Top TT Open golfers for Jamaica Classic

The Jamaica Classic will be contested during the period of June 12-18 at the Cinnamon Hill Golf Course, Montego Bay, Jamaica, and it will be the first PGA (Professional Golfers Association) Tour Latinoamerica event in the English-speaking Caribbean, with leading Caribbean sports broadcaster SportsMax as the host organiser.

SportsMax and the Trinidad and Tobago Golf Association (TT GA) have agreed that the top four players in the TT Open Championship flight, as well as a junior golfer, will participate in the Jamaica Classic.

In an interview at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad yesterday, Sports- Max’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Oliver McIntosh said, “It is the first time that an event from a PGA Tour Latinoamerica is being held in the English-speaking Caribbean. The last time that a professional golf event from the PGA was held in the English- speaking Caribbean was back in the mid-90s - the Johnnie Walker Tournament in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Since then there hasn’t been a PGA Tour event held in the region.

“This deal came about out of discussions that was started between Sportsmax, the PGA and IMG (during) the Rio Olympics,” McIntosh added. “We discussed the opportunity to have the golf event here in the region. They wanted to bring something back to the English-speaking Caribbean so we championed this, and were able to get this.

“We agreed with the PGA initially that we would do an event but the ideal location would have Jamaica or Barbados, mostly because the courses there are suited for an international PGA event.

When we considered Trinidad, we looked at Moka (in Maraval) but the hilly nature, especially the back nine, didn’t suit for a PGA event. They have their parameters that they operate to hold a PGA event.” Asked about the involvement of the top four TT Open finishers at the Jamaica Classic, McIntosh revealed, “One of the things that we insisted on is, if we’re going to bring a tournament to the English- speaking Caribbean, how do we incorporate the rest of the region.” He continued, “The initial thought was to move it from island to island. That doesn’t quite make economic sense, because there is an investment level you have to put in to make the tournament work. So the next idea was to try to have qualifying tournaments in different islands.

That was looking like an expensive endeavour so what we suggested to the PGA was that we’d like to partner with existing tournaments.

As far as broadcasting the event is concerned, McIntosh said, “We have spoken about trying to do some live coverage. Covering live golf is a mammoth task so we may do it as limited coverage live and the rest on a highlight basis.” He pointed out, “It’s an annual event. It’s a three-year agreement we signed with the PGA Tour Latinoamerica. We know that it would be successful so we’re hoping that it would be extended past that. That’s the plan.”