Fears grow Ladies European Tour won't start until May at the earliest

[ASFN Admin]

Fears are growing that golfers on the Ladies European Tour will have nowhere to play competitively until May at the earliest. The 2021 schedule has not even been published yet, but it is understood that the first event, the Magical Kenya Ladies Open in Kikambala, is in the process of being cancelled and there are obvious concerns about the South African Women’s Open in Cape Town in March. That would make the Jabra Ladies Tournament at Evian in May the opening event, although France clearly needs to lift its restrictions if that is to happen “The schedule is potentially amazing from June onwards but that’s a very long wait,” an insider said. “The Symetra Tour [the feeder league for the LPGA Tour in America] looks like starting in March and that will give opportunities to those LET members who have Symetra status. But they are in the minority.” Last year, the LET played three events before the pandemic stopped play in March. The circuit did not resume until August, but Justin Rose stepped in with his Rose Ladies Series to give the women pros a mini schedule to keep them going through the summer. Meanwhile, Augusta National conformed that there will be a limited crowd at the Masters in April. Telegraph Sport reported two months ago, that even if there is a successful vaccine widely available the number of “patrons” admitted could be restricted to 5,000 each day. In truth, the attendance could be even fewer and although any sort of non-essential audience would be an improvement on the behind-closed-doors status of the 2020 edition won by Dustin Johnson in November it would still represent another massive economic setback for the local community. “We are confident in our ability to responsibly invite a limited number of patrons to Augusta National in April,” Fred Ridley, the Augusta chairman, said. “As with the November Masters, we will implement practices and policies that will protect the health and safety of everyone in attendance.” In addition, Ridley announced that the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship will take place on the Saturday before, also with the intention of hosting a small number of patrons.

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