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1. Back2Golf
Our Gianni Magliocco…“This week, the game’s allied organizations introduced ‘Back2Golf’ – a three-stage national framework outlining operational guidelines for golf’s 16,000-plus facilities that adhere to nationally established protocols and best practices.”
- “Reviewed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), golf leaders and medical experts, the three-phase approach focuses on prolonged social distancing and enhanced sanitization practices – using measures set out by the CDC and The White House’s ‘Guidelines for Opening Up America Again’ plan.”
- “The framework will progress at various paces depending on geographic location. Here’s a rundown of the three phases”
Phase 1
- “Vulnerable individuals should continue to shelter in place. Members of households with vulnerable residents should be aware that by returning to work or other environments where distancing is not practical, they could carry the virus back home. Precautions should be taken to isolate from vulnerable residents”
- “All individuals, when playing golf, should maximize physical distance from others. Social settings of more than 10 people, where appropriate physical distancing may not be practical, should be avoided unless precautionary measures are observed.”
- “Avoid socializing in groups more than 10 people in circumstances that do not readily allow for appropriate physical distancing (e.g., golf leagues, golf events, club meetings).”
Phase 2
- “Vulnerable individuals should continue to shelter in place. Members of households with vulnerable residents should be aware that by returning to work or other environments where distancing is not practical, they could carry the virus back home. Precautions should be taken to isolate from vulnerable residents.”
- “All individuals, when playing golf, should maximize physical distance from others. Social settings of more than 50 people, where appropriate physical distancing may not be practical, should be avoided unless precautionary measures are observed.”
Phase 3
“Vulnerable individuals can resume public interactions but should practice physical distancing, minimizing exposure to social settings where distancing may not be practical unless precautionary measures are observed.”
- “Low-risk populations should consider minimizing time spent in crowded environments.”
- “All golf operations may resume as normal including unrestricted staffing of worksites.”
2. Mass courses remain closed
Golfweek’s Jason Lusk…“Massachusetts is the last state to have neither opened its golf courses nor announced when they can open after governors in Maryland and Vermont said that courses in their states will be allowed to resume play Thursday.”
- “The governors of Maryland and Vermont made their announcements Wednesday, following on the heels of several other states to recently announce when golf could open in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Washington allowed the game to resume Tuesday, and New Hampshire’s courses are allowed to reopen May 11. Alaska remains closed because of seasonality.”
3. PGA Tour 2K21
Daniel Rapaport at Golf Digest…“Ever since the discontinuation of the Tiger Woods PGA Tour video game series-and the one-off Rory McIlroy PGA Tour game from 2015-golf fans have been clamoring for a high-quality console video game option.”
- “It appears that, amid this pandemic that has put the professional game on hold, our prayers have been answered.”
- “A verified Twitter account called PGA Tour 2K released a 17-second preview for PGA Tour 2K21, and the account says full details on the game will be coming on May 14. The official PGA Tour Twitter account re-tweeted the announcement shortly thereafter. The preview features the famous island-green 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass, and we’re so excited for this potential game that we’ll overlook the ball being teed up driver-height for a 130ish-yard shot.”
Full piece.
4. How golf “whiffed”
Interesting take from Golfweek’s Adam Schupak…“The news on Monday that four PGA Tour pros will be competing in a made-for-TV charity skins game warmed my heart like Linus from Peanuts being swaddled in his blanket. Oh, live professional golf – or at least something resembling it – how I’ve missed you.”
- ….”As one of my industry friends pointed out to me, how is it every musician has managed to play a concert in their living room but we can’t get one cameraman to follow one of her favorite players around the golf course for a day to play a match? Show us how you practice. Show our government leaders in the remaining states opposed to golf course openings that fresh air on the course isn’t a bad thing. We are 50+ days into lockdown and we have one match lined up and another Tiger-Phil match on the horizon. Is that really all the industry has to show for itself (plus a country club showdown in Dallas that we didn’t get to see)?”
