By Joel Beall
The PGA Tour will open its 2020-’21 season with a surreal backdrop.

The Safeway Open once again serves as the tour’s kickoff event at Silverado C.C. in Napa. However, Northern California has been battling the LNU Lightning Complex fires for the past month, which is made up of a series of fires impacting the areas of Solano, Sonoma, and Napa counties.

As of the evening of Sept. 8, more than 90 percent of the fire had been contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and evacuation orders for the area have been lifted. It is far from the first time Napa has dealt with these issues; in 2017, grandstands at the Safeway Open were swallowed by flames mere hours after the event’s conclusion. Nevertheless, the blaze has engulfed more than 375,000 acres and 1,500 structures, and though the fire is mostly contained, it is still burning, creating a supernatural vista at Silverado C.C.

From tweets from the PGA Tour communications department to photos from the folks at Getty Images, here are some of the wild scenes from the Safeway Open. And to donate to those that have been impacted by the fires, click here.

It’s almost 10 a.m. PT Wednesday morning at the ⁦@SafewayOpen⁩ at ⁦@SilveradoResort⁩ #spooky pic.twitter.com/zdtssoLhA8

— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) September 9, 2020

Lights are placed near the practice putting green @SafewayOpen this morning due to the smoky haze pic.twitter.com/ENX6CzUJSU

— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) September 9, 2020

The post California wildfires create surreal scene at PGA Tour’s Safeway Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By John Strege
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — It seems as though COVID-19 concerns, temperatures in the 100s (38c +) and major championship golf did not present enough of a challenge at the ANA Inspiration this week. So for good measure, air quality has signed on as a potential issue.

Smoke from the El Dorado wildfire northwest of here has made its way to the Coachella Valley, of which Rancho Mirage is a part, and should it worsen the LPGA has not ruled out allowing players to use carts in competition.

“We’re continuing to monitor both the AQI [Air Quality Index] and the temperature very closely,” Heather Daly-Donofrio, chief tour operations officer, said Tuesday afternoon. “If it becomes clear from our medical team, and we’re also going to be working with the medical team at Eisenhower Medical, if the high temperatures and the AQI converge to a point where we feel that’s unhealthy for walking — again, we’re not there yet — we have not ruled out carts for players on tournament days.”

RELATED: The LPGA will be playing the ANA Inspiration in a COVID-19 bubble that, alas, is not air-conditioned

The South Coast Air Quality Management District on Tuesday afternoon rated the air quality here as unhealthy, though conditions can change rapidly as winds shift.

“In general we’ve heard from our players that they want to walk, that it’s a major championship, and of course in major championships you want to walk.” Daly-Donofrio said. “But what’s most important right now is the health and safety of our athletes and our caddies.

“So we’re talking to our medical director. We’re watching the levels very highly. But with the AQI you really can’t forecast out too far. So while the AQI level’s terrible now, for later in the week really can only do that current day and the next day, because a lot can change between now and then.”

As for the temperatures, she said that the tour’s meteorologist right now has them at 100 degrees (38c) on Thursday, 108 (42c) on Friday, 110 (43c) on Saturday and 113 (45c) on Sunday.

The post ANA Inspiration can add air quality from California wildfires to list of concerns appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.