The World Amateur Team Championships will not be played in 2020 in Singapore, or rescheduled for 2021.
Despite being six months away, the World Amateur Team Championships have been taken off the 2020 calendar. The event scheduled for the second half of October had already been moved from Hong Kong to Singapore after concerns over social unrest in its originally scheduled location. Now, the event has been canceled entirely.
Dating back to 1958, the World Amateur Team Championships include up to 72 countries competing in 72 holes of stroke play competition. Each country fields two or three players with the two lowest scores counting per round.
The Espirito Santo Trophy for women was scheduled for Oct. 14-17 and the Eisenhower Trophy for men was to be played Oct. 21-24. Tanah Merah Country Club and Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore would have hosted both. Sentosa is a former Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship venue, and also hosts the HSBC Women’s World Championship, an LPGA event.
The U.S. women won the Espirito Santo Trophy in Ireland in 2018. Denmark won the men’s team title that year.
The USGA had already announced captains for the American teams. Diana Murphy, a past USGA president, and Pam Murray, a former chair of the USGA Women’s Committee, would have captained both the men’s and women’s teams, respectively.
“This unprecedented decision was due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty that this has caused to ensuring that the 2020 WATC could be staged successfully,” said IGF Executive Director Antony Scanlon. “But most importantly, it was made to safeguard the health and safety of all athletes, officials and volunteers at the 2020 WATC, to which there was no certainty that this risk could be mitigated to an acceptable level.”
Some international team events – such as the Curtis Cup, a biennial match between top women amateurs in the U.S. and those in Great Britain and Ireland – were already moved to 2021. It was slated for June 12-14 in Wales. This year’s edition of the World Amateur Team Championship, however, will not be rescheduled.
“I would also note that we gave thoughtful consideration to postponing the Championships to 2021,” Scanlon said. “However, this would have created considerable scheduling and logistical issues that were insurmountable, plus we still could not say with absolute certainty that we could hold it without risk next year. Therefore, it is preferred that the IGF look forward to focusing on and delivering a wonderful 2022 event in France.”
Another international event also fell off the calendar this week, though one with considerably less history. The 2020 Women’s Amateur Latin America Championship presented by The R&A and the ANNIKA Foundation, a new event announced just weeks ago, was due to take place in Argentina Sept. 3-6 at Pilar Golf in Buenos Aires, but will now be played Sept. 2-5, 2021 at the same venue.
“We were excited to launch this special event in September but look forward to an even better event in 2021,” Sorenstam said. “I cherish the work we have accomplished with The R&A in Latin America and look forward to hosting the region’s top talent next year.”
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