COVID-19 and tournaments (MOD EDIT: NO CORONAVIRUS DISCUSSIONS. KEEP RESPONSES ON TOPIC)

[heavy_hitter]

Yep. It is about priorities. I don't think the economy is going to let a lot of families do what they want to do in terms of junior golf. The longer all this stuff drags on, the worse it is going to be. Girl's will be the hardest hit. I don't think you will see kids playing in as many events as well.

[leezer99]

To me this is just sounding the bell for opportunistic parents to further exploit their junior golf phenoms.

[heavy_hitter]

You could be right.

[bulls9999]

The 'hero's of this generation' is going to be the 'millennials' who are the least affected, may even be infected and show no symptoms (asymptomatic?), but are very capable of spreading the illness to mom/dad, grandma/grandpa. Oh my gosh, we older folks will be dependent on them taking this seriously and not going out unnecessarily and mingling with others to only go and bring the virus home to elders.leezer99, see how fast that changes:

COVID-19: U.S. at a Glance* 3/5/20

Total cases: 99

Total deaths: 10

States reporting cases: 13

36 Cases in California... again, we excel past all you guys.USA Covid-19 3/17/20 (starting to go logarithmic):

Total cases: 4,808 5,243 (just jumped again).

Total deaths: 94https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

[tiger1873]

I suspect we will be seeing less not more golf phenoms in the coming year especially with girls. The big reason is Money and they need a lot of it to play and promote themselves. They rely on donations and that simply is not going to come in like they planned on. If this drags on much longer everyone is going to be hurt pretty bad financially. If people can't go out and socialize for 6 months we are all going to be more worried about keeping what we got and golf going to be the last things on our mind.

[MB19]

I pulled both of my kids from their USKG local tournaments--it would have been their first.

They had put my daughter into the boy's group, anyways, and neither USKG Tournaments nor the TD answered my emails trying to correct the improper placing. Combined with COVID 19, this made withdrawing an easy decision.

It gives us more time to work on stuff anyways, which isn't bad, but it is kind of a shame because both were so eager. My son wanted to win (probably not happening--lol), while my daughter was excited to make friends with girls her age who also golfed (good chance of happening). Crazy how they are wired completely different.

I do wonder how a local PGA Jr links event will be impacted next month, as it was going to be really nice to only drive 10 minutes to play in it.

[heavy_hitter]

I think the whole thing with Corona is scary, but not going to live my life in fear. I signed the kid up to play in local US Kids for this weekend and was pissed it got canceled. I understand the liability of the local director to the people working. As a participant, we had the choice to play and would have played had it not been canceled.

 

[darter79]

Some are getting canceled some are not. Mine is running the event as it did last weekend. I think the area you live but also what the tour director is willing still run the event. Now lets see if the rain will hold off or not.

[dlc1914]

Most courses in Philly/NJ are shut down as the Governors have ordered closing of all non essential businesses....

[leezer99]

SCPGA just cancelled all events through May 15th. A school district a county over from us just cancelled school through April 30th.

[dlc1914]

Those were my exact thoughts, but talking to the pro at our regular course, it's about concern for the staff not so much the golf. Get creative. Set up shop outside, take electronic payments only and walking only so you don't have to worry about the carts. Even if they had stayed open, the Governor edict would have closed them down anyway. Going to be a longgggg 2 weeks with these kids and everything closed.

[leezer99]

Kansas schools closed for the remainder of the year.

CA Governor just came out and said he thinks most schools will be closed until the Fall. California governor: Most schools likely out until the fallI believe this year is a wash for junior golf. I wonder what college coaches are going to do for their recruiting moving forward. Maybe the NCAA starts allowing some alternative recruiting practices?

[Noles]

When do Kansas and CA usually end for the year. Here in PA public schools generally end mid June. I can't imagine that we would not get back at some point.

[Sean2]

I am hoping July/August at the latest.

[leezer99]

In CA they stagger start and finish schools differently based on the district but most are out at the very end of May or mid June. I don't know about Kansas but I looked up one district and they were out at the end of May.

[darter79]

Going to be much longer than two weeks, my opinion is fall before kids go back to school mid summer before it’s normal. If the golf worlds events happen they will be much smaller fields but I’m not sure they happen.

[tiger1873]

I think school is over for the year. we will see something in the fall.

With golf tournaments I sure hope to see something playing in the next Month. If not expect a lot tours to not come back.

We will see less kids but boys should still have lots of kids Applying in the bigger tournaments and eventually local tournaments will be bigger too in a few months.

Unless they are the verge of getting a scholarship I think Girls are where we are going to see a huge decline. There are a lot girls out there playing but very few are actually committed to the sport. A lot of them are there because of rumors there is easy scholarship money.

 

[darter79]

You think this will cause a huge drop off in girls golf? You think that is because of the lack of commitment? I know the fields are never huge to begin with card to think that they could get smaller. Gotta love the easy scholarship money pitch.

[heavy_hitter]

Wow. Florida we are done with school by the end of May.

[heavy_hitter]

I agree with Tiger.

Once you get into the older age groups, 13-18, fields are generally 24 or more girl's for regional and state events. I think you will see this number decline drastically.

[JuniorGolfParent]

I'm a bit disappointed that US Kids hasn't addressed the issue more definitively. There's no mention of the crisis on their website, and no clarity as to which, if any, tournaments have been cancelled or rescheduled, including State and Local events.

During these difficult times, with both kids at home from school and many parents working from home, it would help to have a bit of transparency to aid in planning and scheduling

[leezer99]

I've heard from some folks that it's up to the local tour Tournament Director but I spoke to my local tour Tournament Director and he said it was a decision being made at the Home Office. I don't think they even have clear communication internally.

[heavy_hitter]

I agree. Either play or don't, but make a statement. I am utterly shocked that they are allowing Local's to continue up to the local directors. If someone get's sick and dies, so long to USKG. They will be sued for everything they have. They are suing the local Tour Director, they will be suing Corporate who has more money. With that said, if our local was going on, we would still play.

[wildcatden]

 

Agree that USKG should be making a statement. Here in the Bay Area, they couldn't hold a tournament if they wanted to because the golf courses have been shutdown (driving ranges also). I'm glad we have our mat and net in the backyard.

[tiger1873]

When the economy tanked last time a lot girls dropped out of golf and this is where the origins started that golf scholarships for girls are easy.

If a kid is not crazy about a sport and how expensive sports like golf can get it very easy to cut. If you kid really loves it then most people will find the money somewhere.

I hope I am wrong but I am only going off what has happened before.

A lot people are losing there jobs right now If they shut things down until June and if the market keeps falling with no one paying rent or mortgages things are not going to be tough for everyone.

[Medson]

Agree with above sentiment. Right now, we are in full contain/mitigate mode. Very soon, we have to confront with restarting the economy.

[leezer99]

No stock buybacks for companies that get bailed out.

 

PGA Jr League postponed until May 10th.

[leezer99]

City of Los Angeles is pretty much shut down for a month...

[Medson]

We, San Francisco Bay Area, are one week ahead of you. Let's just hope the lockdowns will do the job. It certainly worked in China.

[wildcatden]

California state wide stay home order now.