play during the pandemic.

The south is home to most golf course openings:

PGA Tour's Planned Mid-June Return Is Looking Wildly Optimistic

We can all understand why the PGA Tour has tried to salvage the season, but sharing it publicly on a day well over a 1000 Americans died seemed, well, bizarre if not just, plain, tone deaf. Golf’s other families went along for urgent schedule news that a week later looks premature in both the optics and common sense departments.

Jubilation has followed, and even delusional cases have been made as to how a golf tournament essentially runs itself (“Players can enforce the rules (hell, that's part of the game) so no need for rules officials”). Only has reality set in over at Golf.com where this week’s Confidential questioned the premature announcement timing.

Subsequent reports say the PGA Tour is aware mid-May is out and are targeting June 11-14 for a return at the Charles Schwab Challenge, aka the Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas.

A state where Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered travelers from cities (Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Miami) and states (California, Louisiana, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Washington) to be quarantined for 14 days upon entering the Lone Star state.

Everyone certainly hopes that changes because the virus slows, but given the low testing rate in Texas, it’s not clear yet if the state has kept the virus at bay. And in golf’s case, how many players from those areas or other areas added to the Governor’s order would be willing to quarantine for two weeks prior?

The second event back is expected to be Detroit’s Rocket Mortgage Classic. That’s in Michigan, where death tolls are high, the stories heartbreaking, and all signs say there is a long way to go before any crowd will be lawfully, willfully or joyously gathering.

The third planned event is the Travelers Championship in Middlesex, Connecticut where the county home to TPC River Highlands has been less hard hit. However, the rest of the state is facing an uphill climb returning to normalcy anytime soon.

And The Memorial, reportedly penciled into the cancelled Open Championship’s date, is played in Ohio where Governor Mike DeWine has been aggressive in taking measures while warning that testing is imperative to any return to normalcy.

Morning Read’s John Hawkins points out how the push to play the “playoffs” as up to twenty events are lost, may make the situation worse.

That neighborhood, by the way, is roughly the size of a driving range. Not nearly as large as the consequences of prematurely rebooting a schedule likely to lose 40 percent of its original bulk. At least 20 events are almost certain not to be held, which makes the decision to try and salvage the FedEx Cup playoffs a pathetic submission to the Tour’s money-grubbing sensibilities.

If that were not sobering enough, SI’s Stephanie Apstein talked to leading epidemiologists about the prospect of sports returning with or without fans and the conclusion is: not soon:

"We will not have sporting events with fans until we have a vaccine," says Zach Binney, a PhD in epidemiology who wrote his dissertation on injuries in the NFL and now teaches at Emory. Barring a medical miracle, the process of developing and widely distributing a vaccine is likely to take 12 to 18 months.

Again, it’s understandable to plan, but veering into the land of absurd to keep touting events to be played in matter of weeks, and in some of the nation’s most uncertain and hardest hit regions.

Notah Begay Worrying About Way More Than A Postponed Golf Season

Tod Leonard on the upsetting revelation from Notah Begay on a Golf Channel conference call Thursday to discuss what would have been in Augusta this week. A Navajo/Pueblo Indian, Begay reported that COVID-19 is wreaking havoc in the Native American community as well, even in New Mexico, a state rarely mentioned as under attack from the virus.

From Leonard’s GolfDigest.com report:

Begay said 75 percent of his relatives live on the reservation. “I’m going to lose some family members; I’m quite certain of it,” he said.

“To these rural areas of this nation … they have zero internet access; they don’t have mobile phone reception; a lot of times they don’t know what’s going on,” Begay said.

Pete Cowen Recovering From Presumed COVID-19

Brian Wacker with a GolfDigest.com update on instructor and golf guru Pete Cowen, who was never officially tested for COVID-19 after returning home from The Players. In the story, his agent issued a statement explaining Cowen’s health status, and there was this from the instructor to several top players, including Henrik Stenson and Gary Woodland.

“The worst part of it was at one point coughing non-stop for 24 hours,” he says via text, his voice still too weak to talk much.

He also endured low blood pressure, high temperature, hot and cold shivers, a racing heart rate and shortness of breath.

“Apart from that it was OK,” he said.

Podcast: The Shack Show Episode 2 With Guest Charlie Rymer

Charlie Rymer is my guest for Shack Show episode two primarily because I always enjoy hearing from Charlie but also because he’s one of the brightest people in golf. He should be at Augusta National this week working for Westwood One Radio where he’s done the tournament broadcast for over a decade now.

