The Herald - Herald Sport

Scottish event offers rare opportunit­y

BHA seek to reassure industry

- NICK RODGER

AS that thing you are probably sick of reading about continues its rampage, the world of profession­al golf, like everything, has been flung into disarray with tours on hold, Majors postponed and schedules in tatters.

Look hard enough, though, and there are still one or two hale and hearty pockets of resistance. Well, for the time being at least.

The delightful­ly named Big Johnson’s Tour – and there’s a perfectly innocent reason behind that particular title – is ploughing on amid the lockdowns, shutdowns and clampdowns and will offer competitiv­e sanctuary to all manner of touring profession­als with an event over the Jubilee course in St Andrews tomorrow.

“Rory McIlroy is the 16th reserve,” laughed the tour’s organiser, John Henry, after a surge in entries from players simply desperate to play.

Rather like a speakeasy operating in the Prohibitio­n years, the Big Johnson’s Tour is going like a fair.

European Tour winner David Law, Ladies European Tour campaigner Michele Thomson and Euan McIntosh, a new recruit to the European over50s scene, are playing this week with another fully-subscribed Pro-Am event taking place at Archerfiel­d Links next Monday.

“They are just delighted to have something to play in,” said Henry of the pay-and-play mini-circuit he started back in 2016.

Only yesterday, the Andalucia Masters became the latest European Tour to be postponed while the third-tier EuroPro Tour’s entire 2020 season was scrapped.

“Players don’t know when their tours will resume again and they are just desperate to have something. My brother Scott [former tour player] is thinking of going to an 18-holer on the Clutch Pro Tour south of London on Friday.

“It’s £400 to enter with a first prize of £10,000. But everybody is in the same boat and they need to make some money.

“As long as the courses remain open here, we’ll be there. I think both St Andrews and Archerfiel­d, like a lot of places, are getting cancellati­ons from golf groups as well as parties travelling in from around Europe and elsewhere. They are happy that we are coming and helping to fill the void.”

While the sums on the Big Johnson’s Tour are hardly life changing – the top prize will be around £500 but it’s “better than nothing” – the opportunit­y to keep those competitiv­e instincts sharp in this prolonged period of uncertaint­y has been gratefully received.

“It’s not looking great for events all over the place,” said Henry. “We have six events scheduled during the season but I might add a few more if things fall by the wayside on other circuits.”

Henry, who is attached to the Clydebank & District club, has put plenty of honest toil into the circuit he formed four years ago.

“It would be good to make some money out of it but it’s a labour of love really,” admitted the 27-year-old. “I just wanted to give players more opportunit­ies to play.

“My brother used to call me Johnson and when I started talking about a tour, word got round about that and the Big Johnson’s Tour was just a bit of a laugh. It stuck, though. It gives it a bit of intrigue.”

The ongoing impacts of the coronaviru­s crisis are clear for all to see and Henry doesn’t have to look far to see the effects the pandemic is having.

“I have been working in the pro shop at Clydebank and the club has just decided to close the kitchen for the foreseeabl­e future while a committee meeting was set to take place about how the club will move forward,” said Henry.

“Tuesday is usually one of our busiest days with the seniors but there’s maybe 40 per cent of what’s usually here. It’s a worry for everyone involved in golf.”

A day out on the links tomorrow will provide some momentary respite.

“It will be good to catch up with everybody,” he said of the golfing companions­hip. “There’s a strong bond among the Scottish pros. We stick together and we need that now because this is going to be a tough time.”

BRITISH HORSERACIN­G AUTHORITY chief executive Nick Rust has assured racing participan­ts that every effort will be made to financiall­y support those who work within the industry during the sport’s suspension.

The coronaviru­s pandemic forced the BHA to call a halt to racing until the end of April, citing the need to “protect essential emergency services and the health and welfare of staff working in the racing industry”.

While those within racing have supported the decision on the whole, there are plenty who are fearing for their financial futures.

“We haven’t got any definitive informatio­n at this stage, but the sport’s leadership that helped come together to make the decision, which the BHA board consulted, will be coming together in the coming days to make the point clear [to Government] that as well as being a sport, we are an industry,” Rust said.

In light of social distancing and the need for public services on racecourse­s, Rust felt there was no option but to suspend racing.

“We are taking the right action to keep people safe,” he said. “We will make the point to Government that many people rely on his industry for employment, it contribute­s, based on some surveys we’ve done, around £4b to the economy.

“It generates that in employment and economic income, so we need the Government to consider the scale of our industry and help support us through this period.”

 ??  ?? European Tour winner David Law is one of many golfers facing an uncertain 2020 and is happy to be back playing this week
European Tour winner David Law is one of many golfers facing an uncertain 2020 and is happy to be back playing this week

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