The Professional Golf Association of Jamaica joined forces with the best local amateur golfers to stage the inaugural Rose Cup in honour of the late Seymour Rose.

The launch was held at the Caymanas Golf Club in St Catherine, on Thursday.

Seymour Rose was one of Jamaica’s best golfer who is in a select group to win the prestigious Jamaica Open three times. He did so in 1977, 1982 and 1987. He played the game for over 50 years and served in several capacities such as golf instructor, golf manager and golf superintendent, having started as a caddie at Upton Golf Club in St Ann. He also represented Jamaica in the Caribbean Championships and beyond.

His daughter, Sheree Rose, lauded the gesture, saying she was “very happy. He has left quite a legacy and I am proud to be his daughter. I felt thrilled. It was just so amazing to know that even in death he is still remembered because his life touched so many.”

She wished all the golfers the best of luck for the competition.

The inaugural Rose Cup will be held from December 29 to 30 at the Caymanas Golf Club. It will feature 12-member teams of professionals and amateurs with one captain each and up to two vice-captains per team. Points distribution will be: win equals one point and a draw equals one half point.

The play format yields a maximum of 22 points with the first team to get 11.5 points or more to be declared the winner. If the teams are tied they will move to sudden death play-off on holes one, two, 17 and 18, and repeated if necessary.

Co-chair of the organising committee Major Desmon Brown said, “I am extremely happy. It’s difficult at this time to get sponsors but we got Mayberry, Sports Development Foundation and some other sponsors who came on board. I think it is a great event. A couple of guys have been talking for a long time to me about it and there is always this banter between the amateurs and the professionals — who is better so we came up with this idea. We are very happy that we have reached this far.”

He said that no cash prize will be paid to the winner but some player costs will be taken up by the organisers, such as transportation and caddie fees, to assist with the expenses associated with competing in the Rose Cup.

Major Brown named the professional players. They are Sebert Walker (non-playing captain), Raymond Brown, Wesley Brown, Martin But, Lloyd Campbell, Orville Christie, Allan Graham, Sean Green, Kevin McDonald, Jonathan Newnham (vice-captain), Ricardo Perry, Alford Robinson, and Michael Rowe.

Pro player Sean Green welcomed the tournament. “I expect that it will be a fun-filled competition. The Rose Cup is similar to a Ryder format, which I don’t think we have ever really had in Jamaica before. It’s exciting to see all of the good golfers, what we call our elite golfers in Jamaica, playing together and just for bragging rights and so on. It excites us to have this tournament to have something to look forward to annually and the fact that it’s the Rose Cup which is Mr Seymour Rose, it gives us the professionals a little more spark to want to win this trophy.”

The other co-chair of the organising committee and captain of the amateur team Sean Morris announced that his players are Justin Burrowes, John Dunbar, William Knibbs, Tommy Lee, Mark Newnham, Rocco Lopez, Phillip Prendergast, John O’donoghue, Jack Stein, Sebert Walker Jr, and Shamar Wilson.

Morris, speaking as a player, said: “I believe that the amateur team is packing a lot of talent. I believe that the guys are in good shape and they are hungry because they did not have the Caribbean Championships to play this year, so I believe they are looking forward to this event as the marquee event on the calendar this year.” He also said that he was hoping to play well.

The Rose Cup was endorsed by the Jamaica Golf Association and the Professional Golf Association of Jamaica.

The sponsors for the Rose Cup are Mayberry Investments (title sponsor), gold sponsors —Body Forte, Coffee Traders and Grab and Go; hole sponsors — Sterling Asset Management, Versachem International, Karmak Construction, Billy Craig Insurance, Fontana Pharmacy and Fidelity Motors.