Melbourne, Oct. 12 (BNA) Golf Australia coach James Sutherland told Reuters that Australia’s hopes of restarting a round of golf remain frustrated by the novel coronavirus, and that its first event could be a victim of the pandemic for the second year in a row.
The country’s biggest tournaments were canceled last year and this year’s tournaments have been postponed to early 2022, but organizers still struggle with strict travel restrictions and quarantine rules, Reuters reports.
Australia’s borders are effectively closed and unlikely to open to non-residents until 2022, while a mandatory 14-day isolation in quarantine hotels is delaying the country’s top players from returning home to support the domestic tour.
This adds to a nightmare for tournament organizers who have stopped providing the talent needed to sign sponsors and sell tickets.
“We have put the ambiguity in a difficult position,” Sutherland said in an interview on Monday.
“In our view, we’re just trying to get a little bit of certainty as to what things look like and what they might look like.
“Usually there are a few crystal balls but unfortunately these players tend to make arrangements before long.”
The Australian Open, featuring former world number one Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy, was postponed in late January or early February last month after its November schedule proved untenable.
Both the Australian Open and the 2022 women’s event in Adelaide in February, which is also a stop on the Elite LPGA Tour, are now in doubt.
“Now we have to assess what the events are like and is it possible to play at a lower scale?” Sutherland said.
“It’s the kinds of things we’re trying to work through at the moment.”
Losing tournaments would be another blow to the domestic tour, adding to a growing list of canceled sporting events in Australia.
The Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix in Melbourne was postponed from its traditional window in March to the November slot before being canceled for a second year, along with the MotoGP event on nearby Phillip Island.
The Road Cycling Downhill Tour, a race at the top of the UCI World Tour, was canceled last month and there are doubts whether the team-based ATP Cup can continue ahead of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park in January.
Even organizing small golf events for players from home who are desperate to compete is proving a huge challenge for officials, with Australia’s southeastern states virtually isolated from the rest of the country while battling the COVID-19 outbreak.
“(This is) another layer of complexity with state boundaries and how players can move themselves,” Sutherland said.
“For players, time is money and they cannot afford two weeks in quarantine.”