Masters Golf Tournament Postponed
- Thread starter Remo Gaggi
- Start date
Interesting that they are still trying to play them. The Open Championship has been canceled until next year.
It will be interesting to see how Augusta looks. I believe I've seen before where the course is essentially torn down every year after the Masters through like October. Here are pictures that were taken in September. Apparently the grass goes dormant after the summer?
https://www.golf.com/travel/2020/01/20/augusta-national-dormant-photos-masters-course/
Last edited:
At some point there will be a half way point of life going on.
I'm working with people in South Korea and China who seem halfway back to their typical lives. Their work production is the same but they're getting it done with some restrictions.
Maybe you can have these golf tournaments but the crowd is 1/3 of the size and crowd is seated instead of just a mob of standing people next to each other. Keep the same number of support facilities like bathrooms and food but for 1/3 of the spectators. Golf is one of the few sports where the athletes aren't physically close so it might make sense for it to be a little more proactive coming back than football or basketball.
I'm working with people in South Korea and China who seem halfway back to their typical lives. Their work production is the same but they're getting it done with some restrictions.
Maybe you can have these golf tournaments but the crowd is 1/3 of the size and crowd is seated instead of just a mob of standing people next to each other. Keep the same number of support facilities like bathrooms and food but for 1/3 of the spectators. Golf is one of the few sports where the athletes aren't physically close so it might make sense for it to be a little more proactive coming back than football or basketball.
I wonder if that's part of the reason the Masters bumped things back that far. They seem to really hold the patron experience in high regard. Give it the best chance of being as normal as possible.
I really don't understand this. To me, golf is the one sport that could be played during the pandemic with very little risk to the players. It is one of the only sports where most of the players play better without the fan audiences, so get rid of the gallery totally. It is also one of the only sports where the players compete largely on their own, with almost no interaction between players. It would seem to me that it would be easy to spread the tee-off times out over more days, so that the risk is even lower still.
That would be cool and unique if they did switch the bunkers to 'black sand':
"..One particularly radical change Augusta could make would be going with dark bunkers full-time, like the black coal slag “sand” favored by some courses in the northern U.S. (like Hawktree Golf Club in Bismarck, N.D.). But don’t hold your breath...."
I imagine that's why they've set a return date before any other league. Even if they can play I imagine it's just bad optics right now. But I think they have to be seeing the monetary potential of being the only sport going as well.
The players don't want to play under the current conditions. They were really voicing their displeasure during the Players Championship. It's going to be up to the players. If they don't feel it's safe, they aren't going to show up. They can try to hold these tournaments but may get spotty turnout from the players.
Yeah, I could see the US Open being more about their course conditions and the players vs the course, the crowds being much smaller wouldn't be as much of an issue. The Masters does make you think about the galleries more.
As an NBA junkie I always note how Jordan's stats are missing 1.5 years right in his prime and another year or two from somewhat early retirement. Entire sports are going to probably have a half season or full season missing. It's even across the board but for comparing players of different decades it will be an interesting wrinkle. In many of the Olympic sports the elite athletes have a very small window to be elite.
So a typical field is 144 or 152 players. Add in caddies and that’s around 300 people. Now add the tv folks which is probably another 50. Then you have the volunteers who actually make the tournament go and that could be another 300 people. Then add in the Greens keeping staff and there is another 100 for a Tour event. All of this travels from town to town every single week. It’s just almost impossible currently.
Now there is a very strong argument to do small 4 person matches or skins, but the PGA will avoid that at all costs because it screws their business model long term if it’s successful, which it would be.
And the Open is cancelled because of the R&A’s insurance policy on it. They need the money badly and it’s safer to take the insurance check
Augusta Gets tore up and re seeded after the tournament each year. I'm guessing they will try for a different type of grass to prolong its life into colder weather. However, that would also effect next April's masters. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds. Looking forward to my first Augusta experience nevertheless!
