The Hong Kong Open golf tournament slated for next month has been postponed to next year due to travel restrictions amid the pandemic, organizers said yesterday.

The event was originally scheduled to take place at Fan Ling's Hong Kong Golf Club, its co-organizer.

Two international events, the Gay Games and Hong Kong Sevens, were rescheduled or canceled earlier.

Hong Kong Golf Club and co-organizer the Hong Kong Golf Association said yesterday they were considering options for staging the event early next year.

"Hong Kong Golf Club and the Hong Kong Golf Association remain fully committed to the return of Hong Kong's longest running professional sporting event as soon as conditions allow," they said.

They also thanked the Hong Kong golf community for its continued understanding and support.

Hong Kong Golf Club captain Clarence Leung Wang-ching said he and the club were looking forward to the tournament's return.

"As one of only two clubs in the world to have hosted the same tournament for more than 60 consecutive years, the club is extremely proud of the Hong Kong Open, its unique heritage and what it has done to put Hong Kong firmly on the global golfing map," he said.

The event's 61st edition, held in January last year - at the pandemic's onset - saw Australian golfer Wade Ormsby become a two-time winner, the organizers said.

The Gay Games will be deferred by one year, also due to travel restrictions during the pandemic, its organizers said.

The event, originally set for next November 11 to 19, was expected to attract 12,000 taking part and 75,000 spectators from 100 countries, as well as generating more than HK$1 billion in revenue for the city's battered hospitality and retail sector.

The Hong Kong Sevens has been canceled for the second year in a row, with organizers citing travel restrictions amid the pandemic as well as Covid-19 variants.

The three-day event, last held in April 2019, has been absent for nearly three years.

But the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2021 is set for October 24 after it was canceled last year due to the pandemic.

Wade Ormsby

Hong Kong Open postponed due to travel curbs