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The PGA Tour’s 37-page Return to Golf plan officially released on Wednesday had countless specifics on what the Tour and tournaments plan to do to ensure the safety of everyone going forward.
Multiple levels of COVID-19 testing – including a pre-travel screening test sent to players and caddies – will be performed, according to the plan obtained by Golfweek. Players and caddies also will be tested upon arrival, likely at a host hotel, with daily questionnaire and temperature tests to follow.
Testing is required for competition.
Another way the Tour is getting back into the swing of things is by holding the first four tournaments without fans.
Tournaments without fans
- June 11-14: Charles Schwab Challenge, Colonial CC, Fort Worth, Texas
- June 18-21: RBC Heritage, Harbour Town GL, Hilton Head, South Carolina
- June 25-28: Travelers Championship, TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Connecticut
- July 2-5: Rocket Mortgage Classic, Detroit Golf Club, Detroit
When asked during a conference call with reporters on Wednesday if there’s a chance fans could be allowed on site in Detroit, before the end of the four-week period, Andy Pazder, PGA Tour’s Chief Tournaments and Competitions Officer, said: “There will not be spectators at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.”
That means that the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois, July 9-12, is scheduled to be the first tournament with fans. But that can change.
“It’s going to be dependent on local, state and federal regulations that will largely dictate when we’re able to resume having some number of fans,” Pazder said. “I would absolutely anticipate that whenever that occurs, it would initially be on a limited basis to ease ourselves back into spectators being on site.”
Pazder said from the John Deere on, tournament organizers are working on three options of “parallel planning with spectators, limited number of spectators and without spectators.
“We obviously hope that there will be a point in time this summer where we are able to welcome back our fans on site, but as we’ve said. … we’re only going to return to golf when we can do it in a safe and responsible manner, and it’s certainly not going to be just so we can hit some target date that isn’t supported by the local state and federal authorities.”
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