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The R&A has confirmed it will introduce a ballot for tickets for next year’s 150th Open Championship at St Andrews.
The governing body has made the unprecedented move because it believes there will be a massive demand for tickets and a ballot is the “fairest” and “most equitable” way to cater for demand.
“This is a momentous occasion for golf as well as The Open and one which sports fans everywhere are looking forward to enormously,” R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said. “The 150th anniversary will give fans the opportunity to be part of a unique and unparalleled celebration at the birthplace of the game in St Andrews.
“We expect exceptional demand to be part of these celebrations, and the ballot will give as many fans as possible the chance to secure a ticket and be part of history being made at one of the world’s most revered and renowned sporting events.”
To get into the new ballot, members of the public will need to sign up for the free-to-join One Club at www.theopen.com. Adult tickets for championship days cost £95, with tickets for practice days ranging from £20 to £50. To allow access to as many different people as possible, traditionally popular weekly tickets will not be available.
The ticket ballot will run from Thursday 1 July to Monday 4 October to give as many fans as possible the opportunity to register for tickets. A balance of allocations will ensure every generation of fans from the local area, the rest of the UK, and elsewhere around the world will be able to attend.
The R&A will continue its existing popular Kids Go Free scheme, while half-price youth tickets will also be available for 16- to 24-year-olds.
The announcement coincides with the R&A launching a new commemorative brand for the 150th Open Championship. The distinctive 150th logo is made up of individual threads that each represent the millions of journeys connected to the championship since it was inaugurated in 1860. It will be displayed on all promotional campaigns throughout the next 14 months.
The R&A has announced there will be Open Championship places up for grabs at the European Tour’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open (1-4 July) and the Challenge Tour’s Kaskáda Golf Challenge (1-4 July) and Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge (8-11 July).
The decision means that golfers forced to withdraw from Open Championship Final Qualifying (29 June) due to COVID-19 travel restrictions will have alternative opportunities to earn a place in the final major championship of the year.
Those who compete in Final Qualifying and do not secure one of the 12 places available there will be unable to qualify through the three new avenues.
The three leading non-exempt golfers at the Irish Open will qualify, as will the leading non-exempt golfers at the Kaskáda and Le Vaudreuil events.
“We know that there are a number of golfers who have entered Final Qualifying who are planning to travel separately to England and then on to Ireland, the Czech Republic or France to play in the scheduled tour events shortly after,” said Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, the R&A’s executive director for championships. “Having considered the existing international travel measures carefully, including contact protocols, we believe there is a greater risk that, when travelling by plane, players may have to self-isolate if they are identified as a close contact of a fellow passenger testing positive for COVID-19.”
The R&A also confirmed that three Open places will be available the week before the Open Championship, through the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open. Golfers who play in Final Qualifying but do not earn a spot are able to compete for those three places.
Tom Watson believes the new breed of big-hitting professionals won’t overpower the Old Course at St Andrews in next year’s Open Championship.
The 71-year-old knows Bryson DeChambeau and his peers will be able to drive several par-4s, but he predicts comments about the course being rendered obsolete are exaggerated.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how they play the course,” the five-time Open champion said. “Look at how John Daly played it when he played in the play-off (in 1995). He hit driver to 16, he took those bunkers out of play by bombing it over them into the rough.
“If the R&A is smart, they will make the rough really deep over those bunkers, forcing the players to lay up short and hit the proper shot into that hole. I think they could do that with the set up.
“Holes like No 9 and No 10, sure they will drive those holes, but people love to see it, I love to see it. It’s wonderful to see these players hit the ball so far.
“But the thing is they still have to perform,” he added. “They still have to putt, they still have to chip, they have to keep those long drives from going into the landmines, as I call those bunkers.
“They have to play their way round there and be smart, no matter how far they hit it. I remember playing St Andrews when you had to lay up with an iron on the tee shot at 14 because it would roll 100 yards. The R&A like fast conditions, they want it fiery, they want it hard and fast.”
The Annika Foundation announced that this year’s Annika Invitational Europe, to be staged at Isaberg Golf Club in Hestra on 13-17 June, will be open only to competitors who currently reside in Sweden.
The change was forced on tournament organisers as a result of current Swedish government protocols which currently restrict entry into the country by amateur competitors who live abroad.
The current rules allow professional events, which means this week’s Scandinavian Mixed event staged by the European Tour and the LET can go ahead.
