The Arkansas State Golf Association is postponing its annual state amateur championship set for later this month until a later date due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, Executive Director Jay Fox told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Friday.
The state amateur had been scheduled for May 28-30 at Hardscrabble Country Club in Fort Smith, with an original entry deadline of May 14.
Fox said Friday that Hardscrabble's board of directors voted this week to move ahead and play the state amateur at the end of the month as originally scheduled or let the club play host in a future year, which required a decision on the status of this year's event to be reached soon by the ASGA.
The ASGA's six-person board of directors voted "unanimously" on Thursday to move the state amateur, with a new date and site to be determined.
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"We just didn't feel that we could do it [in May] for all the safety reasons," Fox said. "It wasn't just the golf. There's hotel and travel involved. There are a lot of things still, I think, that we don't know yet. There's a ton of things to be concerned about."
By losing the state amateur this year, Hardscrabble is now expected to host the event in 2022, Fox said.
In the meantime, the ASGA is "exploring all options," Fox said, and looking toward the future, albeit one that remains uncertain and unsettled because of the pandemic. Fox said the ASGA has extended the suspension of its tournament schedule through the end of May, although the organization plans to work to reschedule as many missed events as possible for later dates this year.
The earliest the ASGA would look to play the state amateur is mid-to-late June, Fox said. That's assuming the current climate improves enough to where it's deemed safe.
The organization is currently in the process of arranging a new host course for the championship. Fox said the ASGA is in negotiations with one club, but he declined to specify which one. Fox said the club has hosted the state amateur before.
"If those negotiations fall through, then we'll move on to Plan B," Fox said. "But we have one site that we are having some serious conversations with."
Pushing the state amateur back to later in the year, perhaps after the summer has ended, remains a possibility as well.
"I think one of our executive committee members said, 'You know, they're playing the Masters in November this year, so why would we be opposed to maybe playing the state am in September or October?' " Fox said.
The ASGA has been developing multiple contingency plans, Fox said, and it hopes to "have something in place within a week or two." A decision on whether the state amateur can be played as early as mid-to-late June is expected "soon."
Even if the state amateur is able to be played at some point this year, there will likely still need to be considerable disinfectant and social distancing procedures in place.
Asked if spectators could still be allowed to attend, Fox entertained the idea but noted they may not be allowed to use carts and would be required to follow certain social distancing parameters.
The ASGA and the Arkansas chapter of the PGA South Central Section on Thursday jointly released a set of recommended guidelines for state golf courses and golfers to follow that promote limited contact with other people and objects at the course and enhanced cleaning techniques. Many of those guidelines may have to be in place in order for the state amateur to be played this year.
"We are not going to play golf if it creates an unsafe environment," Fox said.
"We're not going to put our players in harms' way purposefully. We're taking every precaution to avoid this pandemic and handle this pandemic the best way that we can."
Sports on 05/02/2020