Golf In A Plague Year – July 9: Rescheduled

The Ryder Cup and Senior Amateurs Have Been Rescheduled

The Ryder Cup has been postponed until at least 2021. From the PGA of America.

The 43rd Ryder Cup, scheduled for September 22-27 at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin, has been rescheduled for September 21-26, 2021.

The decision to reschedule the Ryder Cup was made based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and in conjunction with the state of Wisconsin and Sheboygan County, with the health and well-being of all involved as the top priority.

However, the change will have a cascading effect. The presumption is that the President’s Cup will need to move back a year as well. And what of the Solheim Cup, which is traditionally played in non-Ryder Cup years?

I think it might have been better if the Ryder Cup was just postponed until 2022.

A story I have long heard, however, is that the European Tour as an institution depends upon Ryder Cup revenues to make ends meet. At this point, the Cup is three years away from returning to Europe. I wonder if anyone has confidence that the current crisis will be over by 2021 and the Ryder Cup is able to return with crowds.

The USGA also has announced changes. The Senior Amateur, which was to be held this summer at the Country Club of Detroit, will instead host the 2021 Senior Amateur.

The Honors Course, in Ooltewah, Tenn. was originally scheduled to host the Senior Amateur in 2020, will instead host the event in 2024.

The move is somewhat serendipitous, for it will allow The Honors Course more time to recover from recent tornado damage.

At this point, though, I’m wondering if everything will return to “normal” in 2021. It all depends, I think, upon whether a vaccine is developed. I am certainly not going anywhere near a sports venue until I’ve had a shot.

And I know a lot of other people who feel the same way.