[Matt_Cohn]

Why has the Senior Open at Newport not been canceled?

Well officially the US Open hasn't been moved either. They both will be moved or canceled.

[William_G]

Tom,

The point is well taken and a valid one.

But i think in this scenario, its a case of bored writers sitting around with nothing to do, and firing off some gossipy articles to see what sticks.  i'm guessing that's what happened with Brandel as well.

+1


all sport writers and opinion/columnists are dying for any material. Give it up and wait til you have material folks.


Brad Klein is great at golf stuff, but not so much anything else.


Tom Doak great at golf design, not much else if anything except participating here and helping his associates succeed.


Matt Ginella...hmmmmmm


NLU?


etc.........


TD,


What is your take on how serious this is relative to annual deaths due to other diseases?

[Tom_Doak]

Tom Doak great at golf design, not much else if anything except participating here and helping his associates succeed.etc.........


TD,


What is your take on how serious this is relative to annual deaths due to other diseases?

William:


I think I have done decently as a writer, too.


Since you just told me I shouldn't have opinions on things where I'm not an expert, I don't know that I should answer your question.  However, Jack Nicklaus was sometimes criticized for speaking outside his depth, and his response was that if you didn't think his opinion was valid about something, don't ask him!  So:


I have no idea how many people coronavirus will kill, compared to cancer / influenza / the Black plague / the indifference of others.


But I think this is really serious because of how contagious it is.  That will affect people's desire to travel for years to come -- although I remember when we said the same about 9/11.


I know I will think twice about whether I really need to get on a plane and work somewhere overseas, from now on.  Not for my safety, but for theirs.


Just yesterday all of us members got a note from the office at Crystal Downs, which said in so many words, as of yet there are no cases of coronavirus in Benzie County, Michigan, and none of us should be the one to bring it to them!

[Pete_Pittock]

Cram the American ones into three consecutive weeks in north-central Nebraska. It wouldn't bother any football in the state

[Joe Bausch]

Cram the American ones into three consecutive weeks in north-central Nebraska. It wouldn't bother any football in the state

Ouch.  Tom Osborne is going to seek you out P2!

[Ronald Montesano]

My two cents: http://www.golfwrx.com/600452/opinion-why-all-of-golfs-majors-should-pass-on-2020/?utm_source=Front&utm_medium=Blogroll_Home&utm_campaign=GolfWRX_OnSite&utm_content=unused


rm

[PCCraig]

I think these Golf writers (and Sports writers in general) are just looking for something, anything, to write about. They're probably worried for their jobs.


It's a bummer that the Masters won't be played in a couple of weeks, but it sure seems dumb to worry about when/where the Golf majors will be held when there is a field hospital, complete with a morgue, set up in Central Park. Sure seems like professional golf is pretty non-essential these days.

[Adam Lawrence]

I think the Masters is the most likely, simply because it has the smallest field. It's hard to see how any of the full-field Majors get played in September or later given the lack of daylight.

[John Kavanaugh]

https://nypost.com/2020/03/30/fauci-anticipates-another-us-coronavirus-outbreak-in-the-fall/


As long as whoever attends the events in any capacity is under a mandatory 14 day quarantine upon returning home everything should be fine.

[Kalen Braley]

FWIW,


I do think majors could be held in the fall, they'd just need to use the West Coast swing model of having multiple courses for pre-cut rounds. Seems like Wing Foot could make this happen by playing 1st two days on both courses and the West on the weekend.

[JESII]

Kalen, they would just reduce the field size to accommodate if need be. They will not be using multiple courses.


The reality is, they'll just end up overlapping Thursday into Friday and Friday into Saturday. As long as the leaders tee off on time Sunday afternoon, nothing leading to that matters.

[Tom_Doak]

Kalen, they would just reduce the field size to accommodate if need be. They will not be using multiple courses.

Normally I would agree, but after seeing them use both courses at Stonewall for the 36-hole final of the Mid Am, I would guess there are at least a couple of people in Far Hills who would be all geeked up to use both 18's at Winged Foot for the Open.  Unless, of course, they are still parking cars on them for the event.  Do they do that anymore?

[jeffwarne]

I think the Masters is the most likely, simply because it has the smallest field. It's hard to see how any of the full-field Majors get played in September or later given the lack of daylight.

This
and its ability to adjust on short notice
and decent weather through Thanksgiving

[JMEvensky]

I think the Masters is the most likely, simply because it has the smallest field. It's hard to see how any of the full-field Majors get played in September or later given the lack of daylight.

This
and its ability to adjust on short notice
and decent weather through Thanksgiving

Plus the Masters doesn't need to hold any qualifiers to fill out the field.

[Kalen Braley]

Additionally,


If the Masters wanted to go with less aggravation, they could just tell the past winners who are no longer contenders to just sit this year out, and limit the field size to 60-70 and have a 3 day, 54 hole, no cut event.

[John Kavanaugh]

No patrons and let the volunteers quarantine on site for the next 14 days with full run of the course. Web cast the first tee temperature test so we can see the faces of those cast off property. You only get to play until you test positive. Better than Survivor. For an up charge you can see who is getting laid in Butler Cabin. The Bachelor personified. Must see TV.

