Home Stamp collecting Ben Crane shoots nine under-62s on Friday and tops the Bermuda Championship standings

Ben Crane shoots nine under-62s on Friday and tops the Bermuda Championship standings

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About 100 golfers are expected to compete for a prize of US$100,000 when the 55th Jamaica Golf Association (JGA) Jamaica Open Golf Championship kicks off at Tryall Golf Club from Saturday November 12 to Tuesday November 15.

This year, the tournament will honor the late Seymour Rose who won the Open in 1977, 1982 and 1987.

“Seymour is truly one of the icons of Jamaican golf and we don’t want to forget that,” JGA member Gordon Hutchinson said at the launch on Wednesday.

“We want to remember him. We want him to be associated with the Jamaica Open for a long time. His name will always be there on the records as a former winner. Seymour was exceptional because he was such a gentleman, in addition to being a golfer. He did a lot for young golfers who were coming up. He was a very humble person and you can approach him anytime and he would help you no matter who you are.

Meanwhile, JGA Vice President Dr Mark Newnham said the association had successfully overcome the challenges associated with the pandemic to make this year’s tournament possible.

“We are so proud, so excited to host this championship,” he said.

“We had a bit of a hard time staging this during Covid. Our protocols are going to be a bit more relaxed this time around and we couldn’t be happier to host our 55th event. The Jamaica Open is our first event.”

With the start less than a month away, Organizing Committee Chairman Peter Chin said everything is going according to plan and they expect up to 100 golfers to take part in the tournament.

“We are very happy with our current situation, all plans are in place, so far so good. We have sponsorship in place. We have the golf course in place. We have players who sign up and have paid their registration fees,” he said.

“So far we have 65 players and we hope to reach 100 per tournament day. We are happy to have a number of former winners returning; Michael Maguire, who won last year, and Patrick Cover who has won the year before. Both players graduated from the Korn Ferry tour, but they seem to like the Jamaica Open, so they’re coming back to play.”

The tournament is sponsored by Aqua Bay, Tourism Enhancement Fund, SDF, Tryall Golf Course, JTL Jamaica Tours Limited, Digicel Business, Jamaica Producers, Rain Forest, Wisynco, Barita and First Rock.