Livescore
If the PGA Tour is going to move the Genesis Invitational out of Los Angeles because of the Pacific Palisades wildfire, a logical landing spot might be PGA West in La Quinta, host this week of The American Express tournament.
Ben Dobbs, executive director at PGA West, said he has had no talks with anyone from the tour about hosting the Genesis Invitational next month, and that he is not in negotiations to host the Tiger Woods-hosted event.
Talk has increased in recent days that the PGA Tour might move the tournament from Riviera Country Club, which is in a canyon between Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica. More pressing needs for police officers and medical personnel that would be required for the tournament as well as street closures in the area may make Riviera the wrong place for the event this year.
“If we were asked, we would be open to discussing that,” Dobbs said Wednesday.
But Dobbs added he hasn’t talked to anyone about the prospect, thought he does have a meeting with tour officials Thursday, a meeting that is generally only about the event and its place at PGA West.
“I have our regularly scheduled yearly meeting set up with the tour that we do every single years,” Dobbs said. “I do not have any special meeting set up with the tour that would be talking about venues or that kind of thing. I have nothing on my calendar. It it comes up, it would come up, but it hasn’t come up to me yet.”
More: American Express storylines: Nick Dunlap’s encore, Blades Brown’s debut and Wyndham Clark leads field
Possibilities for a replacement course for the Genesis Invitational include PGA West, Torrey Pines Golf Club in San Diego, host of next week’s Farmers Insurance Open, or the TPC Scottsdale, host of the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Feb. 6-9.
The Genesis Invitational is scheduled the following week from Feb. 13-16.
All three of those venues have tour experience and would already have infrastructure like grandstands built for their own tournaments. PGA West has nine courses available for members and guests, so losing one course might not hurt the La Quinta facility as much as the other two venues.
In a story in the Palm Beach Post on Wednesday, Woods said the prospect of moving the tournament is real.
“We have meetings scheduled going forward but as of right now, we’re not really focused on the tournament,” Woods said. “It’s more about what we can do to help everyone who’s struggling, who’s lost homes and had their lives changed,”
With the Genesis Invitational scheduled in a month, any venue that would be a replacement will have to be told quickly to give time to secure the course and keep infrastructure in place as well as making plans for vendors and parking.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: PGA West could host relocated Tiger Woods’ Genesis Invitational if asked
Read the full article here
Discussion about this post