Fans will officially return to professional golf next week.
Well, on the Champions Tour at least.
According to a report from the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, fans will be permitted on site at next week’s Sanford International on each of the three competition days. The event, hosted at Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls, S.D., will be the first PGA Tour-sanctioned tournament to have fans since the Tour was interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic in early March.
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Fans will be required to undergo temperature checks before being permitted to the grounds, and masks will be “strongly encouraged, though not required.” Tournament organizers have also installed extra hand sanitizing stations and credit cards will be accepted at all concessions stands — which will serve pre-packaged foods — to limit cash transactions. In addition, autographs will be prohibited.
“It’s not a decision we entered into lightly or did with a cavalier mindset,” Sanford International executive vice president Micah Aberson told the Argus Leader of the decision to permit fans. “We did it working closely with our team of clinicians and infectious disease doctors. We took their best clinical expertise and married it with common sense, and that allowed us to unveil a tournament plan we think is going to be extremely effective.”
Throughout the pandemic, Sanford Health has sent mobile testing units to Tour events around the country to conduct tests on players, caddies and personnel, a key component to the successful restart. The Sanford International will bring many of those staff members back home, according to the Argus Ledger.
Last week, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said he was bullish on the prospect of reintroducing fans to the grounds of events during the fall. He also indicated that the Tour is planning its first pro-am on Tour since the restart at the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship.
Champions Tour and Korn Ferry Tour events have been hosting pro-ams for the last several months.
“We’re excited to show and demonstrate to others you can do this effectively,” Aberson said. “There’s no better venue than the wide-open expanse of a golf course to socially distance and enjoy the golf.”
