Much has been said about Jamaica’s sports tourism product, especially as those in the tourism industry continues to tap into the potential of golf to attract visitors to the island.

This, as according to the International Association of Golfing Tour Operators (IAGTO), the global golf tourism market, where people take trips with the main purpose of playing the sport, is valued over US$17 billion.

Additionally, it is said that an estimated 56 million people play golf worldwide, most of whom are in the United States and Canada alone, making North America the leading market in terms of the sport contribution to that economy.

It is with that in mind that Angela Bennett, Jamaica Tourist Board’s Regional Director for Canada is of the view that the recently-concluded Baxter Media-sponsored Sandals Canadian Travel Advisors Golf Tournament, is testament to what can be achieved through the sport.

The 27th edition of the two-day tournament attracted 61 travel advisors, who beyond basking in the fun, frolic and excitement, will ensure that Jamaica’s golfing and, by extension, sports tourism stock in North America continues to rise.

“This is a major achievement for us because golf is a big volume driver for earnings for Jamaica. It also targets a specific sport because we have so many golf courses in Jamaica, in Montego Bay alone, we have almost six golf courses and then there is the picturesque Sandals Golf and Country club among others in this region. From the tournament, we had our top producing tour operators like Air Canada, WestJet, Red Tag, they're all focused on selling sports tourism like golf,” Bennett said.

“So, to have them here for a week, there's a lot of networking going on, a lot of business and new airline partners coming in. This is another focus area for us to drive that sort of niche market to Jamaica and it's really a sport that encourages a long stay because these travellers usually like to golf around,” she added.

Bennett pointed out that the longstanding partnership between Sandals and Baxter Media in hosting the travel advisors tournament, serves as a springboard on which the JTB is aiming to launch strategies to drive more growth in Jamaica’s sports tourism product.

“We are known for sports in Jamaica, of course, Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and all the other wonderful athletes, so it encourages us to build packages around golfing and promoting the sport, not only golf but all the other sports in Jamaica and this is a significant part of our strategy,” she shared.

“So, we have basketball that we do every year in Montego Bay, and we bring down some of our international stars to engage with the local talent. We also have Reggae Marathon in Negril where we're bringing down runners from Canada and across the world and while here, they experience the different offerings that Jamaica has in the sports field,” Bennett noted.

To that end, she pointed to the importance of capitalizing on the country’s sporting brand, particularly where the likes of Bolt, Fraser-Pryce and other sporting stalwarts are concerned.

“We always go where our athletes are, and sometimes we build a whole strategy around our athletes because just the way we know Bob Marley and everywhere in the world you go, they know Bob Marley, they know Usain Bolt and they know all our other track star because we shine, and we are at a superior level in this field. So, we're always looking to build a strategy around them to create a lot of awareness for Jamaica through them and through the work they're doing internationally,” Bennett ended.

With her parents starting a rich and fruitful partnership with Sandals Resorts, Wendy McClung, Executive vice-president of Baxter Media said the decision was easy for her to continue the family legacy to promote Jamaica as a golfing destination through the Canadian Travel Advisors Golf Tournament.

The 27th edition of this tournament, which is the longest running of the three, preceding the United States and Latin American events, attracted 16 teams made up of some 61 travel advisors, who beyond basking in the fun, frolic and excitement, will ensure that Jamaica’s sports tourism stocks in North America continues to rise.

Team three comprising Christopher Gregoris, Leo Tam, Tom Liu, and Wendy Hsu, finished tops at the end of the two-day competition at the Sandals Golf and Country Club in St Ann. They tallied scores of 65 and 62 across the two days for an 18-hole total of 127.

The team of Gord Ramkissoon, Lalita Ramkissoon, Leonard Sanicharan and Lalita Sanicharan, were six strokes behind in second on 133, after daily scores of 66 and 67, while Team Five comprising David Harris, Doug Rollheiser, Jacques Gilbert and Jason Jenkins took third with 134, after daily scores of 65 and 69.

McClung, who believes the prospects for the tournament is far-reaching where impacting visitor arrivals to Jamaica is concerned, is hoping to build on what her parents Edith and William Baxter accomplished.

Baxter’s Media is the publisher of two of Canada's leading travel trade magazine, the Canadian Travel Press and Travel Courier.

