The British Open in 2020 to be Cancelled

Yappi

Go Buckeyes
The R&A has decided to cancel The Open in 2020 due to the current Covid-19 pandemic. The Championship will next be played at Royal St George’s in 2021.

The Open was due to be played in Kent from 12-19 July but it has been necessary to cancel the Championship based on guidance from the UK Government, the health authorities, public services and The R&A’s advisers. This is the first time since the Second World War that golf’s original Championship, first played in 1860, has been cancelled.

The 149th Open will be played at Royal St George’s from 11-18 July 2021.

The 150th Open will be played at St Andrews from 10-17 July 2022.

“I can assure everyone that we have explored every option for playing The Open this year but it is not going to be possible.” Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A

The R&A will transfer over tickets and hospitality packages purchased for the Championship in 2020 to The Open in 2021. Purchasers who no longer wish to (or are no longer able to) attend in 2021 will receive a full refund. Further information on this process will be sent directly to ticket and hospitality purchasers in due course.

Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “Our absolute priority is to protect the health and safety of the fans, players, officials, volunteers and staff involved in The Open. We care deeply about this historic Championship and have made this decision with a heavy heart. We appreciate that this will be disappointing for a great many people around the world but we have to act responsibly during this pandemic and it is the right thing to do.

“I can assure everyone that we have explored every option for playing The Open this year but it is not going to be possible.

“There are many different considerations that go into organising a major sporting event of this scale. We rely on the support of the emergency services, local authorities and a range of other organisations to stage the Championship and it would be unreasonable to place any additional demands on them when they have far more urgent priorities to deal with.

"In recent weeks we have been working closely with those organisations as well as Royal St George’s, St Andrews Links Trust and the other golf bodies to resolve the remaining external factors and have done so as soon as we possibly could. We are grateful to all of them for their assistance and co-operation throughout this process.

“Most of all I would like to thank our fans around the world and all of our partners for their support and understanding. At a difficult time like this we have to recognise that sport must stand aside to let people focus on keeping themselves and their families healthy and safe. We are committed to supporting our community in the weeks and months ahead and will do everything in our power to help golf come through this crisis.”

The R&A’s remaining professional and amateur championships scheduled this year are under review and we will continue to update on any further changes.
 
 
If there is NCAA Football going on many folks in the south will not know what to do that Saturday afternoon.

This may be the rare chance to get a Masters ticket at reasonable price. I lucked into Wednesday tickets in the lottery two or three years ago. Fantastic experience.
 
I bet they limit capacity due to covid and the prices will be astronomical.

Good point. Hadn't thought about that factor. My thought was that it would be out of the regular "patrons" schedules and in the midst of SEC football.

I assume that they'll just honor the tickets already sold and roll them over to November, so it may be tough to limit capacity.
 
The UK is getting hit very hard right now, and they were a few days behind much of mainland Europe. However, UK's PM is in the ICU, and the nation's mortality rate vs. # of confirmed cases is already slotted in between Spain and Italy.

With regard to the Masters, I wonder if the local school system will tweak its schedule to coincide with the Masters. The schools generally go on break in April during Masters week, and many of the locals leave town and rent out their houses to players and spectators for a nice chunk of change.
 
The stuffy pompous R & A folks will have to live with me calling it the BRITISH OPEN. There's the U.S. Open and the British Open.
 
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