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Cho said the Asian Tour is taking a cautious
approach about returning to competition as the world tries to grapple and
deal with COVID-19.
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New Delhi(Agencies): Indian golfer
Viraj Madappa kisses the trophy after winning of the Take Solutions Masters,
Asian Tour Championship held at the Karnataka Golf Association in Bengaluru on
Sunday, Aug 12,2018.
Eyeing a resumption in September, Asian Tour’s CEO Cho Minn
Thant has said that India would be a big part of the revised golf calendar with
as many as three events likely in the country.
Cho said the Asian Tour is taking a cautious approach about
returning to competition as the world tries to grapple and deal with COVID-19.
“We are targeting
between 10-12 (events) from September to December. There is a prospect of the
Tour travelling to China and culminating with a stretch which includes the Hong
Kong Open and Mauritius Open in the later part of the year,” said Cho from
Singapore.
“India will be an
important component of the reworked schedule,” he added.
The Tour also plans to adopt innovative and need-based
measures to counter the threat of the virus. The possibilities include
restrictions like “local caddies only”, fewer travelling staff and even no
marquees and hospitality tents if local sponsors desire.
The Tour is also willing to look at additional Pro-Ams as an
incentive for the sponsors.
With its first post-COVID-19 event in September in Korea,
the Asian Tour hopes to stage about a dozen tournaments in the remaining period
of 2020.
It will come to India for what it calls an “Indian Swing”
with the Panasonic Open, the re-scheduled Hero Indian Open and a possible new
event in Delhi.
“We are targeting a
conservative restart in September because of the current predicament with
restrictions on air travel and large gatherings.
“Unlike domestic
markets, we understand international travel will slowly restart in phases and
the ultimate lifting of quarantine periods will determine the Tour’s ability to
resume full-scale operations,” he added.
The Shinhan Donghae Open is expected to be the first event
to tee off since the global COVID-19 pandemic forced the season to be suspended
in March.
The tournament has been scheduled to tee off at Bear’s Best
Cheongna Golf Club located in Incheon, Korea from September 10-13 with a purse
of KRW1.4 billion (approximately USD 1.18 million).
Plans are in place for the season to continue onwards to
Chinese Taipei and Japan for the Mercuries Taiwan Masters and Panasonic Open
Golf Championship respectively.
Following that, discussions are already in place for an
event in South East Asia before the Tour goes to India.
“...if things go our
way, there may also be a couple of new events that get added to the schedule,”
Cho said of the overall schedule.
For the Asian Development Tour, the target is between six to
eight tournaments in Thailand, Indonesia and Chinese Taipei while events in
Malaysia are still pending.The Asian Tour has members of over 25 different
nationalities residing across the globe, so a lot will depend on the respective
local government health and travel guidelines.
Taking into consideration the possibility of extended
disruptions for some of its members, discussions are being held to determine
the conclusion of the season and its transition into 2021.
“If this is the case,
we will still start as planned with players who can travel and assess the
impact and severity of the disadvantage for those who cannot,” said Cho.”Once
this information is established, we will make a call with regards to the
conclusion of the season and the transition into the 2021 season. But at this
time, we plan to extend our season into 2021, with the early events in 2021
also forming part of the current season,” he added.
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