“This was actually started by my parents and my parents always had a good relationship with Jamaica, in fact, my mother was conferred with the Order of Distinction. So, Sandals has been a partner of ours for a very long time and every year we bring travel agents and people who serve Jamaica just to have a nice kind of thank you gathering. It is four days of golf, fun and entertainment and so it’s a great way to celebrate the partnership,” she said.

“Every year it gets better and better. In fact, we had to turn people away because it’s a popular thing and it’s the highlight of the year for many people. As you know, Jamaica has the perfect weather, Sandals is a perfect resort with a perfect golf club, my only complaint is that we are not here long enough,” McClung added.

Meanwhile, the side competitions which raised US$1,528 (about $235,869 Jamaican dollars) for the Sandals Foundation, were won by Curtis Dewar and Norah Hogan, in the closest to the pin, while Colin Harris and Tobe Leney, were the male and female longest drive winners.

As Sandals Resorts moves to deepen and strengthen ties with its international partners, it was the United Sates Travel Advisors turn to have their fun in the sun at the 19th annual golf tournament at the Sandals Golf and Country Club in St Ann.

After two days of enticing competition, which allows Travel Advisors to experience and, later sell Jamaica as the destination of choice for sports and tourism, it was Team 10 that finished tops in the four-man scramble format, played over 18 holes.

Pete Drab, Damon Spady, Megan Sams and Scott Austin made up the winning team that scored 58 across both days to end with a total of 116.

Team 10 won ahead of Teams six and eight, as they ended with a similar score of 123, after both had similar scores of 62 on Thursday’s first day and 61 on Friday’s final day.

Adam Anderson, David Anderson, David Schutz and Jeremy Lee made up Team six, while Team eight comprised of Craig and Angela Mansperger, Ro Gallo and Mike Tipple.

Aside from the main event, the serious side of the golf tournament, saw Sandals Foundation raising US$1,210 (approximately $187,000 Jamaican dollars) for its outreach programmes to assist those in need.

Mike Zuch and Linda Hyde bettered rivals in the men’s and women’s Closet to the Pin event, while Harold Kelly and Julie Gildner, finished tops in their respective categories of the Longest Drive competition.

 

As the Honorary Consul of Jamaica in Uruguay, Jorge Andres Elissalde felt it only fitting that he made the trip down to the Caribbean Island to not only enjoy the sun, fun and excitement, but also to play his part in assisting Sandals Foundation to give back to its community.

Elissalde was among the over 70 individuals that made the trek from various countries to strut their stuff in the Sandals Latin American Travel Agents Golf Tournament, which is used a driver for participants to experience and, later sell Jamaica as the destination of choice for sports and tourism.

As fate would have it, Elissalde's team which included Jorge Barbut, Jose Cabrera and Leonardo Curutchague, finished tops at the four-man scramble format, two-day event with a final score of 60 over nine holes. They scored 33 on the first and 27 on the final day of the competition.

They won ahead of the Brazilian team of Breno Luz, Ricardo Dantas, Denilson Milan, and Raphael Abreu, which scored 28 on the first day and 37 on the final day to finish five-strokes behind on 65 at the Sandals Golf and Country Club.

"I am very proud to be the Honorary Consul of Jamaica and I am happy that we had the chance to come here and not only participate in the Sandals tournament, but also to see what the foundation is doing because we know they do a lot of good for the people here, especially in the Ocho Rios region. So, it's always a pleasure to play our part and we also won which is double the excitement," Elissalde told SportsMax.tv. 

Besides the friendly competition between others from Mexico, Panama, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, among others, Elissalde reiterated the serious side of the golf tournament, as the side shows raised US $316 for the Sandals Foundation which might seem a small figure but will go a far way in helping those in need.

Mauricio Fuerte (Closet to the Pin Men), Antonio Perez Verdia Rubio (Longest Drive Men), and Taryn Stanton (Longest Drive Women), won those side events.

Beyond that, the travel agents also brought with them books and other school supplies to be distributed in the community.

"Jamaica is a destination that not many Uruguayans know, it is a beautiful country with beautiful people and so doing this (tournament) is one way of basically opening the doors so those Uruguayans can experience Jamaica through us and then they will be more eager to come and visit," Elissalde reasoned.

