By Malkeet Kaur
The Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour is planning to resume its tour in September with safety protocols in place and without spectators.
PGM Tour general manager Nik Mustapha Nik Mohamed said that the new calendar would be announced on August 19, 2020.
“We are going to resume in September and will follow all the mandatory safety protocols. The required SOPs will be put in place – temperatures of players will be checked every day. Only players, officials, referees, the tournament director and one or two admin staff will be allowed. There will be no spectators.
“We have been in touch with the relevant testing providers such as Gribbles and Gnosis, and we’ll pick the one we are most comfortable with when the time comes. These companies can generate results in 24 to 48 hours,” shared Nik Mustapha.
Nik Mustapha expressed his hope that the joint-sanctioned Asian Development Tour (ADT) tournaments could be held as soon as possible as they carry the crucial world ranking points that are necessary for qualification into the 2021 Olympics in Japan.
The 2020 season was halted without a ball being struck when the PGM Tour refused to pay a 3% sanction fee to the Professional Golf Association of Malaysia (PGAM). The PGAM had amended their constitution in 2019 to impose a sanction fee on professional events in Malaysia. This led to the tour not being able to obtain the required licence from the Sports Commissioner Office (SCO) for 2020.
When asked about the stand-off with the PGAM, Nik Mustapha said that having the events will not be a problem as it is the SCO that grants the licence. “So, we will deal with the sports commissioner, not the PGAM. As far as we understand it, we are following the rules of golf and developing the game.”
He added, “We haven’t paid any sanction fees before, and we are not going to start now.”
However, the PGAM remains adamant that they should be paid the sanction fee.
“It’s not a lot of money, really. For an event of RM200,000 prize money, 3% is RM6,000 and for RM220,000, it’s RM6,600. We could use the money for the growth, training and development of professional players in the country,” said PGAM president Harris Zainal.
According to Harris, the amendment to the constitution with regards to the sanction fee was carried out under the advisement of the then sport commissioner Datuk Zaiton Othman, who has since retired from her post. In May 2019, the amendment was endorsed by the SCO.
“We are willing to meet and resolve this issue, but the PGM Tour has ignored all our overtures for talks,” said Harris. He added that the current sport commissioner Dr Wirdati Mohd Radzi had met with the PGAM early this year before the MCO and had agreed that the PGAM was within their rights to impose the sanction fee. “They also said that they would try to mediate the issue. Since then, we have been trying to get a date and time to meet with her again.”
Both parties have also met with Youth and Sports Minister Dato’ Sri Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican separately. Harris revealed that their July 14 meeting with the minister was a fruitful one.
“However, if the current sport commissioner gives the go-ahead for the PGM Tour events, if they tell me to stand down, there is nothing I can do about it. I have never given in to anything, and neither was I given any terms to consider. And once again, the PGAM will be left in the cold,” noted Harris.
As things stand, it certainly looks like it’s all systems go for the PGM Tour to return in September.
