V Krishnaswamy
New Delhi, June 7: The Asian Tour is taking a cautious and measured approach about returning to competition in September, as the world tries to grapple and deal with Covid-19.
The Tour also plans to adopt innovative and need-based measures. The possibilities include restrictions like ‘local caddies only’, fewer travelling staff and even no marquees and hospitality tents if local sponsors so desire. The Tour is also willing to look at additional Pro-Ams as an incentive for sponsors.
With its first post-Covid event in September in Korea, the Asian Tour hopes to stage about a dozen events in the remaining period of 2020.
“We are targeting between 10-12 from September to December. There is a prospect of the Tour traveling to China and culminating with a stretch which includes the Hong Kong Open and Mauritius Open in the later part of the year,” said Asian Tour’s CEO, Cho Minn Thant from Sentosa, the Asian Tour’s headquarters in Singapore.
“India will be an important component of the re-worked schedule,” he said.
The Asian Tour will come to India for what it calls an ‘Indian Swing’ with the Panasonic Open India, the re-scheduled Hero Indian Open and a possible new event in Delhi. “India has always been a big draw for Asian Tour,” added Cho from SIngapore.
Cho said: “We are targeting a conservative restart in September because of the current predicament with restrictions on air travel and large gatherings. Unlike domestic markets, we understand international travel will slowly restart in phases and the ultimate lifting of quarantine periods will determine the Tour’s ability to resume full-scale operations.”
The Asian Tour plans to resume its 2020 season in September where its schedule is based on forecasts and the current trajectory of gradual relaxations of social distancing measures across the region.
The Shinhan Donghae Open is expected to be the first event to tee off since the global COVID-19 pandemic forced the season to be suspended in March. The tournament has been scheduled to tee off at Bear’s Best Cheongna Golf Club located in Incheon, Korea from September 10-13 with a purse of KRW1.4 billion (approximately US$1,181,000 million).
Plans are in place for the season to continue onwards to Chinese Taipei and Japan for the Mercuries Taiwan Masters and Panasonic Open Golf Championship respectively. Following that, discussions are already in place for an event in South East Asia before the Tour goes to India for an ‘Indian Swing’.
Cho also said, “There is a prospect of the Tour traveling to China and culminating with a stretch which includes the Hong Kong Open and Mauritius Open in the later part of the year. During this period, if things go our way, there may also be a couple of new events that get added to the schedule.”
For the Asian Development Tour, the target is between six to eight tournaments in Thailand, Indonesia and Chinese Taipei while events in Malaysia are still pending.
The Asian Tour has members of over 25 different nationalities residing across the globe, so a lot will be dependent on the respective local government health and travel guidelines. Taking into consideration the possibility of extended disruptions for some of its members, discussions are being held to determine the conclusion of the season and its transition into 2021.
“We anticipate that there may be some restrictions for travellers from certain countries when we resume. If this is the case, we will still start as planned with players who can travel and assess the impact and severity of the disadvantage for those who cannot,” said Cho.
“Once this information is established, we will make a call with regards to the conclusion of the season and the transition into the 2021 season. But at this time, we plan to extend our season into 2021, with the early events in 2021 also forming part of the current season,” said Cho.
“It is encouraging to see the gradual relaxation of social distancing measures throughout the globe. The return to action of several major sports organizations and leagues, although without fans in attendance, has given all of us a huge uplift in many respects,” added Cho.
Read also:
India figures prominently in Asian Tour’s re-worked plans, says CEO, Cho Minn Thant
