PGA Tour outlines health and safety plans for rest of 2020 season
- Updated: May 12, 2020
Twitter/@golfdigest
The PGA Tour released a 37-page document to its players outlining a comprehensive health and safety plan for the remainder of the 2020 season, or whatever there is left to salvage.
The first event on the schedule is June 11 at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club (aka The Colonial…)
According to Golf Channel report, the central tenet of the plan is will be a layered testing approach, along with a whole lot of hope and optimism.
We laid out the document in bullet point form in an attempt to make it easier for you – the casual golf fan – to understand.
There will be a lot of moving parts and chances are some of it will change, but hopefully, golf will be played and we will finally have sports back.
Testing
Before players leave home for a tournament:
- At-home test pre-travel test screening
Once players arrive in the city of tournament stop, they will be subjected to four methods of screening off-site of the event, preferably at a host hotel:
- a questionnaire
- temperature reading
- an RT PCR nasal swab or saliva test
- Players will be subjected to a daily questionnaire and temperature screening only.
If a player tests positive:
- he would immediately be required to isolate in a designated location
- self-quarantine for 14 days
- is not allowed to travel
- will be ineligible for competition during that period
- The Tour said it will work with each tournament on specific plans should this scenario unfold.
Caddies:
- Players will still be allowed caddies
- Subjected to the same testing as the players
Others to be tested:
- PGA Tour staff (including rules and scoring officials)
- Media officials
- Security and player relations
- Select ShotLink staff
- Select tournament staff
- Player and caddie services
- Starters
- Clubhouse staff
- Independent trainers
PGA Tour’s health and safety plan includes “layered testing.” Lots and lots of layered testing. https://t.co/iM2xfaZ0h7
— Rex Hoggard (@RexHoggardGC) May 12, 2020
On the course
- Practice ranges and putting greens will implement social-distancing methods.
- Scoring and starter areas will be stripped down and provide similarly adequate spacing.
- All on-course accessories such as flags and flagsticks, cup liners, rakes and other accessories disinfected before play.
- All tees and greens will also have sanitizer stations.
Caddies
- Must make “every effort” to social distance during the course of the round
- Players are encouraged to remove and replace their own golf clubs from the bag, remove their ball from the hole.
- Will be allowed to rake bunkers and touch flagsticks, but are instructed to clean both after use
Coaches and interpreters
- Will be allowed but must follow social distancing guidelines of staying six feet apart.
- Never have direct contact with the player or touching his equipment.
- Each player will be limited to only one support staff member on the practice facility or inside the ropes during a practice round.
PGA Tour will have tighter control over and provide:
- Player and caddie restricted areas
- Clubhouse access, which will only be granted to those who have been cleared through testing
- No family on-site and limited support personnel
- Disinfection of facilities
- Distribution of personal protective equipment
- Sanitary wipes and sanitizer
- Restrictions on player and caddie movement within the city of the event
Equipment and trainers
- Equipment trailers will be allowed as well, but with restrictions.
- Reps from companies will not be allowed in practice areas, the clubhouse or locker room, and they will have a designated drop-off/pick-up point for items.
- Players will not be allowed in the equipment trailers. Trainers, meanwhile, will have a designated space inside the clubhouse.
Travel
- Players and caddies will Charter flights from event to event
- Courtesy cars, which are a staple of every tournament on Tour, may still be utilized, but that will fall on the discretion of each event
- Players and caddies will mostly be responsible for their own transportation.
- Using rideshare services will not be permitted.
- It is expected that players, caddies and essential staff would be housed in a designated host hotel to create a controlled environment
- exceptions such as RVs, rental homes approved by the Tour, or a player staying in his own home would be permitted.
Spectators
- First four events will be played without fans.
- Everyone on the property, whether among those tested or not, will be required to complete a questionnaire as well as receive a temperature screening each day.
- Social distancing and other methods such as sanitizing hands and equipment will also be expected.
Media
- Limiting the number of media on-site to approximately 40 people, spread out in an acceptable manner.
- Will be allowed on the course but outside the ropes only and will not be allowed in practice areas or in the locker room.
- There will be no interview room, with interviews instead conducted outdoors in a socially distant manner.
- Virtual interviews will be coordinated for media not able to attend.
- TV and broadcast personnel will be scaled back.
Considering the PGA Tour can barely test for an illegal driver, this plan will be quite the undertaking, mainly because it’s so comprehensive and the situation is so fluid/unknown.
What makes somebody essential on the PGA Tour? Who cares… if this works, golf will be the only sport on TV AND we still have 3 majors left this season. It has the potential to be the greatest Fall Swing of all time.
Dare we say, golf is… back?!
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