The Kenya Open Golf Limited (KOGL) is still exploring new dates for the Magical Kenya Open two months after it was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In an interview tournament director, Patrick Obath said they are not giving up on a Tour slot as yet despite the current global health situation.
The Magical Kenya Open golf tournament, initially scheduled for March 12-15, was among the first tournaments in the European Tour to be affected by the pandemic and was postponed indefinitely after the Government of Kenya banned all public gatherings in March.
Obath said discussions about the possibility of rescheduling the Kenya Open to a later date this year are ongoing ‘as the European Tour authorities continue to look at a variety of different scenarios for new dates.’
Obath said: “We are talking to the European Tour on possible dates. There are several dates on offer but we cannot confirm until they settle on specifics. They have to synchronise many calendars in Europe, US and Asia before they can firm up with us and then announce. Hopefully, we will know their next course of action before the end of May, we but for now it’s a wait-and-see situation.”
All European Tour tournaments up to mid of July have been canceled or postponed because of the virus outbreak.
Among European Tour Calendar events affected include the iconic 149th Open Championship (British Open).
The Open, which carried a hefty prize fund of Sh1.2bn, was initially set for Royal St. George’s in England, but this year’s tournament will not be held, leaving just three men’s majors to be (hopefully) contested in 2020
The BMW International Open in Germany and the Open de France golf tournaments were also canceled because of the coronavirus situation and the Scottish Open, postponed.
European Tour Chief Executive Keith Pelley was quoted saying that they will only announce details of these plans when they have clarity on the global situation.
The Masters, which would have been played earlier in the year, has set dates of November 9-15 to hold its annual tournament in Augusta, Georgia. The PGA Championship, set for May 11-17 at Harding Park in San Francisco, has set August 3-9 for its tournament, while the U.S. Open has rescheduled their tournament for September 14-20 at Winged Foot in New York. The Open Championship scheduled for mid-July at Sandwich, England, will not be played this year.
