The St Andrews Links and St Rule Trophies, two of Europe’s most prestigious annual amateur golf tournaments, have been cancelled for 2020 in the light of the coronavirus outbreak.
The St Andrews Links Trust took the decision not to play both events this morning after discussions with both organising committees.
The women’s St Rule Trophy was scheduled for May 30 and 31 while the men’s Links Trophy was set for a week later, on June 5-7. Both events annually attract the elite of amateur golf from Europe and beyond and are primarily played over the historic Old Course.
The Links Trust stress they did not take the decision on the basis that they expect the courses at St Andrews to still be closed to the public at the scheduled dates of the competitions.
The entire Links Trust complex, the largest in Scotland encompassing the Old, New, Jubilee, Castle, Eden, Strathtyrum and Balgove courses as well as administrative operations and the Golf Academy, was closed after the announcement of the lockdown on Monday.
They will continue to monitor government and health and safety advice on the re-opening of the links while staying in contact with season ticket holders and prospective visitors.
St Andrews Links Trust Director of Golf John Grant said the Trust’s number one priority was the health and well-being of their teams, entrants and their families.
“Following the closure of all our facilities and with many countries and regions recommending self-quarantine and continued restrictions on travel, we felt that it was not practical or appropriate to stage this year’s tournaments.
“With both events attracting entrants from around the world we wanted to make a decision as early as possible. We look forward to the return of both the St Andrews Links Trophy and St Rule Trophy to St Andrews Links in 2021.”
The organising committees are committed to refunding all entry payments within 10/14 days.
Entrants do not need to contact the tournament team in order to request a refund, these will be processed automatically via the original payment method.
At present the Links Trust’s annual fortnight of competition in August for amateurs of all ages and abilities, featuring the popular Eden and Strathtyrum Tournaments, are still in the diary but are subject to continued monitoring and review.
