The Greater Wayzata Community Chamber of Commerce announced that the 2021 Chilly Open has been cancelled.
Below is the statement:
To our amazing Golfers and Community,
The Chilly Open is such an incredible community event and something that has morphed into a must-do event for people here in MN and across the country!
It’s been a rollercoaster of planning and emotions these past couple of months. We were hopeful and started preparing for a modified golf tournament, and had a recent call with the Assistant Attorney General, and heads of the Dept. of Health, Dept. of Labor and several others this past week. In this call we were advised of the new guidelines and requirements we would have to enforce.
This beloved event presents challenges every year as a very unique event. From needing a specific uniform thickness of ice (per Hennepin County Water Patrol), enough snow to identify the course, lack of any pressure ridges that block access to Wayzata Bay and an annual permit approval from both Water Patrol and the City of Wayzata. Add to this – every year’s approval is based on how the previous year’s event was handled according to the rules and permit requirements.
Then we rely on our amazing sponsors like Porsche of Minneapolis, and many others that have returned for over 30 years! With their support we are able to create an incredible experience for the best followers and participants of any golf tournament ever! And of course the epic chili from all our amazing restaurants.
This year we ALL have faced more challenges than we’ve ever seen with Covid-19. Pivot, pirouette, adapt, shift, whatever move you can think of, we’ve tried. As mentioned, in our call with the State of MN, our event was categorized and specific restrictions identified including numbers of people allowed, health screening, social distance, beverage consumption rules, and more.
Because of this, it’s time to rip off the band aid. Please trust, we waited for things to change and explored every possible option to continue the 36 year tradition of golfing on frozen Wayzata Bay. We feel the challenge to enforce all golfers adhering to the restrictions is too large a risk of losing the ability to have Chilly Open next year and the decades to follow. We can’t confidently hold true to our event that bears the name of Chilly Open. We are bummed beyond belief, but we know brighter days are ahead. We look forward to breaking attendance records in a healthy and safe 2022.
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