Blow for Scottish pros as events are postponed
A number of Scottish professionals have been forced to put the start of their 2021 campaigns on hold after the postponement of a string of events in South Africa due to ongoing concerns caused by Covid-19.
Three tournaments co - sanctioned by the C hallenge Tour and Sunshine Tour scheduled for next month have been delayed until April and May, meaning the likes of Craig Howie now faces a longer winter break than he expected.
The start of the Sunshine Ladies Tour has also been postponed until April, with Jane Turner, a winner on the circuit last season, having been due to fly out to South Africa next week.
The Challenge Tour, which is the European Tour’s feeder circuit, had been due to get underway with the Dimension Data Pro-am, won by Paul Lawrie in 2017, at Fan court from 11-14 February.
That was set to be followed by the Cape Town Open from February 18-21 then the Limpopo Championship from February 25-28.
Instead, the circuit’ s South African Swing will now start in the week of 22-25 April, with an announcements et to be made shortly regarding this tournament and its venue.
This will be followed by the Cap e Town Op en on 29 April -2 May then the Dimension Data Pro - Am from 6-9 May.
Jamie Hodges, Head of the Challenge Tour, said: “The decision to postpone these events follows consultation with all stakeholders and was made with the health and wellbeing of all players and staff as our absolute priority.”