[jeffwarne]

No patrons and let the volunteers quarantine on site for the next 14 days with full run of the course. Web cast the first tee temperature test so we can see the faces of those cast off property. You only get to play until you test positive. Better than Survivor. For an up charge you can see who is getting laid in Butler Cabin. The Bachelor personified. Must see TV.

That made me laugh
Ratings would be "better than The Bachelor or Monday Night Football"   

[Tom_Doak]

Additionally,


If the Masters wanted to go with less aggravation, they could just tell the past winners who are no longer contenders to just sit this year out, and limit the field size to 60-70 and have a 3 day, 54 hole, no cut event.

I wonder how many of the International players in the field are actually in the U.S.A. right now?  If they aren't, they might not be able to come in to play.  Of course, there might be a secret exemption for private jets.

[Ronald Montesano]

No patrons and let the volunteers quarantine on site for the next 14 days with full run of the course. Web cast the first tee temperature test so we can see the faces of those cast off property. You only get to play until you test positive. Better than Survivor. For an up charge you can see who is getting laid in Butler Cabin. The Bachelor personified. Must see TV.

#NightOfPassionInCrowsNest

I'm in. I'm sooooo In to watch this.

[V. Kmetz]

Normally I would agree, but after seeing them use both courses at Stonewall for the 36-hole final of the Mid Am, I would guess there are at least a couple of people in Far Hills who would be all geeked up to use both 18's at Winged Foot for the Open.  Unless, of course, they are still parking cars on them for the event.  Do they do that anymore?

No, they aren't. Remote shuttle lots within 5 miles and heavy train encouragement with shuttles down the street.  But if there's going to be anything like the normal Open (at any time) at WF, the East course is used for infrastructure (1, 10, 2-4), pavilions hi and lo (7, 11, 12, 16, 18)  and the 9th hole seves as the range.  East course won't be an option, unless it is a spectator-less tournament.

[Pete_Pittock]

The problem of a late major is the recovery time for lands used for infrastructure and parking, especially if that is on golf courses.

[A.G._Crockett]

Since we're doing bored speculation about bored speculation, here's mine:

1. There will be no Masters this year.  Those guys do things their way and don't need the money, and I just don't see them competing against football (if there's football...) AND the possibility that the course won't look the way they want it to.

2. There won't be a PGA this year, though I am less certain about this one.

3. There won't be a British Open this year because I don't think that bringing lots of folks on airplanes to hotels located on islands while we are (hopefully) winding down from a pandemic AND hoping to avoid a fall second wave, as in 1918) will be viewed as sensible.

4. Of the 4, the US Open seems to me to be the most likely to happen, because I have the least confidence in the USGA to make good decisions about this stuff AND because I think those guys are the opposite of the guys that run ANGC in terms of pursuing money and being willing to put people at risk to do it.

I think lots of sporting events will go the way of March Madness this year, if only because of the uncertainty of the current situation and the possibility of a second wave in the fall.  It's possible that there will be some things played in empty arenas, but even that doesn't address the liability issues for the the people that would be putting athletes at risk thru travel and lodging and contact.


 I think a lot of folks in the sports industry are going to have to do the same thing that several million servers have had to do in the restaurant/bar industry, among many others; bite the bullet.  Their advantage, of course, is that they actually can afford a bullet to bite.

IF there is only one major played, it will be The Masters.
It wa splayed in 1942 on the heels of the December attack in Dec 1942.
their infrastructure is mostly permanant, and they don't have a knucklehead committee like the USGA, who clearly are afraid of lawyers.
And while they don't need the money, they are acutely aware of their financial impact on a small city like Augusta(compared to SF or NYC)


As you said, IF there is a football season...The competition against football is laughable as the week's big college games can be easily moved to evening (as they often are) and anyone that would choose a meaningless(in te fight to go .500 and make the playoff tournament) NFL game that time of year for The Masters, shouldn't be considered.
They don't have any commercials and CBS doesn't pay them much for the rights so it's not like they're killing CBS revenue.(other than football)

Jeff,

A couple of rebuttal points:

1. It is going to a long time before people, even those with Masters badges, are going to feel good about travel, lodging, and especially crowds.  Which sets up the possibility of a completely different market for badges, AND a completely different group of "patrons".  I can sort of imagine the toonamint being played with no patrons before I can imagine the ANGC powers allowing a free-for-all black market for badges.

2. If you're a Southerner, then we'll just have to agree to disagree about the football thing.  If you're not a Southerner, and haven't spent a football season in SEC country, there is literally NO way for me to overstate the role that college football plays on Saturdays in the fall.  IMO, if The Masters is on TV against college football on NBC, ABC, and ESPN, The Masters gets its a** kicked in the Saturday ratings, and it would be even worse on Sunday against the NFL; NFL ratings dwarf every other sport on TV.   In 2018, the final round of the Masters had 13 million viewers; there were over 25 NFL regular season games that drew more.  The Masters doesn't make the top SEVENTY; it came in just ahead of the Belmont Stakes for 75th!  And that's going against only baseball in the first couple of weeks of the season; there wasn't a single baseball game, including the WS, in the top 50 in 2018.


