{{ubiquityData.prevArticle.description}}
{{ubiquityData.nextArticle.description}}
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA | The signs don’t inspire a lot of optimism. More than 60,000 Americans a day are testing positive for the coronavirus and the death toll keeps climbing at roughly 1,000 daily. Georgia – the quickest state in the country to reopen – is one of the hottest spots for the continued outbreak of the virus.
A golf tournament would seem to be the least of the country’s concerns, yet the Masters is no ordinary golf tournament. This week marked the midpoint between when the Masters Tournament was supposed to be played in April and when it is scheduled to take place in November. When the postponed dates were announced during the time experts hoped would be the peak of the pandemic, seven months seemed like a safe cushion for getting the virus under control, yet COVID-19 hospitalizations nationwide have returned to mid-April levels.
Augusta National Golf Club – closed since March – has been silent since announcing on April 6 its intention to stage the Masters in front of a full cast of patrons in the fall. That pronouncement included a pretty important disclaimer from Masters chairman Fred Ridley: “We want to emphasize that our future plans are incumbent upon favorable counsel and direction from health officials.”
Despite silence from Magnolia Lane, two disparate thoughts are racing through the minds of Augusta business leaders desperate for the revenue jolt a fully attended Masters Tournament would provide. The first is serious concern that the Masters will have to follow suit with the PGA Tour and either play behind closed doors or cancel. The second is a blind faith that Augusta National is capable of pulling off magic in the middle of a pandemic.
“If anybody can do it, they can do it,” said Sean Frantom, the sales and community engagement manager at Augusta’s newly opened Topgolf. “We hope and pray it happens for many, many different reasons. But right now, it doesn’t look very positive.”
CLICK HERE TO READ THIS UNLOCKED STORY AT GGP+... AND USE COUPON CODE GGP48 TO SAVE 20% ON AN ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION