As pictures beam around the world of the sunshine and Azeala's in bloom from Augusta as the 85th Masters gets underway, seemingly oblivious it must be said as America continues to lead the world in deaths and active COVID cases, news minutes ago that the French government has postponed their national golf championship due to new Covid restrictions now in place.
Here is the @EuropeanTour press release.
The European Tour and the Fédération Française de Golf (FFG) today jointly announced the postponement of the Open de France hosted by Grégory Havret, scheduled for May 6-9, 2021 at Le Golf National.
The decision follows the extension of COVID-19 restrictions across France announced by President Macron last week. Both the European Tour and the FFG will continue to work together in an effort to reschedule the Open de France later in the 2021 schedule.
Organizing any European Tour event sees hundreds of people – players, caddies, TV production personnel, staff and media – traveling to the venue from more than 25 different countries on average. Given this, and the current overall health situation in France, the European Tour and the FFG took the decision to announce the postponement.
Keith Pelley, European Tour Chief Executive, said: “It is clearly disappointing to have to postpone the Open de France, particularly after all the hard work and collaboration between ourselves, the FFG and the many stakeholders involved to stage the tournament in May. But we feel it is the responsible decision.
Pascal Grizot, President of the Fédération Française de Golf, said: “We have worked very closely with the European Tour staff and various French authorities over the last couple of months and, through this involvement, have been able to overcome many obstacles.
“However, despite this, we feel that in the current climate it is neither reasonable nor responsible to stage the event in May. We will keep on working hand in hand with the European Tour in order to try to find an alternative date for the Open de France, that could allow us to host spectators and patrons.”
The European Tour is currently looking into all options available in an attempt to fill the now vacant May 6-9 slot on the calendar.
Bryan Angus
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