Tour reverses decision to let fans attend Scottish Open

The European Tour has backtracked on plans to let spectators attend next week’s Scottish Open at The Renaissance.

The decision comes after the Scottish Government announced a series of tighter measures designed to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Scotland has today recorded 486 new positive coronavirus – the biggest single day number since mass testing began.

Consequently, the tour has scrapped plans, announced only days ago, to allow up to 650 fans to attend the third and fourth rounds of next week’s tournament in East Lothian.

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In a statement, the tour said: “A robust and thorough plan had been put in place, in close collaboration with the Scottish Government, to welcome a limited number of spectators over the weekend at the Renaissance Club as part of a series of pilot sporting and cultural events being considered in Scotland to help support the return of the public. 

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“However, in line with the consistent approach now being taken in Scotland and across the UK to pause pilot events, the tournament will now return to a closed-door model.”

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All ticket holders have been contacted separately with details of the refund process.

The tour statement concluded: “We thank our tournament partners Aberdeen Standard Investments, VisitScotland and the Scottish Government for their collaboration. We also thank the Scottish golf fans who had purchased tickets for the event and look forward to welcoming them back in future years.”