There are no parades or mercados going on in Santa Barbara or dancing events at the courthouse this weekend because of the coronavirus pandemic.
But there will be a golf tournament that is traditionally played during Old Spanish Days weekend in Santa Barbara.
The Santa Barbara Classic will tee off for the 60th time on Saturday at the Santa Barbara Golf Club. The two-day, 36-hole, best-ball tournament features many of the top amateur golfers in the community.
Because of the pandemic, restrictions have been put in place to keep everyone safe. Among them: spectators will not be allowed; golfers can’t have caddies; players must maintain at least six feet of distance from all others; scorecards will not be physically exchanged, signed, or handed over to the committee; players will verbally verify hole by hole scores at the end of the round with the committee.
Despite the restrictions, SBGC General Manager Randy Shannon is thrilled the course can host one of the city’s major golf tournaments. He had to postpone the Santa Barbara City Championship in May because of county health guidelines. The tournament is tentatively rescheduled for Sept. 5-7.
“Our Santa Barbara Classic is going to be awesome this weekend,” Shannon said. “We have a field of 70 teams. We have 34 teams in the Santa Cruz Flight (gross scoring) and 28 teams within the men’s net flights (San Miguel, Santa Rosa and Anacapa), and eight teams in the women’s Santa Barbara Flight.”
Ten-time champions John Pate and Steve Lass will open the tournament at 9:45 a.m.
Bobby Schaeffer and Tyler Crawford, last year’s winners in a one-hole playoff, tee off at 10:03 a.m.
Schaeffer and Crawford fired a 61 on the second day. They got hot over the last six holes and rallied to tie Mark Pavletich/Stephen Hale for first place. They won the title on the first playoff hole, as Schaeffer drained an 8-foot birdie on No. 1.