"We are undertaking a comprehensive evaluation of our plans to stage The 149th Open at Royal St George's and the AIG Women's British Open at Royal Troon"
Thursday 19 March 2020 15:35, UK
The R&A remain hopeful of staging both The 149th Open and the AIG Women's British Open on schedule, although they are "examining a range of scenarios".
The Open is set to return to Royal St George's in July for the first time since Darren Clarke's memorable victory in 2011, while Royal Troon is the host course for the Women's British Open in August.
The ANA Inspiration, the Masters and the PGA Championship have already been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, while the USGA still hope to go ahead with the US Open in June.
The R&A have released a statement revealing their intention to "undertake a comprehensive evaluation" of their plans for The Open at Sandwich and the Women's Open at Troon as they consider other options for the Championships.
But they have also announced the cancellation of two junior amateur events that were scheduled to be held next month.
"We are closely monitoring the constantly-moving situation in the COVID-19 pandemic and carefully following the advice issued to us by the UK Government, relevant health authorities and our medical consultants," the R&A statement read.
"We have decided to cancel two of our international amateur events - The R&A Student Tour Series Final at St Andrews and Carnoustie and The R&A Girls' U16 Amateur Championship at Fulford, which were both due to take place next month.
"We have contacted all those involved. We will keep the status of the rest of the amateur championship season under review.
"Looking to our professional events this summer, we are undertaking a comprehensive evaluation of our plans to stage The 149th Open at Royal St George's and the AIG Women's British Open at Royal Troon, which are four and five months away respectively.
"This includes examining a range of scenarios for staging the championships, with our focus on proceeding as planned, as well as considering other contingency options available to us."
R&A chief executive, Martin Slumbers, added: "Our absolute priority is to ensure the safety of players, fans, officials, staff and all involved in our championships and that will be at the forefront of our thinking as we monitor developments.
"We have some time before we start building the infrastructure at both venues and so we are keeping the scheduled dates in place for The Open and AIG Women's British Open at this point. We recognise that this is a rapidly changing situation and we will keep everyone informed of any changes to our plans.
"These are difficult times but we are bearing in mind our responsibility for what's right for golf and most importantly for society."