5. Return of the Wie?
Golf Digest’s Alex Myers….“The LPGA star is eying the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open as a possibility for her first tournament back. The event originally scheduled for June has been moved to Dec. 10-13 at Champions Golf Club in Houston due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.”
- “Logistically, it opened my eyes and I was like, ‘Whoa, like maybe it could happen,'” Wie West told ESPN. “I’m not making a decision right now, but my ears definitely perked up when I heard that the U.S. Open is going to be in December. Suddenly, it’s something that seriously needs to be discussed.”
Full piece.
6. The greatest golfer of the Covid era
Shane Ryan profiles the wild run of Nicolo Galletti, who is currently a force to be reckoned with on the Outlaw Tour. How he wound up teeing it up on the circuit is a plenty wild story…
“…There were the three injuries that derailed the slim lefty for months, starting in the late summer of 2019 while he was playing on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica. Galletti had netted a pair of top 10s the year before, and he finished second at a tournament in Argentina that April, but while practicing in August, he felt a strange sensation in his leg that turned out to be a torn oblique. It would derail him for the entire second half of his season, and that alone would have been a tough pill to swallow for the 25-year-old who had never dealt with a serious injury or been forced to take time away from the game.”
- “It got worse. When he came back in November to play in the second stage of the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying School, he was sitting on a bag stand watching a friend hit balls after his second round when the entire structure collapsed and he threw his arm out to catch himself. The pain wasn’t overwhelming at impact, but the next day, after a few holes in the third round, he couldn’t move his wrist. He had to withdraw and soon found out the wrist was fractured. When he tried to come back in December for the final event of the Latinoamerica Tour, in the hopes of qualifying for the Korn Ferry, it was too soon, and he finished near the bottom.”
- “If that felt like a major stroke of bad luck, what came next was almost absurd. Galletti spent his college years at Arizona State, and his roommate was Jon Rahm. He was invited to Rahm’s wedding in late February, just as he was on the verge of returning to the game. The day before the ceremony, Rahm had a bunch of games planned for his guests. At one point during the day, Galletti and a friend put on giant novelty sumo suits and prepared for combat. Galletti didn’t want to aggravate his wrist injury, so he was on the back foot when his friend knocked him over. As he went down, he rolled his ankle, and the result was a serious sprain.”
7. World Amateur Team Champ cancelled
Julie Williams at Golfweek...”Despite being six months away, the World Amateur Team Championships have been taken off the 2020 calendar. The event scheduled for the second half of October had already been moved from Hong Kong to Singapore after concerns over social unrest in its originally scheduled location. Now, the event has been canceled entirely.
- Dating back to 1958, the World Amateur Team Championships include up to 72 countries competing in 72 holes of stroke play competition. Each country fields two or three players with the two lowest scores counting per round.
8. Pros in AZ Open
Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…“Next week’s Desert Financial Credit Union Scottsdale AZ Open isn’t a PGA Tour event but it will have plenty of Tour flavor with two-time Tour winner Kevin Streelman, Alex Cejka, Joel Dahmen and Nate Lashley scheduled to play the 54-hole event beginning Monday at Talking Stick Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.”
9. The Justin Thomas Foundation x Lee Wybranski
From Lee Wybranski’s website…“Help support No Kid Hungry and Team Kentucky’s heroic work with a purchase of this limited-edition artwork inspired by Justin’s most recent win in Hawaii.”
- “Overnight, our world suddenly changed. Life doesn’t look the same as it did last month, last week, or even yesterday. We are all facing challenges, and we are here to help. We want to be a part of the good that comes out of uncertain times. Justin Thomas and Lee Wybranski have partnered to develop limited edition custom artwork for sale to raise funds for No Kid Hungry & Team Kentucky for their efforts in the fight against COVID-19.”
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19th Hole2 weeks ago
19th Hole2 weeks ago