“While it’s unfortunate we won’t be able to welcome international competitors to Sweden for the 2021 edition of the Annika Invitational Europe, our main priority is complying with all applicable regulations to ensure the safety of our competitors, their families, club members and tournament volunteers and staff,” said Swedish Golf Federation representative Daniel Rosendahl.
American Rachel Heck is now the No 2 player on the World Amateur Golf Ranking after an outstanding first year in college golf. The Stanford student’s NCAA Women’s Championship victory, her fifth consecutive win and sixth in nine starts, sees her move four places to the position behind countrywoman Rose Zhang. Heck, who set a college scoring record with a 69.72 average, was outside the top 50 in March.
Scotland’s Hannah Darling and Callan Barrow of England also made major moves following big wins in Scotland. Darling’s St Rule Trophy victory at St Andrews pushed her 183 positions to 85th. Barrow won the Scottish Men’s Open Championship at Southerness and he breaks into the top 200 with a jump of 118 places to 156th.
US Solheim Cup star Lexi Thompson and English counterpart Georgia Hall are two of the big names signed up for the inaugural $1 million Aramco Team Series – London at the Centurion Club, St Albans, England on 8 July.
Other entrants include Swedish double major winner Anna Nordqvist and Denmark’s Emily Kristine Pedersen, who topped last year’s Ladies European Tour Race to Costa del Sol money list.
The new event is the first of five Aramco-sponsored tournaments this year, with the London event followed by similar events in Sotogrande (5-7 August), New York (14-16 October) and Jeddah (10-12 November). The Jeddah event will take place just days after the Aramco Series Ladies International presented by Public Investment Fund on 4-7 November.
Each Aramco Series event will feature 36 teams comprising a captain, two other professionals and an amateur competing for a team prize. Professional players will also be competing for an individual prize of $200,000.
“It’s a really great addition to the tour that I think most of us can’t wait to get playing in,” said Hall, the 2018 Women’s Open champion. “It’s a new format, it’s different, and will only be a force for good in women’s golf.”
US Walker Cup player John Pak heads a group of five former collegiate players who have earned exemptions on the Korn Ferry Tour through the inaugural PGA Tour University programme.
Pak (Florida State) is joined by Davis Thompson (Georgia), Austin Eckroat (Oklahoma State), Chun An Yu (Arizona State) and Garrett Reband (Oklahoma). They are exempt into all remaining open, full-field Korn Ferry Tour events for the rest of 2021 as well as to the final stage of Q-School.
England’s Angus Flanagan (Minnesota) and South Africa’s Jovan Rebula (Auburn) are two of the next 10 players on the list who earned exemptions into Forme Tour events, starting with the L&J Golf Championship at Jennings Mill Country Club, Georgia, later this month. The other eight are Quade Cummins (Oklahoma), Michael Feagles (Illinois), McClure Meissner (SMU), Trevor Werbylo (Arizona), Jonathan Brightwell (Oklahoma), Puwit Anupansuebsai (San Diego State), Alex Schaake (Iowa) and Benjamin Shipp (N.C. State).
The PGA Tour created the Forme Tour to provide playing opportunities for PGA Tour Canada members who saw their season impacted by COVID-19 restrictions. It consists of eight, 72-hole tournaments between late June and mid-September. The top five players on its money list will earn Korn Ferry Tour membership for 2021-22, with others advancing to second and final stages of the Korn Ferry Tour Q-School.
COVID-19 restrictions have forced the European Golf Association to change the venues for two of its top team competitions.
The European Amateur Team Championship, originally scheduled for Vasatorp Golf Club in Sweden, has been moved to the Stadium Course at PGA Catalunya in Spain, while the European Girls’ Team Championship has been switched from Hilversumsche Golf Club in the Netherlands to Montado Golf Resort in Portugal. Both events will be played on 6-10 July.
“Unfortunately, we have to tell you the European Girls’ Team Championship and the European Amateur Team Championship have to be relocated,” EGA president Haukur Örn Birgisson and the organisation’s general secretary, Michael Thannhäuser, confirmed in a joint statement.
“Our special gratitude goes to the Dutch Golf Federation and the Swedish Golf Federation who tried everything to make these two team championships possible. We will be delighted to welcome them as future hosts.
“The Royal Spanish Federation and the Portuguese Golf Federation have offered two wonderful venues close to Barcelona and Lisbon, respectively, and they look forward to hosting all participating teams.”
Colin Callander and Alistair Tait