The Dick's Sporting Goods open was scheduled to take place at enjoy Golf Course August 10th through the 16th, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic it has been canceled.

The PGA Champions Tour and the Dick's Sporting Goods Open made that announcement at a press conference today. In a press release obtained by 99 1 The Whale, Tournament Director John Karedes said;

These are incredibly difficult times for everyone as we look across the sports and societal landscapes, but the health and safety of our fans, volunteers, players and sponsors is and always will be our No. 1 priority,” With deadlines approaching tied into the logistics of running a professional golf tournament, it became readily apparent that conducting the 2020 event would not be a possibility. Our focus now will be on how we use this moment in time to inspire our fans and community while preparing for the tournament to return in the summer of 2021.

And even though the tournament wasn't until August, I understand with all the work that goes in to the event it would be hard to get everything done in time even if the social distancing and stay-at-home orders were to be lifted.

Personally if you ask me what my favorite part of summer is here in the Binghamton area I would not hesitate to say the Dick's Sporting Goods Open. I have been a volunteer at the open for several years now and before I was volunteering, I was working the at the event doing updates of all the PGA action as it happened.

As I've posted in blogs before, one of the reasons Chris and I bought the house that we did is because we are in walking distance of En-Joie, the home of the Dick's Sporting Goods Open.

We both volunteer there every year, in fact, that’s where we ran into each other and that’s where I asked her out on our first date.

When we were house hunting, we figured this would be a great location because all our friends could park here and walk down to the event. And that's what we've been doing since 2001.

We are friends with a lot of the other volunteers, and they along with other personal friends of ours, park at our house for free and walk down the street to watch some of the best golfers to ever play the game.

After play is done, most of them, along with some PGA staff members that we have become friends with over the year, come back to the house where we have a bonfire and a cookout every night. It makes for a long week with working at the station and then volunteering all five days of the tournament, but I truly enjoy it and look forward to it every year.

This year would have been the 50th anniversary of the PGA Tour in Broome County. The event has generated over 18 million dollars over the course of those 50 years for local charities. Not to mention how many millions of dollars a year it pumps in to the local economy annually.

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This is not the only PGA tour Champion’s Tournament to be cancelled. They have canceled many other events including the U.S. Senior Open and the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.

So the 50th Anniversary will get pushed off to the 2021 Dick's Sporting Goods Open. And you know with it being the 50th year anniversary, it's going to be huge.

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