JGA boss Chin expects biggest Open in years

Jamaica Golf Association (JGA) president, Peter Chin, expects that the revived Jamaica Open, scheduled for December 6-9 at the Half Moon hotel in Montego Bay, will be the biggest in recent memory.

Speaking at the press launch at the Caymanas Golf and Country Club yesterday, Chin noted that early registration is more than usual and they expect some top international talents to grace the tournament over the four days of competition

"This year, we have more than 50 entrants already and usually we don't have this many at this time. Usually, we have a flurry of entrants in the last week or two, so we are pleased to see so many entrants already. If we can achieve the 100 to 110 entrants that we are looking for, then certainly it will be the biggest Jamaica Open for a number of years," he said.

The event is the longest-running open in the region, but has been absent from the calendar for a few years. However, Chin expects some top class golfers to participate and predicts that there will be some impressive golf on show.

"We are looking for some extremely low scores because of the calibre of the field that we will be having. We have Tom Gillis, Olin Brown, and we have some young guns from the Latin America tour, who, based on their performance at the BMW Classic, we expect some very low scores from them," he said.

MUCH-NEEDED EXPERIENCE

But he also believes the tournament to provide aspiring local golfers with some much-needed experience to enhance their careers.

"Our top locals will be Wesley Brown, Shawn Morris. We also have some local pros (Ernest Bernard, Ian Facey) and this (tournament) will be very good experience for them," he said.

Meanwhile, the top three professionals and best amateur finisher from the tournament will qualify for the BMW Classic, a Latin America PGA event

The winner of the Jamaica Open tournament will walk away with U$17,000, second place, U$9,000, and third place U$7,500. For the senior section the winner will receive U$8,000, second place U$4500 and third, U$2500.

Competition gets under way on December 6 with the ProAm competition, while the main event is set to tee off on December 7 and end on December 9.