12/29/2023 0 Comments Ontour golf shutdownThose good vibes have continued into this year, as she restarts her touring career. “I honestly felt like it was a good development.” “It was such an amazing opportunity to still be competitive,” she said. She won one of the mini-tour’s events and believes she ended the strange year as a better player. Her main competitive golf outlet was the Toronto Players Tour, an Ontario mini-tour populated mostly by men.īut the 22-year-old from Thornhill, Ontario, doesn’t feel like she lost a year. With the pandemic disrupting golf in 2020, young pro Selena Costabile spent much of the year playing Beethoven sonatas on the piano, learning Japanese, practising yoga and raising money for Alzheimer’s patients. Ontario is believed to be the only jurisdiction in North America that has suspended golf this year, although in British Columbia, where COVID-19 cases also are soaring, golf tournaments are not allowed, according to the province’s website. “We believe that golf is an important outlet and will continue to make this case,” the association stated. But it’s hopeful the government will reconsider, as it did with playgrounds, which reopened almost immediately following a backlash. The organization believes golf was swept up in a broad move to restrict “non-essential” activities as COVID-19 cases reached record numbers and hospitals neared capacity. It said it lobbied the government right up until the ban was issued, pointing out the physical and mental health benefits of golf as well as the safety measures in place at courses, including closed clubhouses, sanitized touch points and physical distancing. The PGA of Ontario, representing the province’s club professionals, also voiced its disappointment about what it called an “unfortunate” decision. Noted infectious-diseases specialist Isaac Bogoch agreed, tweeting about the outdoor activity limits: “huh?” “There’s no evidence to suggest COVID-19 is transmitted through the golf courses,” he said. He played more than 150 games at his home course, National Pines, and other clubs, saying rigid safety protocols were in place and were observed. He carried signs to Ontario’s legislature in Toronto last week to protest, one of which read, “Let us play.”īhatt said golf courses proved last year during the pandemic’s first and second waves that they were safe, even as courses reported record numbers of rounds. “This needs to come to a screeching halt,” recreational player Justin Bhatt of Barrie, Ontario, said of the ban. The provincial government shut down golf, playgrounds and some other outdoor activities until at least May 20 to curb the escalating third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, reversing a decision earlier in the year to allow them to be open. I think for us to keep playing on tour, we - all the tour players and people that are involved - need to get tested and make sure that no-one's got it, because obviously everyone knows you can have it and not have symptoms and pass it on to someone that's more susceptible to getting very ill from it.Ontario’s decision to close golf courses and driving ranges has caused an uproar, at both the grassroots and industry levels. McIlroy's comments mark a significant 180-degree shift in the opinions he shared at the PLAYERS Championship in March shortly before the lockdown began.Īsked what should happen in the event of one player or caddie testing positive, he said: "We need to shut it down then. US broadcaster calls for Masters to be re-named.So yeah, I feel like the mood and the tone of the event was probably lifted by Jay yesterday." There's a couple of loose ends that we needed to tidy up, and I think we've done that. "I think as a whole, it's been going really well. The percentage of positive tests is a quarter of a per cent. "There's been almost 3,000 tests administered. "I thought he did a really good job explaining," said McIlroy. McIlroy also praised PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan for hosting an impromptu media conference yesterday afternoon where he discussed the tour's response to the pandemic.
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