World Amateur Team Championships cancelled

Leona Maguire holes out on the 18th to help Ireland’s women to a first bronze medal in the World Amateur Team Championships for the Espirito Santo Trophy in Mexico in 2016.

The International Golf Federation announced today that the 2020 World Amateur Team Championships scheduled for October have been cancelled due to the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This decision follows the IGF’s announcement in February that the biennial event for men and women, originally to be held in Hong Kong, was moving to Singapore due to ongoing social unrest in Hong Kong.

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the IGF continued to work with the Singapore Golf Association (SGA) to host both competitions at Tanah Merah Country Club and Sentosa Golf Club on the same dates as planned, with the Espirito Santo Trophy for women scheduled from October 14-17 and the Eisenhower Trophy for men from October 21-24.

“This unprecedented decision was due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty that this has caused to ensuring that the 2020 WATC could be staged successfully,” said IGF Executive Director Antony Scanlon. “But most importantly, it was made to safeguard the health and safety of all athletes, officials and volunteers at the 2020 WATC, to which there was no certainty that this risk could be mitigated to an acceptable level.”

“I would also note that we gave thoughtful consideration to postponing the Championships to 2021,” Scanlon continued. “However, this would have created considerable scheduling and logistical issues that were insurmountable, plus we still could not say with absolute certainty that we could hold it without risk next year. Therefore, it is preferred that the IGF look forward to focusing on and delivering a wonderful 2022 event in France.” 

Dating back to 1958, the World Amateur Team Championships include up to 72 countries competing in 72 holes of stroke play competition. Each country fields two or three players with the two lowest scores counting per round.   

Meanwhile, the 2020 Women’s Amateur Latin America Championship presented by The R&A and the ANNIKA Foundation has also been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

The inaugural event was due to take place in Argentina from 3-6 September 2020 at Pilar Golf in Buenos Aires but will now be played from 2-5 September 2021 at the same venue.

The championship is being introduced to support the growth and development of amateur golf for women and girls in the region and will provide the winner with exemptions into the AIG Women’s British Open and The Women's Amateur Championship.

Mark Lawrie, Director – Latin America and the Caribbean at The R&A, said, “The safety of players and officials is our utmost priority and with so much uncertainty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic we decided it would not be appropriate to stage the championship this year.

“I would like to thank Pilar Golf for its support and understanding in making this decision and we will now look forward to working with the club and the ANNIKA Foundation to stage the championship for the region’s top women’s amateur golfers next year.”

Annika Sorenstam said, “We were excited to launch this special event in September but look forward to an even better event in 2021. I cherish the work we have accomplished with The R&A in Latin America and look forward to hosting the region’s top talent next year.”