As golf courses around the state relaunch service to the community, the status of Hawaii’s oldest championship remains in question.

The 112th Manoa Cup will not be held on its originally scheduled dates of June 22-27 at Oahu Country Club and a decision is pending on whether to postpone the tournament to a date later this year or cancel it for the first time since World War II.

While golf courses which had been closed for the last month due to the coronavirus pandemic were allowed to reopen this weekend, tournament play will likely wait until at least July.

Paul Ogawa, executive director of the Hawaii State Golf Association, said in online meetings among local golf officials it was decided “collectively we’re going to not encourage any tournaments in May or June, because we want this to settle down and the priority is not to provide the competitions right now. The priority is to open golf so people can get out and get their exercise and get moving.”

The HSGA operates the Manoa Cup, which was established in 1907. A cancellation of the state amateur match-play championship would be the first for the event since it skipped 1942 and ’43.

The availability of OCC later in the year would be among the variables to consider in attempting to play the event in 2020. The tournament customarily begins with a qualifying round to fill the 64-player open division and 16-player women’s brackets, which are whittled down over the next five days.

Wes Wailehua, executive director of the Aloha Section PGA, said he recommended the two-month moratorium on tournament play for two reasons.

“The first reason is the availability of tee times. We really want to make sure the public is taken care of first and their needs are met,” Wailehua said.

“The second reason is I still think as operators we need to take a very hard look at our tournament operations and we will be creating a playbook for facilities on how to manage tournament operations under COVID conditions.”

The pandemic has already erased or postponed several highlights of the local golf calendar. The LPGA Tour announced in March that the Lotte Championship at Ko Olina scheduled for April 15-18, would be postponed.

The Mid-Pacific Open was to be held the following week in Lanikai and the announcement of its cancellation stated the tournament was “exploring every option possible to reschedule before the end of the year.” The event has missed three years (1961, ’67 and ’88) since being established in 1956.

Wailehua said the tournament committee is holding dates this summer and would like to hold the event by October. That said, “we’re very conscious about the sponsors that have supported us for many years and we remain respectful to their financial situations related to their staff and their families,” Wailehua said. “If they’re not in a good place then we would never want to add to that pressure.”

The Jennie K. Wilson Invitational, also hosted by Mid-Pacific Country Club and the state’s premier amateur women’s tournament, was scheduled for May 15-17 but will not be played for the first time since 1967.

Other cancellations include the the Hickam Invitational (May 15-17) and the 69th Francis I’i Brown Four-Ball Tournament, scheduled over two weekends in late May and early June at Ala Wai Golf Course.

The United States Golf Association canceled all local qualifiers for the U.S. Open. But a qualifier for the U.S. Women’s Open at Oahu Country Club is still being considered for August with the championship rescheduled for Dec. 10-13 in Houston.

Qualifiers for the U.S. Senior Open, U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur and U.S. Junior Amateur have been canceled.

The high school state championships scheduled for mid-May at Wailua Golf Course were canceled when the Hawaii High School Athletic Association called off spring sports.