We spend a considerable amount of time discussing last year’s tournament won by Tiger Woods and working alongside Mike Tirico for his special call of the conclusion (embedded below). Plus, so much more about where golf is right now, Myrtle Beach, dewsweepers, the great lead broadcasters in golf, sunsets and where the game will be after the pandemic.

Show Notes:

Ridin’ With Rymer’s at PlayMyrtleBeach’s YouTube page.

A snippet from Charlie’s chat this week with Jack Nicklaus:

FaceTime yesterday with @jacknicklaus walking us thru Sunday 1986 @TheMasters He told me “on 15 Seve was between 4 and 5 iron. He hit the easy 4. Never try to hit it easy in that situation”
Full conversation releasing soon. #greatgolfstories@MyrtleBeachGolf pic.twitter.com/HQyXbq5dGK

— charlie (@CharlieRymerPGA) April 8, 2020

Mike Tirico’s call of the 2019 Masters with Charlie miraculously silent for almost two minutes!

🚨 FINAL CALL 🚨

Hear how it sounded nationally as @TigerWoods captured #TheMasters

Wow, what a day at Augusta National❗️

🗣️: @MikeTirico pic.twitter.com/ZaweYGcArJ

— Westwood One Sports (@westwood1sports) April 14, 2019

Outpost's Emergency Relief Fund To Help Golf's Independent Contractors

Like the LA area effort to help some of the last tradespeople in golf, The Outpost Foundation is offering to match $50,000 in donations. Out-of-work caddies are at the heart of their effort.

The foundation is the product of the highly successful Outpost Club.

Here’s what they are doing

Our Emergency Relief Fund provides emergency funding to independent contractors in the golf industry that face unforeseen expenses that cannot or will not be covered by insurance or other means.  Your generous donation will help members of the golf community who rely on gratuities such as caddies, locker room attendants, and outside services workers as they grapple with the hardships resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. We stand with those in our community and are committed to “taking care of our own.”

The Foundation will match the first $50,000 donated to the fund to help the greater golf community during the COVID-19 pandemic. With your help, we hope to increase our reach and the amount of aid we can provide to those in need.

This link will take you to links for those wanting to contribute, and for those wanting to apply for assistance.

Debut Podcast! The Shack Show, With Guest Michael Bamberger

The Shack Show is here and begins an odyssey that hopes to add some substance and, in these bleak days, a bit of diversion. The show will evolve, as it already has signed joining up with the good folks at iHeartRadio. For now, The Shack Show will feature conversations with figures in golf and focus on select topics. While the frequency may vary, I hope to keep these chats at a manageable length. Because as a podcast listener for over a decade, I know you have more choices than ever.

To kick off the show in this postponed Masters week, I chat with noted Golf Magazine/Golf.com writer and longtime book author Michael Bamberger. We discuss Bamberger’s new book The Second Life of Tiger Woods (reviewed here), the 2019 Masters, Greg Norman and golf before, during and after this pandemic.

I hope you’ll enjoy the pod and subscribe wherever you get podcasts. For The Shack Show or podcasts from IHeartRadio, visit the IHeartradio app, the Apple podcast store, the Stitcher option, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

As always, you can listen below as well:

Show Notes:

Bookshop book purchase link (benefiting independent booksellers)

Amazon book purchase link

Link to Bamberger’s Golf.com story on Tiger Woods and Greg Norman.

His story on driving back from the cancelled Players.

The Trapdraw Podcast with Bamberger as guest.

The Clubhouse with Shane Bacon, also with Bamberger as guest.

The Drop Zone Podcast with Bamberger as guest.

Marshall McLuhan in Annie Hall. When people stood in life for movies.

Sunshine Tour Chief: "I think there are going to be different priorities going forward."

While it’s way too early to be fussing over finance as the world faces another day of pandemic carnage, perhaps Sunshine Tour commissioner Selwyn Nathan’s remarks will help the professional golf world retain some perspective about the sport that will greet them when some form of normalcy returns.

Nick Said of Reuters spoke to Nathan, who has been talking to corporate sponsors and sees purses possibly returning to 2000 levels. He also says there will be “different priorities” going forward with “a lot of haircuts.”

“I don’t think guys will be playing for between 800,000 and 1.5-million euros (as a first prize) any more.

“In my opinion, and after speaking to people around the world, we could be winding the clock back to 2000.

“And for now that might be the smartest thing in sport, to go back to something that is more palatable for partners.”

And this…

“I think they will need us like oxygen, and we will need them also to give our players something to play in.

“But nobody is going to be walking around as gung-ho as they were, not in any sporting sphere around the world.”

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

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.

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..."