The BMW Jamaica Classic will tee off today at the Cinnamon Hill Golf Course in Montego Bay, and runs through to Sunday.

This after a qualifier event which started on Monday, as well as yesterday’s Pro-Am tournament. It makes Jamaica the 17th country and the first English-speaking Caribbean nation to host an official PGA TOUR of the Latinoamérica event.

The BMw Jamaica Classic, which was launched last month at ATL Autobahn on Orchard Road in Kingston, is hosted by SportsMax and the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica and sponsored by the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), BMW, Heineken, and Cinnamon Hill.

It features a field of 144 players from over 20 countries, and is the final event of the first half of the schedule of the PGA TOUR, and will provide PGA TOUR Latinoamérica members one last chance to earn Order of Merit points before the mid-season reshuffle.

Oliver McIntosh, president and chief executive officer at SportsMax, said the BMW Jamaica Classic will only help to develop the sport of golf in the country.

“This is to us the most exciting event to happen in Jamaica for the last 20 years since we hosted the Johnnie Walker Championship. Firstly, I would like to thank our partners for supporting this event. They have seen the vision to re-establish Jamaica on the golf stage… getting this tournament is our first step in building Jamaica as a centre to attract golfers to the country,” McIntosh said.

And Director of Tourism Paul Pennicook said the event will help position Jamaica as the centre of attraction for golf in the Caribbean.

“For the JTB, hosting the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica tournament, the BMW Jamaica Classic is a welcome opportunity to amplify our overall growth strategies for the Latin American region, as well as position Jamaica as a formidable golfing destination in the Caribbean,” he noted.

Matthew Cripps, group general manager for ATL Automotive Limited, gave his company’s commitment to the BMW Jamaica Classic.

“BMW has been a big promoter of golf worldwide such as in the United Kingdom as well as the Wentworth tournament. As a matter of fact, BMW has recently opened up a sports pro-workshop at Wentworth for golfers and so there is no reason why we can’t do that in Jamaica with our golf courses here. And so we are looking forward to the golf tournament in Jamaica,” he said.

President of the Jamaica Golf Association (JGA) Peter Chin welcomed the event.

“The JGA is extremely excited about this event and we would like to congratulate SportsMax for being instrumental in bringing this event to Jamaica… [also] the financial help from JTB and BMW for the support. This tournament will help develop our youngsters as well,” he said.

Three Jamaicans — Sebert Walker Jnr, Fabian Campbell and Orville Christie — had already qualified for the Classic.