About 100 golfers are expected to compete for US$100,000 in prize money when the Jamaica Golf Association’s (JGA) 55th Jamaica Open Golf Championship tees off at Tryall Golf Club from Saturday, November 12-Tuesday, November 15.
This year, the tournament will honour the late Seymour Rose who won the Open in 1977, 1982 and 1987.
“Seymour is really one of the icons of Jamaica’s golf and we don't want to forget him,” said JGA member Gordon Hutchinson at the launch on Wednesday.
“We want to remember him. We want him to be associated with Jamaica Open for a long time. His name will always be there on the records as a past winner. Seymour was outstanding because he was such a gentleman, in addition to being a golfer. He did a lot for young golfers coming up. He was a very humble person and you can approach him anytime and he would assist you irrespective of who you are.”
Meanwhile, Vice-President of the JGA Dr. Mark Newnham, said the association managed to overcome the challenges associated with the pandemic to make this year’s tournament possible.
"We are just so proud, so excited to host this championship,” he said.
“We struggled a little bit with staging this during Covid. Our protocols are going to be a little bit more relaxed this time and we couldn't be happier to stage this our 55th event. The Jamaica Open is our premier event."
With the start less than a month away, Chairman of the organizing committee Peter Chin said everything is going according to plan and they are expecting up to 100 golfers to compete at the tournament.
"We are very happy with where we are now, all the plans are in place, so far so good. We have sponsorship in place. We have the golf course in place. We have players who are registering and paid their entry fees,” he said.
“So far we have 65 players and we are hoping to reach to 100 by tournament day. We are happy that a number of the past winners are coming back; Michael Maguire, who won last year, and Patrick Cover who won the year before. Both players have graduated to the Korn Ferry tour but they seem to have a liking to the Jamaica Open so they are coming back to play."
The tournament is being 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.