Date change for Porsche European Open

The European Tour yesterday announced next week’s Porsche European Open in Germany will now take place over 54 holes and be played from Saturday, June 5 to Monday, June 7.

The tournament, at Green Eagle Golf Courses in Hamburg, was originally scheduled to begin on Thursday, June 3 and be played over 72 holes, but the late change has been made after the German Government’s decision last week to place the United Kingdom on its travel ‘red list’.

This has meant almost a third of the scheduled 156-player field, along with a similar number of caddies and a significant number of European Tour Productions and European Tour staff, would have been unable to enter Germany without observing a mandatory quarantine period if they had not been outside the UK for a minimum of ten days.

Moving the starting date of the Porsche European Open back two days to Saturday, June 5 allows the vast majority of those people affected to spend that requisite time outside of the United Kingdom both during and after this week’s Made in Himmerland tournament in Denmark, before crossing the border into Germany next Friday.

Despite the date change, there remains plenty to anticipate in Hamburg next week from a field headlined by England’s Paul Casey and Abraham Ancer of Mexico, who are both in the current top 20 of the world rankings, alongside Major Champions Henrik Stenson of Sweden and Germany’s own Martin Kaymer.

Keith Pelley, European Tour Chief Executive, said: “The significant travel changes announced last week meant it was simply impossible for us to start the Porsche European Open as intended a week today without unacceptably damaging the field and the integrity of the tournament.

“Over the past year we have had to react to numerous changes at short notice and our ability to do this has unquestionably been down to the flexibility of our players, caddies, staff, broadcaster partners and sponsors. This is another wonderful example of everybody working together pragmatically to find a solution.

“We are therefore extremely grateful to everyone involved, particularly Porsche and promoter U.COM Event for their adaptability, understanding and unwavering support in making these fundamental changes so close to the tournament, with so much of the infrastructure already in place. That has enabled us to not only provide vital playing opportunities for as many of our members as possible, but also to showcase this prestigious event, and Germany, properly to our global television audience.”

Dirk Glittenberg, Tournament Director from U.COM Event, said: “With the ever-changing circumstances we have been faced with, it has been very challenging to get the tournament across the line, but it is a great achievement that we have managed to do just that.

“We are extremely delighted that the Porsche European Open will go ahead and I can only thank all the people involved, our staff and partners, as well as our title partner Porsche and everyone at the European Tour for a great combined effort.”