Two more professional golf tournaments scheduled to be played in the Asia-Pacific region have been pushed back from their original dates as concerns over a coronavirus outbreak prompt organizers to put safety first.
The European Tour is the latest organization to be affected. The Tour has announced that the Maybank Championship, due to take place at Saujana Golf & Country Club in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from April 16-19, and the Volvo China Open, scheduled for April 23-26, at Genzon Golf Club in Shenzhen, have both been postponed.
According to the European Tour site, Maybank, as the title sponsor and promoter of the Maybank Championship, requested a postponement. The decision to postpone the Volvo China Open was made after consultation with tournament stakeholders: the China Golf Association, Genzon Golf Club, Shenzhen Government, title sponsor Volvo and promoters Mitime Golf.
Reschedule discussions are ongoing for both events.
“The well-being of our players, spectators and staff is always our absolute priority,” Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the European Tour said. “While it is therefore regrettable that the Maybank Championship and Volvo China Open have been postponed, we feel this is the correct course of action at this time. We are currently investigating alternative dates for both events.”
The LPGA has cancelled three events in the next month – one each in China, Thailand and Singapore – due to coronavirus concerns. The Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific, originally scheduled for Feb. 20-23 in Thailand, has been postponed and earlier this week, the PGA Tour Series-China announced it would postpone two qualifying events in the region, thus delaying the start of the regular season.
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