The R&A is currently planning on moving forward with the 2020 British Open Championship and 2020 AIG Women's British Open as scheduled.
The governing body for golf outside of the United States and Mexico issued a news release on March 19 affirming their hopes to continue with staging the 149th Open at Royal St. George's in July and the AIG Women's British Open at Royal Troon in August.
The R&A is considering a "range of scenarios for staging the championships," though they did not detail what those scenarios could include. However, it's not difficult to infer that a scenario could include staging the championship without spectators. Scenarios could also include changing qualification criteria, as it's evident many of tournaments in the Open Qualifying Series will not be played either at all or by the time the Open comes along.
“Our absolute priority is to ensure the safety of players, fans, officials, staff and all involved in our championships and that will be at the forefront of our thinking as we monitor developments," said Martin Slumbers, R&A chief executive, in a release.
“We have some time before we start building the infrastructure at both venues and so we are keeping the scheduled dates in place for The Open and AIG Women’s British Open at this point. We recognize that this is a rapidly changing situation and we will keep everyone informed of any changes to our plans. These are difficult times but we are bearing in mind our responsibility for what’s right for golf and most importantly for society.”
The R&A has decided, however, to cancel two international amateur events: the R&A Student Tour Series Final at St Andrews and Carnoustie and the R&A Girls’ U16 Amateur Championship at Fulford, which were set to be played in April.
