Well, the R&A finally made a decision and somewhat surprisingly for some the decision was to cancel the 149th Open Championship because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Tournament will now take place at the same venue, Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, in 2021.
Customer service satisfaction and benchmarking firm 59club have announced today that they will further extend their complimentary offering amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, as 59club help golf managers, retailers, golf pro’s, F&B operators, leisure and spa businesses and hoteliers alike, make the right choices and provide the right options for its customers and staff.
PGA TOUR has announced an expansive media rights deal that brings in ESPN with its streaming services alongside incumbent broadcasters CBS and NBC. The deal aims to increase the reach with more video content reaching a broader audience.
Martin Slumbers, the R&A chief executive, recently stated that “Golf has to change” when referring to the restrictive dress regulations at golf clubs as one of the reasons why prospective players are put off, with membership levels down across the UK. Fashion brands Lyle & Scott are in total agreement as borne out by their recent collaboration.
GolfPunk favourite Ian Poulter saw red following comments by Paul Azinger at the weekend suggesting the European Tour was a lot easier than the PGA Tour. Poulter took to Twitter and did not hold back on what he thought about what was said by the ex-Ryder Cup captain.
Royal Troon first hosted The Open in 1923, and the great event will return to the famed links course in South Ayrshire a century on from that first staging. In 2023 Royal Troon will be staging the event for the tenth time, the last time being 2016 when Henrik Stenson prevailed in a mighty battle with Phil Mickelson.
It’s Manic Monday, so here is a very quick round up of all the results and stories from the weekend on the, PGA Tour, European Tour, LPGA and Women’s European Tour.
There was plenty of excitement at the last week’s events and plenty of great play. Here is GolfPunk’s pick of the best shots and we use the word ‘best’ in a rather loose way for one of them!
New South Wales amateur Stephanie Kyriacou holds a two shot lead at 15-under-par heading into the final round of the Geoff King Motors Australian Ladies Classic at Bonville Golf Resort. Overnight leader Lauren Stephenson stumbled to a one-over-par 73 to lie two shots back in second.
Forest of Arden Marriott Hotel & Country Club will welcome 59club clients from across Europe on the 12-13th March 2020. An extension to the ceremony will see The Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort & Spa host the awards to recognise excellence across Asia, The Middle East & Africa on the 20th April 2020, as the Service ‘Excellence’ Awards are split for the first time.
Surely the least contentious and well-deserved award for 2019 was Jon Rahm being voted the Seve Ballesteros Award as the 2019 European Tour Players' Player of the Year, after a spectacular campaign which included two Rolex Series titles, another victory on home soil and culminated in him being crowned the Race to Dubai Champion.
Ok as nobody else seems to be doing it, I am going to come out and defend the seemingly indefensible, or at the very worst add a bit of perspective. Hank Hainey made a pretty unwise statement and was clearly mistaken in taking what might be described as ‘locker room humour’ to the airways. But, was he being ‘racist, xenophobic, and sexist’ as stated by the PGA Tour’s lawyers?
