There is no doubting the huge impact the COVID-19 pandemic had and continues to have on our lives. This is ongoing in 2021 and everyone is eager for the world's governments to find a way back to normal life for all. While all parts of daily life have been impacted by COVID, sports has been one area that has seen much disruption.
COVID-19 Golf subscriptions survey
Since we ran an article on the attitude of golf clubs to subscriptions many people have been commenting. Therefore, we thought we'd do a very quick survey to get a feel for what clubs out there are doing. We would welcome a couple of minutes of your time to answer the simple survey.
The global response by healthcare workers to the COVID-19 pandemic has been extraordinary. Dr Ellie McCarthy and her colleagues at Kings College Hospital in Dubai have been on the frontline throughout 2020. As a small token of thanks to Dr Ellie, and all those like her, The European Tour and DP World lined up a special surprise for this incredible woman.
A real headache is emerging for the PGA Tour as Brooks Koepka has withdrawn from the Travelers Championship. Koepka’s caddie Ricky Elliott tested positive for Covid-19 a day after Graeme McDowell’s caddie had a positive test.
Cobblestone Golf Course in Georgia, USA, has come up with an ingenious alternative to the raised cup for golf holes. The smart and simple device allows for a player to hole out and then eject the ball from the hole without touching the flag or the hole.
I’m just about to pay my annual subscription, a tad late but hopefully given the current circumstances my tardiness is overlooked. I will be signing a cheque, or more likely be doing an online transfer, for a chunky sum of money, at a time when I have absolutely no idea when my next round will come. I am happy to pay up but many up and down the country will be thinking twice.
Golfers on the European Tour have come together to record a message to encourage everyone across the world to follow the World Health Organisation’s guidelines amid the coronavirus outbreak, reinforcing the #STAYATHOME message.
Golfers will have an opportunity to tee it up with a top-ranked tour player, schedule their next golf lesson with a world-renowned instructor, get fit like a professional, or even experience Pebble Beach with a local resident, while ‘Chipping In’ to make a difference with the COVID-19 Relief Charity Golf Auction.
Hot on the heels of the Tiger and Phil announcement we have some more golf on telly coming our way with Team TaylorMade. In the socially distanced red corner, and standing a good six feet or so apart, will be Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson and in the blue corner will be Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff. The players will be taking to the fairways in a $3 million charity skins game on 17th May.
As the Coronavirus crisis rumbles on golf tours facing an uncertain future. Every week that passes means that both the PGA Tour and European Tour are losing millions in TV and sponsorship revenues. The Americans have a plan for survival but their European counterparts face the perfect storm of challenges that threaten the existence of the European Tour itself.
This time last year it was not looking particularly rosy for the golf industry in the UK. Participation figures for golf had risen slightly but the outlook for many clubs up and down the land was bleak. Membership figures were falling and there was a trend forming as the body of nomadic golfers rose.
