The LPGA is scheduled to return July 23 at the Marathon Classic in Sylvania, Ohio. When the season does resume, players will have the option of carrying their own bags rather than employing a caddie.
The news was first reported by GolfChannel.com on May 20. The tour confirmed to Golfweek that players would have the option of going without a caddie the rest of the 2020 season.
This announcement was among the updates given to players during virtual player meetings this week in which LPGA commissioner Mike Whan discussed a number of season updates and coronavirus work-arounds, among them that no local qualifiers would be held for remaining 2020 events, players would retain status earned for 2020 in 2021 and that no Q-School or Q-Series would be played this year.
According to the LPGA, the temporary no-caddie option was meant to help protect players who don’t have a regular tour caddie and who might normally have to use a local caddie.
“This temporary option is meant primarily to avoid the local caddie situation where a player may have health concerns working with someone who they don’t know,” said Kelly Schultz, VP of Communications for the LPGA. “We fully expect the overwhelming number of players to be using caddies and are encouraging them to do so. Caddies are a critical part of LPGA tournaments and competitions and we will resume our mandatory policy in 2021. This is not the beginning of a long-term plan to phase out caddies. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
The Symetra Tour already allows players to carry their own bags or use a push cart.
The PGA Tour is scheduled to return to competition June 11 at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas. The Tour created an extensive document with safety measures and new protocols designed to protect against the spread of coronavirus but Tour players are still required to have a caddie. Korn Ferry Tour players will be under the same requirement when their tour restarts the same week at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
