Raab Says It Will Be Difficult For Amateur Sports To Return This Summer

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says it will be difficult for amateur sport to return this summer.

Golf Courses In England To Re-Open On Wednesday Raab Says It Will Be Difficult For Amateur Sports To Return
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Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says it will be difficult for amateur sport to return this summer.

Raab Says It Will Be Difficult For Amateur Sports To Return This Summer

The Coronavirus lockdown in the United Kingdom has seen all sport at all levels suspended with no concrete restart date in sight.

On BBC One's Andrew Marr show, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was asked if there was any chance of smaller sporting clubs being able to play sport outside this summer, to which he said it would be;

"Very difficult because of the level and scale of interaction.

"We do want to look when it is safe and responsible at ways to allow more outdoors activities to take place, but again we have to have the evidence that it is a sure-footed step that does not allow coronavirus to get a grip back on the country."

This may seem like doom and gloom however Raab did acknowledge the possibility of professional sport opening up once again;

"I think the professional sport may be different because of the scale of testing that they would be able to introduce."

This announcement comes just after the government announced it had a series of meetings lined up to discuss how to help elite sports resume.

Related: Ireland Hoping To Re-Open Golf In Early May

It seems golf does have an advantage over other sports given the ability to play the game whilst social distancing. For example golf in parts of Canada and several other countries has re-opened recently.

In terms of the UK, golf could be one of the first sports to resume given the government said that it is “gathering evidence” on whether golf courses could safely re-open.

If and when golf will re-open here, what form will it take?

Well, prior to the UK lockdown being introduced, clubs were prioritising safety of players and staff by putting into place measures like rakes and ball washers being taken out of action and banning flags being touched. We are likely to see these types of measures remain in place.

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Sam Tremlett
E-commerce Editor

A golfer for most of his life, Sam is a Senior Staff Writer for Golf Monthly. 

Working with golf gear and equipment over the last six years, Sam has quickly built outstanding knowledge and expertise on golf products ranging from drivers, to balls, to shoes. 

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Sam's What's In The Bag: 

Driver: Titleist TS3 (9 degrees) 

Fairway Wood: Callaway Paradym (15 degrees), Nike Covert Tour 2.0 (19 degrees) 

Irons (4-PW): Titleist AP2 

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM7 54˚, 58˚ 

Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5.5 

Ball: Srixon Z-Star Diamond

Shoes: G/FORE Gallivanter/Nike Air Zoom Infinity NEXT%/Cuater The Ringer