KLPGA practice canceled after recent visitor positive for coronavirus

Golf players pose during the media conference for the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour BC Card Hankyung Ladies Cup at the Fortune Hills Country Club in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. / Yonhap

An official practice round for a South Korean women's golf tournament was canceled on Wednesday after the event organizers learned that a recent visitor to the competition venue tested positive for the novel coronavirus, though the actual tournament will begin as scheduled on Thursday.

The Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour announced on Wednesday that the practice round for the BC Card Hankyung Ladies Cup at the Fortune Hills Country Club in Pocheon, some 45 kilometers north of Seoul, will not take place later in the day as scheduled.

The tour learned Tuesday afternoon that an amateur who played at the course last Friday tested positive for COVID-19, and it has been informed by health authorities that a course caddie had been in close contact with the amateur player.
The tournament organizers said later Wednesday that the caddie has tested negative, and the tournament will begin on schedule Thursday.

The tour said the entire course was sanitized Tuesday, and more disinfection work will be done Wednesday.

Though the practice round will not be rescheduled Wednesday, the event organizers allowed players and their caddies to walk the course for one final look before Thursday's opening round. The driving range and the practice green were also open.

After starting its season in Vietnam in December, the KLPGA Tour went on a five-month hiatus due to the coronavirus outbreak. The season resumed with the first major of the season, KLPGA Championship, on May 14.

The tour has since hosted four more tournaments, including last week's Korea Women's Open Golf Championship, the season's second major. All tournaments have been played without fans.
(Yonhap)

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