The Asian Tour plans to resume its 2020 season in September with the aim of attracting the region’s top golfers.
The decision for the Tour’s restart in September is largely centered around international travel restrictions, which can present a huge logistic challenge for many players living outside countries where tournaments are staged.
This will be great news for all the players especially those Fenix XCell brand ambassadors who have not seen any competitive golf for several months.
Asian Tour’s Commissioner and CEO, Cho Minn Thant said: “We are targeting a conservative restart in September because of the current predicament with restrictions on air travel and large gatherings. Unlike domestic markets, we understand international travel will slowly restart in phases and the ultimate lifting of quarantine periods will determine the Tour’s ability to resume full-scale operations.”
The Shinhan Donghae Open is expected to be the first event to tee off at Bear’s Best Cheongna Golf Club located in Incheon, Korea from September 10-13 with a purse of KRW1.4 billion (approximately US$1,181,000 million).
Plans are in place for the season to continue onwards to Chinese Taipei and Japan for the Mercuries Taiwan Masters and Panasonic Open Golf Championship respectively. Following that, discussions are already in place for an event in South East Asia before the Tour goes to India for what is targeted to be an ‘Indian Swing’ with the Panasonic Open India, the re-scheduled Hero Indian Open and a possible new event in Delhi.
“We are targeting between 10 to 12 events from September to December, to attract all our top golfers. There is a prospect of the Tour traveling to China and culminating with a stretch that includes the Hong Kong Open and Mauritius Open in the latter part of the year. During this period, if things go our way, there may also be a couple of new events that get added to the schedule.
“As for the Asian Development Tour, we are targeting between six to eight tournaments with events in Thailand, Indonesia and Chinese Taipei while events in Malaysia are still pending,” said Cho.
While dates for other events are still in discussions with promoters and key stakeholders, the Asian Tour remains very hopeful of recovering much of its season with top golfers in attendance amid the rapidly evolving situation.
“Once this information is established, we will make a call with regards to the conclusion of the season and the transition into the 2021 season. But at this time, we plan to extend our season into 2021, with the early events in 2021 also forming part of the current season,” said Cho.
