The Marathon LPGA Classic presented by Dana won’t have fans after all.
Five weeks after Gov. Mike DeWine approved fan attendance at the event and three weeks before it’s set to take place, the tournament announced Thursday that it will go forward without fans.
“While we are extremely sad that spectators won’t be able to attend this year’s tournament, we know it is the right thing to do for the safety of the community, our sponsors, volunteers, and LPGA players,” Marathon Classic tournament director Judd Silverman said in a news release.
A surge in coronavirus cases in Lucas and surrounding counties, the state, and the country contributed to the decision, which was made after discussions with the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, state officials, and the LPGA Tour.
The Marathon Classic is Aug. 6 to 9 at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania. The LPGA Tour returns the week before with the Drive On Championship, a one-time tournament with a $1 million purse, at Inverness Club, site of the 2021 Solheim Cup.
Marathon Classic tournament organizers requested approval for about 2,000 fans per round, a similar number of people that currently attend Cedar Point and the Toledo Zoo each day.
In May, Mr. Silverman said that without fans and pro-ams The Toledo Classic, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that operates the Marathon Classic, stood to lose more than $1 million. Ticket sales and pro-ams generate large sums of money from sponsorships and amateurs paying to play alongside LPGA Tour players.
Pro-ams will be conducted, though they’ve been reduced from five to two — one at Highland Meadows and one at Inverness. And they will look much different, starting with participants receiving coronavirus tests. Everyone will play their own ball, and the only caddies will be the LPGA players’. Amateurs will ride in carts.
“If we can’t figure out how to play pro-ams, the LPGA is going to have some challenges in ‘20 and beyond,” LPGA Tour commissioner Mike Whan told reporters Wednesday on a conference call. “We plan to play pro-ams.”
Governor DeWine announced June 5 that he would lift the restriction on large gatherings, allowing fans to attend the Memorial Tournament, Marathon Classic, Senior Players Championship, and Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. Tournament directors from the four Ohio-based professional golf tournaments sent a detailed proposal to the governor in May asking him to lift the restrictions, along with a detailed, multipart plan on how they would safely conduct a tournament with fans in attendance.
Pessimism began last week when the Memorial reversed course and nixed a plan for as many as 8,000 fans per day. It was set to be the first event with fans since the PGA Tour returned in June. The decision was led by concerned players who worried about galleries becoming too congested.
On Monday, the PGA Tour revealed the remainder of the 2019-20 schedule would take place without spectators.
The Marathon Classic’s detailed plan for spectators encouraged masks and would have provided one at the Highland Meadows entrance. Only tournament rounds would have been open to the public. There would have been no grandstands, social distancing was to be enforced by marshals, and hand-sanitizer stations were planned around the course.
Attendees were required to complete thermal scanning before entering the golf course. Anyone with a temperature higher than 100 degrees would have been isolated and administered a second reading. A second 100-degree temperature would have resulted in the spectator not being permitted entrance to the course.
Players, caddies, and essential staff will have a saliva test the week before tournaments, undergo a second test when they arrive on-site, and complete thermal scanning and a symptom assessment. Results would be known one day after the completion of a test.
Players who test positive will receive a $5,000 stipend during a mandatory minimum 10-day quarantine. PGA Tour players get $75,000. LPGA players must have two negative tests before returning.
“It is strange to get started in a time in which we know we’re going to have positive results no matter what we build,” Mr. Whan said. “It won’t be anybody’s fault.”
The Inverness event is the first LPGA tournament since mid-February. The revised schedule features 18 tournaments and four of five major championships. The Evian Championship was one of 13 cancellations.
“I fully believe we’ll lose another event or two or three along the way,” Mr. Whan said. “I couldn’t really tell you which ones, but it would be probably naive of me to think we are just going to roll through our season and roll through different countries and be able to play exactly as we have slated. But I’m excited about what we have.”
First Published July 16, 2020, 1:17 p.m.