I just can't imagine guys like the ones who run that club letting themselves in for those sorts of things.  The USGA might, but ANGC?  I would think they would look to build interest for the next year, with Tiger still as the defending champ in April of 2021.

[JESII]

AG,


To simplify, are you suggesting they would rather not have the tournament than to compete against football for TV viewers?


My question is purely about the viewing competition, not the likelihood of an event at all due to the circumstances.

[jeffwarne]

Since we're doing bored speculation about bored speculation, here's mine:

1. There will be no Masters this year.  Those guys do things their way and don't need the money, and I just don't see them competing against football (if there's football...) AND the possibility that the course won't look the way they want it to.

2. There won't be a PGA this year, though I am less certain about this one.

3. There won't be a British Open this year because I don't think that bringing lots of folks on airplanes to hotels located on islands while we are (hopefully) winding down from a pandemic AND hoping to avoid a fall second wave, as in 1918) will be viewed as sensible.

4. Of the 4, the US Open seems to me to be the most likely to happen, because I have the least confidence in the USGA to make good decisions about this stuff AND because I think those guys are the opposite of the guys that run ANGC in terms of pursuing money and being willing to put people at risk to do it.

I think lots of sporting events will go the way of March Madness this year, if only because of the uncertainty of the current situation and the possibility of a second wave in the fall.  It's possible that there will be some things played in empty arenas, but even that doesn't address the liability issues for the the people that would be putting athletes at risk thru travel and lodging and contact.


 I think a lot of folks in the sports industry are going to have to do the same thing that several million servers have had to do in the restaurant/bar industry, among many others; bite the bullet.  Their advantage, of course, is that they actually can afford a bullet to bite.

IF there is only one major played, it will be The Masters.
It wa splayed in 1942 on the heels of the December attack in Dec 1942.
their infrastructure is mostly permanant, and they don't have a knucklehead committee like the USGA, who clearly are afraid of lawyers.
And while they don't need the money, they are acutely aware of their financial impact on a small city like Augusta(compared to SF or NYC)


As you said, IF there is a football season...The competition against football is laughable as the week's big college games can be easily moved to evening (as they often are) and anyone that would choose a meaningless(in te fight to go .500 and make the playoff tournament) NFL game that time of year for The Masters, shouldn't be considered.
They don't have any commercials and CBS doesn't pay them much for the rights so it's not like they're killing CBS revenue.(other than football)

Jeff,

A couple of rebuttal points:

1. It is going to a long time before people, even those with Masters badges, are going to feel good about travel, lodging, and especially crowds.  Which sets up the possibility of a completely different market for badges, AND a completely different group of "patrons".  I can sort of imagine the toonamint being played with no patrons before I can imagine the ANGC powers allowing a free-for-all black market for badges.

2. If you're a Southerner, then we'll just have to agree to disagree about the football thing.  If you're not a Southerner, and haven't spent a football season in SEC country, there is literally NO way for me to overstate the role that college football plays on Saturdays in the fall.  IMO, if The Masters is on TV against college football on NBC, ABC, and ESPN, The Masters gets its a** kicked in the Saturday ratings, and it would be even worse on Sunday against the NFL; NFL ratings dwarf every other sport on TV.   In 2018, the final round of the Masters had 13 million viewers; there were over 25 NFL regular season games that drew more.  The Masters doesn't make the top SEVENTY; it came in just ahead of the Belmont Stakes for 75th!  And that's going against only baseball in the first couple of weeks of the season; there wasn't a single baseball game, including the WS, in the top 50 in 2018.


I just can't imagine guys like the ones who run that club letting themselves in for those sorts of things.  The USGA might, but ANGC?  I would think they would look to build interest for the next year, with Tiger still as the defending champ in April of 2021.

Ummm.. pretty familiar with football in the south, having attended and graduated UGA during the Herschel era and having played high school football against him with Johnson County in our Region(conference). My son attends South Carolina.
I'll take my chances on The Masters being OK.
The NFL and College football are competing against nothing(by design), hence their high ratings.
The 12 pm game can be Georgia Tech vs. Wake Forest, who'd miss it?
The marquee games can be played at night and the diehards can watch on split screen-the way many of watch college football anyway.
Pro football-people actually watch that? Regular season meaningless..unlike college..I digress.
Split screen again.


They may not play for a variety of reasons(lets' hope this is even a discussion in a month), but I promise you,ratings vs, football will not enter the conversation.
CBS hardly pays anything, and ANGC isn't worried about a possible one year of lower ratings.

[Tom_Doak]

 if there's going to be anything like the normal Open (at any time) at WF, the East course is used for infrastructure (1, 10, 2-4), pavilions hi and lo (7, 11, 12, 16, 18)  and the 9th hole seves as the range.  East course won't be an option, unless it is a spectator-less tournament.

Ah, I forgot about retail.  How could I forget about retail?  It's all about the merch.

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