Bill Williams, head of professional golf at the Sandals Golf and Country Club in Upton Estate, St Ann, has lauded organisers of the annual Canadian Baxter Travel Industry Golf Tournament for their continued support to the Sandals Foundation from which many inner-city kids of the parish have benefited over the years.

Williams, who has been at the golf course for the past 43 years, said the Sandals Foundation currently caters to 36 kids, ages six to 18, from in and around the communities from St Ann.

He told the Jamaica Observer that he is grateful for the assistance and support that they have received from the Canadian Baxter Travel Industry Golf Tournament because proceeds from which will assist in providing critical supplies for kids.

“This tournament creates some extra dollars for the kids and what this money does, help us to send them to golf tournaments over Jamaica,” said Williams. “We also have them here on Saturdays and we provide them with lunch and refreshments and so this money from this golf tournament is very important to us.

“I want to tell the sponsors to keep on coming out and keep supporting this tournament because it plays a very important part of the development of our youngsters in here Ochi Rios,” he added.

Williams pointed out that the Sandals Foundation golf programme also plays an important role in helping to take the youths off the streets in Ochi Rios and mentor them in becoming good citizens.

“This helps to take them off the streets and also helps them mentally and physically because every Saturday when they could be elsewhere, they are here practising their golf skills,” he said.

“The kids under my mentorship here I am very happy about them and I am also very proud of them because six of them have gone to Montego Bay to play in the Jamaica Open this weekend.

“I have two of them here at this tournament to see what the competition is like and to build up their confidence and to show them that they are the future golfers in Jamaica,” he said.

“These kids are very talented kids and they are willing to learn the sport and so my job at the foundation is to assist them in becoming better citizens of Jamaica,” Williams went on.