As the pandemic continues with the numbers of fully vaccinated people continuing to rise in the U.S., both the PGA Tour and the USGA are making adjustments.
Both the men’s and women’s U.S. Opens will be played in front of limited numbers of spectators in California, though the USGA has declined to specify how many fans will be allowed at the U.S. Women’s Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco (June 3-6) and the men’s U.S. Open at Torrey Pines South near San Diego (June 17-20).
Both events will be played within guidelines established by California officials.
Among the requirements:
All out-of-state spectators will be required to show proof of a COVID vaccination at least 14 days prior to the event;
California residents will be required to show proof of a vaccination at least 14 days in advance or negative test results;
Face coverings and social distancing will be enforced at both events.
Meanwhile, the PGA Tour will discontinue on-site COVID testing at the end of June. The tour will not mandate vaccinations for its players but it will require non-vaccinated players to provide their own weekly testing before being allowed to compete in an event.
Tyler Strafaci, the 2020 U.S. Amateur winner from Georgia Tech, announced Wednesday he will turn professional after playing for the United States at the Walker Cup and will make his debut at the AT&T Byron Nelson.
“Amateur golf will always have a special place in my heart, and I am proud that I was able to continue in my family’s legacy in the amateur game,†said Strafaci, who is No. 8 on the most recent World Amateur Golf Ranking. “It is an honor to (debut) at an event that celebrates the life and legacy of Byron Nelson, especially given Mr. Nelson’s accomplishments on the course as well as everything he achieved as a humanitarian and advocate for the game.â€
The Florida State Golf Association named Strafaci its player of the year after a 2020 season that included a victory in the North and South and Palmetto Amateurs in addition to his U.S. Amateur triumph at Bandon Dunes in Oregon.
The PGA Tour’s Byron Nelson tournament will be played May 13-16 at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas.
The AJGA announced another partnership with a tour professional for one of its events – this one the Mariah Stackhouse Girls Invitational that will be played Sept. 2-4 at Stanford Golf Course in California.
“My AJGA experience was invaluable in my growth both as a golfer and as a person, so I am delighted to be able to help provide an opportunity for the best girl golfers in the world to display their skills at a place that is so special to me, Stanford University,†said Stackhouse, who played there from 2013-16 and led the Cardinal to a national championship in 2015.
The event, which had been called the AJGA Girls Championship for its first 12 years of play, will feature 66 competitors drawn from the AJGA rankings and sponsor invitations.
Past champions include LPGA players Yealimi Noh and Emma Talley, as well as Symetra Tour players Sierra Brooks and Karen Chung.
Japan’s Keita Nakajima returns to the No 1 spot in the World Amateur Golf Ranking following a second-place finish in the Token Homemade Cup on the Japan Golf Tour. It is his third consecutive top-10 on that tour, and helps him move 10 places to replace American Pierceson Coody, who spent one week as the world’s top amateur and moved down to No. 2.
Nakajima became just the third Japanese male to hold the world No 1 spot when he first gained the ranking for 12 weeks last November. Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama became No 1 in 2010, while Takumi Kanaya held the top ranking last year before turning professional. Kanaya defeated Nakajima by a shot to win the Token Homemade Cup.
With the shift at the top, Florida State University senior John Pak dropped one position to No. 3 and Davis Thompson, a University of Georgia senior, fell to No. 4.
The R&A will stage its first overseas qualifier for the 2021 Senior Open, which was canceled last year because of COVID-19.
The Tom Fazio-designed West Course at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, will play host to the event on June 21. Three other qualifiers will be held at Bearwood Lakes, Burhill and Hindhead in England on July 19.
This year’s championship returns to the Old Course at Sunningdale, July 22-25.
Tournament director David Williams said: “We have chosen four fine golf courses to stage the qualifying events for the Senior Open in 2021 and they will provide a true test of golf for the hundreds of players aiming to earn a spot at Sunningdale.
“We thank our friends at PGA Tour Champions for their support in helping us stage a qualifier in the United States as we provide the best opportunity to American golfers to take part in this prestigious championship.â€
The new Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course on the Ury Estate, near Stonehaven in the northeast of Scotland, is set to open in summer 2024.
Preparatory work is underway after a lengthy hiatus following the developer, the FM Group, being granted initial planning approval to build the course in 2006.
The new course is part of an £80 million development that also includes transforming the B-Listed Ury House into apartments and building more than 200 houses.
The course will be the first ever to be branded with the Nicklaus name. Members will have access to the designer’s two U.S. home courses, the Bear’s Club in Jupiter, Florida, and Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio.
Tap-Ins
The PGA Tour announces the formation of the Forme Tour, created to provide opportunities for players on the PGA Tour Canada-Mackenzie Tour who have not been able to compete because of pandemic-related complications at the United States-Canada border (READ MORE). ... In an Earth Day announcement, Bandon Dunes says it no longer will order single-use plastic bottles and has installed water refill stations on its property, part of an initiative with a restoration-focused group called the Freshwater Trust. ... In response to a proposed bill in the California Assembly that would require rezoning for specified golf courses, the Southern California Golf Association says its passage would be “targeting them for development.†(READ AB 672). ... Pulse, a business news outlet in South Korea, reports that private equity firm Centroid Investment Partners is a potential buyer for golf equipment maker TaylorMade. ... C. Layne Williams, a longtime certified rules official for the USGA and a 2016 inductee of the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame, dies at age 68 (MEMORIAL).
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