Professional golfer Nelly Korda – Photo Credit: Flickr 

The men’s and women’s Australian Open golf tournaments were cancelled as there were travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Golf Australia had pushed back this year’s men’s event in Sydney from November to late January or February. However, it has now been entirely cancelled. Meanwhile, the women’s 2022 tournament that was due to be played in Adelaide in February has also been scrapped out. 

“The decision has not been made lightly but we believe it to be the right outcome under the current circumstances,” said Golf Australia chief James Sutherland. “The international element means shifting quarantine and travel restrictions wreak havoc on planning and, with our marquee players living abroad, the challenge is even greater.”

This is the second year in a row that the men’s Australian Open has not been played. Won previously by the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman and Rory McIlroy, it was cancelled last year for the first time since 1945.

But Golf Australia said it still intended to run the innovative Vic Open from February 10^th to 13^th without international sanctioning. 

The tournament is the only one on the world’s professional golf tours where men and women tee off in alternate groups on the same course and is usually joint-sanctioned by the men’s European Tour plus the women’s LPGA Tour. 

The Australian PGA Championship is set to go ahead in Queensland from January 13^th to 16^th. Australia’s international borders remain closed to most travellers, although earlier in October, Canberra announced plans to ease the restrictions within weeks as 80 percent vaccination targets were met.