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The R&A has announced that 32,000 fans will be allowed to watch the action on each of the four championship days at next month’s Open Championship at Royal St. George’s.
That agreement was reached after discussions with government and public health authorities and the move into the next phase of the government’s Events Research Programme that enables a number of events to take place with higher capacities than the current Step 2 guidance.
The 32,000 will include all ticketholders and hospitality guests who have purchased already. They will receive an e-mail containing all arrangements, including the requirements for COVID-19 status certification.
“We are pleased now to be able to proceed with our plans for having a significant attendance at this year’s Championship,” confirmed R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers. “These fans will play a huge role in creating a very special atmosphere as the world’s best players compete for the Claret Jug and we look forward to welcoming them to Royal St George’s.
“I would like to acknowledge the support and understanding we have received from the government and public health authorities, fans, players, our patrons and partners, as we have worked through this extremely challenging process. The Open is a very special championship in the world of sport and we are fortunate that so many people care as deeply about it as we do.”
It appears to be a busy summer at Augusta National Golf Club even if it is closed to members this time of the year.
A number of aerial photographs by Eureka Earth have been circulating on social media showing significant construction work on the course as well as around the clubhouse area.
A new pro shop is being built on the site of the previous shop, an enhancement that had been planned for some time.
On the golf course, major work appears to be underway on the par-4 11th hole, the par-5 15th hole and, perhaps around the 13th tee. The photographs indicate the 15th tee is being moved back while some trees along the right side of the 11th fairway have been removed.
It is unclear what, if anything, is being done on the 13th hole, which has been a subject of much speculation in recent years after the club purchased property behind the existing tee from the adjacent Augusta Country Club.
Rory McIlroy has become the latest top player to call for greens-reading books to be banned.
McIlroy made his comments shortly after a story by golf writer Eamon Lynch suggested the PGA Tour’s Player Advisory Council, which McIlroy chairs, had voted “overwhelmingly” to outlaw the books from the start of next season. The story said the tour’s full board soon will vote on the ban.
“Everything that’s talked about in those meetings is somewhat confidential, but what I can say, I think, I use a greens book and I’d like to get rid of them,” McIlroy said. “Most guys on tour are in the same boat, that if it’s going to be available to us and it helps us, people are going to use it, but I think for the greater good of the game, I’d like to see it outlawed.”
Greens-reading books plot the contours of putting surfaces in considerable detail, and are used by the vast majority of leading players. But many feel green reading should be an integral skill and there also is evidence they contribute to slow play.
Louis Dobbelaar’s extra reward for becoming the first Australian to win the Dogwood Invitational was a move into the top 60 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking. The Queenslander, who won the tournament by two shots two weekends ago in Georgia, jumped 35 rankings to No. 56.
After a runner-up finish behind Dobbelaar, Canadian mid-amateur Garrett Rank returned to the top 50, advancing 19 spots to No. 38.
On the women’s side of the ranking, Scotland’s Louise Duncan made an emphatic rise up in the wake of her Women’s Amateur Championship victory. Duncan, who became the first Scot to win the title in 24 years after defeating Iceland’s Jóhanna Lea Lúðvíksdóttir, 9 and 8, climbed 197 positions to 218th. Lúðvíksdóttir, the first Icelandic player to reach the final, also achieved a personal best ranking with a rise of 274 positions to 670th.
Chiara Tamburlini returned home to win the Swiss Golf Open Championship after helping the University of Mississippi win the women’s NCAA Championship for the first time. She climbed 22 places to 180th.
Staff and Wire Reports