Southwick GC photo

Update April 28: A reader has told us that there was also a one-day amateur event -- the Glenmoor Amateur -- in Utah on April 18. The vast majority of our listings are multi-day events so we missed that one but it's good to know that it happened!

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has altered the competitive amateur golf calendar, forcing a wave of postponements, cancellations and reschedules.

At AmateurGolf.com, we try to stay in constant contact with tournament directors of amateur golf tournaments -- from the Majors of Amateur Golf to club-level events -- so golfers can discover new tournaments and build their playing schedules. Our current tournament listings number over 3000.

While the summer and fall golf schedules continue to fill up with rescheduled events joining those previously scheduled, the spring season has dried up as most states remain "locked down".

Related: Fall calendar becoming crowded as tournaments get rescheduled

One by one, we've had to add the words "CANCELLED" or "POSTPONED" to our April tournament listings, or for the lucky ones that have been rescheduled, to update the tournament dates to later in the year.

But there is one -- and only one -- April tournament in our database that is proceeding as scheduled. And it might just put Graham, North Carolina on the map.

Where is Graham, N.C.? A look at the map shows it about halfway between Greensboro and Durham, right on Interstate 40 in the north-central part of the state. With a population of around 15000, the town was named after former U.S. Senator and governor of North Carolina, William Alexander Graham.

Southwick Golf Course sits about five miles south of town, and plays host to the 9th annual Graham City Amateur on the weekend of April 25-26. The course dates from 1968 and does not currently have an operating website.

The Graham City Am is a 36-hole individual stroke play tournament, with flights determined by first-round score. The $100 entry fee covers two rounds of golf, lunch, and awards.

A number of precautions are being undertaken to ensure players can compete safely, including one player per cart, online payments, no clubhouse access, removal of rakes, no touching of the flagstick, and leaving a piece of a pool noodle inside each hole so that the ball can be easily retrieved.

An outdoor scoreboard is being utilized for displaying results, with players discouraged from congregating. Tournament organizers are confident that they can conduct the event safely, and the players are sure to be excited to get back onto the golf course and compete.

Elsewhere across the golf world, tournament directors are cautiously waiting to "reopen". There are a few events in early May that are still planning to go ahead as scheduled, and (for now) mid-to-late May looks to be the time when competitive amateur golf will come back in a more significant way. As always, AmateurGolf.com will do our best to stay on top of all tournament news and schedule changes.

As with the economy and the rest of life, restarting competitive amateur golf won't be like flipping a switch, more like turning a dial. Hopefully tournament organizers everywhere can get golfers back out to the course to compete in a safe way, as soon as possible.

The Graham City Amateur is leading the way.