Chinese circuit moves qualifying event to Indonesia

The PGA Tour Series-China has announced it is moving its Global Qualifying Tournament from Haikou, Hainan province, to Lagoi, Indonesia.

The moves comes in response to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

Laguna Golf Bintan is the new host of the qualifying tournament (Feb 25-28), which will help determine membership for the 2020 PGA Tour Series-China season.

The tour notified all players who were originally in the Haikou Qualifying Tournament field of the change on Tuesday.

"We felt this change was the best course of action considering what's happening in China right now," said Greg Carlson, the tour's executive director.

"Our existing relationship with the golf course and its staff made this a relatively seamless change. It is a very good golf course, and we very much appreciate Laguna Golf Bintan and its leadership accommodating us and helping this come together so quickly."

PGA Tour Series-China has already held the first of its three qualifying events in early January in Guangzhou－a tournament for Chinese mainland passport holders. The other two qualifying tournaments, including the event at Laguna Golf Bintan, are for players from outside the Chinese mainland. The second Global Qualifying Tournament is scheduled for March 3-6 at Laguna Golf Phuket in Phuket, Thailand.

Tour officials, both those in China and at PGA Tour headquarters in Florida, continue to assess the coronavirus situation and its potential impact on the PGA Tour Series-China, which earlier announced it would start its 2020 season with the Sanya Championship in Sanya, Hainan province, on March 26-29.

"The health and well-being of our players, staff, fans and all who are associated with PGA Tour Series-China tournaments is of the utmost importance to us. We will continue to monitor what's happening in China and how it might affect the start of our regular season."

PGA Tour Series-Qualifying Tournaments are 72-hole events that allow top performers to earn exemptions and conditional memberships for that season. World Golf Hall of Fame member Greg Norman originally designed Laguna Golf Bintan, which underwent a renovation in 2016.