A New Kind of Sports Road Trip

When the sports world shut down in early March, I hoped that things would improve by June and allow me to attend the Rickwood Classic in Birmingham, Alabama. That obviously did not happen. But as June began, two relatively major events decided to allow a limited number of fans. As both are somewhat close to each other and taking place at the same time, I couldn't help but plan a new sort of sports road trip, one that requires a lot more thought about how to stay safe.

The first event is the PGA's Memorial Tournament that will be held July 16-19 at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, OH, a suburb of Columbus; the second is the entire World Team Tennis (WTT) schedule that will be played from July 12-August 2 at The Greenbrier, a resort in White Sulphur Springs, WV. Usually, these would not even hit my sports travel radar, but with nothing else out there and my planning skills worsening, I forged ahead and booked flights and hotels, all of which can be cancelled without penalty. Update: The Memorial reversed their decision and fans are no longer allowed. So this post is essentially meaningless.

Both events have COVID-19 policies that include masks and social distancing, though it remains to be seen how strictly they will be enforced. Both are also being held outside, though the tennis does have an indoor stadium available should inclement weather occur. I'm convinced that the majority of coronavirus transmission happens in confined spaces when people don't wear masks, so I am not too concerned with either event being an undue risk.

I initially booked a multi-city trip on American Airlines, with a flight to Columbus on Friday, July 17. After watching a few hours of the Memorial on Saturday, I would fly to Lynchburg, WV (via Charlotte), which is about two hours from White Sulphur Springs. I would drive to the WTT on Sunday and then return to Lynchburg and fly back LGA on Monday morning, again with a stopover in Charlotte.

Of course, in these times, flights change and American altered all five of my flights, making it a much less efficient trip. So I cancelled that reservation and used the credit to book a simple round trip to Columbus. Now, with the Memorial no longer accepting fans, I changed that to a trip to Greensboro. From there, I will rent a car and drive to Martinsville on Saturday, where I will see a Coastal Plains League game.  I will then continue north and watch a couple of tennis matches on Sunday, heading back to Greensboro for a Monday flight home. I hope these flights don't change too much.

The WTT released their schedule on June 11, and tickets went on sale on June 12. Each day sees three or four matches and there are two primary ticket options: upper bowl and lower bowl, with prices varying depending on the day of the week ($60/110 for the 19th). A lower bowl ticket includes a free drink from the bar, complimentary water and snacks, and the option to move to the indoor stadium should rain affect play, but I could not justify the extra $50 for that. (In an unrelated note, the chance of rain in White Sulphur Springs on July 19 just rose to 100%.) Tickets are limited to 500 per day, 25% of capacity. I bought my ticket just after midnight Friday and was proud to see that it was the first ticket purchased for Sunday's slate, though I am not sure if that was the first for the entire tournament. As part of the ticket purchase process, I had to acknowledge their COVID-19 policy by checking a box. Meanwhile, the Memorial does not sell single-day tickets, so I will have to use the secondary market to get in that day. Update: No, I won't.

Now I bide my time and hope that Ohio and West Virginia are not heavily populated by Covidiots who feel that wearing a mask is an affront to their freedom. I am watching the number of infections continue to tick up in some states that re-opened a while ago and all I can guess is that those contracting the coronavirus are visiting restaurants, bars, malls, casinos, churches, etc., without wearing a mask. Update: yes, that is the case, Ohio is one of the states seeing a surge in cases, so no surprise that the Memorial made their decision. The way things are going, sports in 2021 might not happen either.

You can argue that flying is risky, but from what I have read, as long as everyone is wearing a mask and you sanitize your seating area, airplanes are not significant transmission points. Hotels are also safe as long as you avoid the communal breakfast area in the morning. The alternative is to stay home until a vaccine is discovered, which could take years. So I will continue to learn about the disease and use that information to try to return to a normal life as much as possible, including a few sports road trips when fans are allowed back in. If that means wearing a mask while in the stands, so be it. As we have seen, there are far worse fates than covering one's face for a few hours in order to protect yourself and others. Sadly, it seems like many are going to make this the hill that they will literally die on.

Best,

Sean