TRYALL, Hanover — Peter Chin, president of the Jamaica Golf Association, was a pleased man on Tuesday afternoon as he watched form the 18th hole on the Tryall Golf Club as the 53rd JGA Open wound down after three rounds of quality golf from a small but competitive field.

Earlier in the year there had been doubts that the event would have gone ahead after the withdrawal of several sponsors due to the economic downturn resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.

With a lot of work, however, and the sponsorship of Aqua Bay – one of the newer villas at the Tyrall Club – not only was the event staged, but Chin deemed it a success.

“We have been very happy with how the tournament has turned out,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

“We have had good support from the overseas golfers, the local golfers and the local golfing fraternity, also the volunteers that made it happen,” he said.

Chin said the JGA was very grateful it got the go-ahead from the Government to stage the event that attracted players from countries including host Jamaica, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Uganda and Puerto Rico.

“We are also very thankful for the Ministry of Health and the University Hospital [of the West Indies] who sent staff on-site to provide COVID-19 testing and made sure that we were abiding by the COVID-19 protocols established. All the golfers abided by the protocols and they understood what it meant, and we are extremely happy with the turn out,” noed Chin.

Fifty-three golfers took part in the four-day event, with American Erik Barnes, who shot 13 under par, winning.

Chin said he was happy with the quality of the golf that was on exhibition.

“It has been very exciting. The conditions were tough on the first day and that set back a lot of players,” he said. “Conditions got a little easier on the next two days so a player getting 13 under is very good,” he shared.

Asked to give his team a grade, Chin hesitated and said: “It is difficult to grade yourself, but I can say we are very happy – the sponsors are very happy, the players are happy, so I don’t know what kind of grade I can give.”

He said the feedback from the players was positive and they were optimistic that they would have an even bigger and better event next year.

“We are expecting a lot more next year,” he told the Observer. “A lot of the players who used to come stayed away because of the fear of COVID-19 but, based on the feedback, we are expecting a bumper crowd next year,” Chin ended.

— Paul Reid