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YANGJU, South Korea: Birdsong and rattle of the ball falling into the bowl, accompanied by the camera shutters, were the only sounds heard when professional women’s golf entered the post-coronavirus era on a closed course in Korea. del Sur on Thursday.
Spectators were excluded from the Lakewood Country Club when the KLPGA Championship kicked off in Yangju, northeast Seoul, with a series of social distancing measures to protect against infection.
South Korea is a powerhouse in the women’s game, providing four of the world’s top 10 in today’s world, three of which participate in the low-profile national tournament.
It is the first high-level women’s golf to be played since LPGA, based in the USA. It suspended its season in February, and with sports fans around the world hungry for live-action rights, they have been sold to broadcasters in countries like the United States, Canada and Australia. .
“Interest is very high as this is the first golf course in the world in the midst of the pandemic,” the KLGPA said in a statement.
The world number three and double top winner Park Sung-hyun, Kim Sei-young, sixth place, nine-time LPGA Tour winner, and number 10 Lee Jeong-eun are part of a field of 150 people who are chasing the winner’s check for $ 180,000. from a $ 2.5 million tournament bag, the highest in the event’s 42-year history.
Players are recommended to stay two meters away on the field and to minimize physical contact, while touching the pin without gloves is prohibited.
They have to wear masks before and after their rounds, but they can choose to do it or not during the game, and most decide to remain uncovered on Thursday.
But without viewers, the course was devoid of oohs and aahs, or even applause, on Thursday.
– “Usually a lot of fans show up” –
Playing without fans was a “shame,” said sixth-placed Kim after her pre-tournament practice.
“Usually a lot of fans show up, more here in Korea than in the United States,” he said. “But I am grateful to be able to play.”
In addition to the host station, media coverage on the course is restricted to the first and tenth shirts, and staff must wear masks at all times.
Everyone who entered the course had their temperature checked and had to provide their personal information.
And players have to eat alone to maintain social distance, without caddies or family members being able to sit at the same table in the room.
“During lunch, all golfers had to look in the same direction while eating” without talking, Park Sung-hyun said Wednesday. “This was all fairly new.”
The tournament comes after South Korea, which suffered from one of the worst early outbreaks of the disease outside of mainland China, but has controlled it with a comprehensive “track, test and treat” program, saw the resumption of professional football. and baseball last week, also behind Closed Doors.
This year only four LPGA Tour events were completed, the last one in Adelaide on February 16, and the tour has outlined plans to resume in mid-July in Michigan.
The US Men’s PGA Tour. The USA, which was halted when the Players’ Championship was abandoned after the first round in March, was restarted behind closed doors at the Charles Schwab Challenge beginning June 11 in Fort Worth, Texas.
