JGA president urges gov’t to promote golfing
SANDY BAY, Hanover — The Jamaica Golf Association (JGA) has called on Government to do more to promote the island as a golfing destination, noting that the country had fallen down the pecking order and was missing out on benefits.
At last week’s media launch of the 52nd Jamaica Open that will be held at the Tryall Club in Sandy Bay, Hanover, Peter Chin, president of the JGA, said with the number of world-class golf courses in Montego Bay and with the history of hosting international events, the island is missing out when it comes to hosting more golf tournaments.
Tryall Club will host the JGA Open for the first time from December 11-14.
Jamaica hosted the PGA Latino Americas Tour for three years at Cinnamon Hill Course in Rose Hall, attracting players from over 20 countries.
Chin said that while they were “committed to developing with the tourism interest in Jamaica more international events in the future to keep brand Jamaica alive, especially in golf”, his association is expecting more from the Government.
“I have often said and lamented that when we used to have the Johnnie Walker World Championship in Jamaica we were the leading golf destination in the Caribbean and we have slipped a long way, and when you consider that Montego Bay have some of the finest courses in the Caribbean, I think we are missing [out] on a tremendous tourism project, and so I am imploring the JTB [Jamaica Tourist Board] to let golfers know that we have some of the finest courses in the Caribbean,” he argued.
The JGA boss said he could speak from a first-hand experience having played on the top courses in other Caribbean countries.
“I can say that from personal experience because I have played in the Bahamas, in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, and I am telling you that our courses are right up there and in some cases have surpassed theirs,” he argued.
The Tryall course that has undergone extensive renovation has hosted a number of world-classed international tournaments, including the LPGA/Senior PGA Mazda Championships between 1985 and 1987; the LPGA Jamaica Classic between 1989 and 1991 and the Johnnie Walker World Championships between 1991 and 1995.