"So what Sandals is doing is very good, it's a mix of sports and tourism and, more importantly, the fact that they use these golf tournaments to raise funds for the foundation is incredible and giving back is always something that many people gravitate towards. So again, we are very happy to play our part," he added.

During his visit, Elissalde also paid a courtesy call on Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Meanwhile, Jake Coldiron, national manager of golf sales, expressed delight with the outcome of the tournament which is one of three travel-advisers’ event staged annually by the resort to promote the island as a golfing destination, while giving the resort chain’s sales reps personal experiences of its properties and Jamaica’s varied attractions.

The positive spinoff from the event has propelled Sandals to stage a World Travel Advisors Golf Tournament set for Emerald Bay, Bahamas, next year. Elissalde and his team are expected to be a part of that, along with those from the United States and Canada tournaments to come in September and October respectively. 

"My job is to help the travel advisors grow their business through golf and this year we actually had quite a few travel advisors that had never been to Jamaica, so the ultimate goal for them is to go back to their home country and sell Jamaica, sell Sandals and Beaches Resorts, and bring their clients down here," Coldiron said.

“The Sandals Foundation in general is also a very important part of Sandals Resorts and what is nice about it is that we as a company take it very seriously as far as ensuring that we give back not just in Jamaica but the entire Caribbean. We are a Caribbean-based company, and the ultimate goal is to take care of the Caribbean,” he noted.

Despite being out of competition for a while, Sean Morris showed no signs of rust, as he outclassed rivals in the Jamaica Golf Association (JGA) two-day Independence Golf Classic at the Sandals Golf & Country Club in St. Ann recently.

Morris, who was the only golfer to post an under-par score during the tournament, won by five shots. He shot six over par 77 on the first day but roared back on the second day with a two under par 69 for a total score of four over par 146 in the Men Senior 0-6 section.

"A lot has been happening in my game for the last couple months where I started getting back into the heat of competition. I actually had some new shaft installed in my driver and in my three wood and my irons. This is about the fourth outing since the irons have been fitted, so the win is a significant one in the quest for getting the golf game sharper and more consistent. The game is rounding into shape,” Morris said.

“I went there with a lot of resolve and determination to play the best that I could. My short game was really in good form, and it was the key to the victory. The greens are small at Sandals and require a lot of short game performance, so I am just happy for the win," he added.

The first day leader, Tenny Davis, who shot par 71 then, had a rough second day after scoring 10 over par to end on a combined score of 10 over par 152, which saw him pacing third. Delroy Johnson, who shot 74 and 77, was one stroke ahead on 151 in second place.

On the Ladies side, Diane Hudson posted scores of 90 and 93 for a total score of 41 over par 183 to take the category by two shots, ahead of Judith Slater 185 (93 and 92) and Jennifer Davey 200 (104 and 99). They competed in the 13+ handicap category.

The top three men in the Men Senior 7-12, were Philip Gooden 165 (84 and 81), followed by Raymond Campbell 178 (89 and 89) and Nigel Davey 191 (96 and 95).

In the Men Senior 13-24 handicap category, Mark Samuels 179 (92 and 87) secured a four-stroke win over American Owen McPherson 183 (92 and 87) and Delroy Anderson 199 (99 and 100).

The Men Super Senior 0-12 category was very competitive with two players getting identical scores across both days. Mike Gleichman and Greg Chong both scored 80 and 79 to end on a total score of 159 each. Robert Chin was three strokes behind on 162 (82 and 80) in third place.

Two men teed-off in the Men Super Senior 13-24 category, with Philip de Waal 182 (92 and 90) winning the category by 12 shots ahead of Guyan Arscott 194 (97 and 97).

The master's category saw seven competitors. Dorrel Allen 162 (79 and 83) topped the category by one stroke ahead of Carlyle Hudson 163 (82 and 81), with Philip Wilson 166 (84 and 82) in third.

One junior player in the Boys 14-15 category joined the golfers on the course. He posted scores of 92 and 86 for a total score of 36 over par 178.

Oshae Haye and Jodi Munn-Barrow headed into Monday’s final day the leaders of the three-day Jamaica Golf Association's National Amateur Golf Championship being played at the Sandals Golf & Country Club in St. Ann.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.