2020: Slumbers Defends R&A's Decision To Postpone The Open

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Interesting that R&A Chief Martin Slumbers felt the need to justify his organization’s cancelling of the 2020 Open Championship given the leeway most organizations have gotten during the COVID-19 pandemic.

From John Huggan’s GolfDigest.com discussion with Slumbers about the decision to postpone Royal St. George’s:

“The situation here was very different to that in America,” Slumbers said. “The United States is so much bigger than the U.K. All the messages we received from government were prompt. We were getting very clear steers that this virus was not going to go away in four weeks. Having said that, I can’t be happier for my colleagues at the USGA and the PGA of America and Augusta National who have found ways to get their events done. Do I have a slight tinge of jealousy? Yes, I do. Having no Open rips the heart out of the R&A. Our rhythm of life, as it has for so many, has been disrupted. I didn’t enjoy what should have been Open week.”

There was one more piece of ammunition for potential critics. Did the financial safety net provided by the presence of the R&A’s “communicable disease” insurance policy play too much of a role in the eventual decision?

“Although it would be wrong to say that having the insurance in place was not linked to what we came up with, all the decision-making was done through the lens of being uninsured,” Slumbers said. “We would have come to the same conclusion, irrespective of that. We were fortunate to have insurance. That protects part of our expenses, and we are working though all of that with the insurers at the moment. But it was independent of the final decision. [Slumbers would not say how much the insurance cost, how much the R&A has or will receive as payment or what it covered.] The All-England Tennis Club at Wimbledon was in the same position. They had an identical policy, and they canceled their championship, too.”

Yes we know.

While I know some fault them, I don’t sense many question the call and look forward to a return next year.