South Korean Tom Kim equals US Open record

By Sports Desk June 17, 2023

Tom Kim provided a strong indication of what was to come as records continued to tumble in the 123rd US Open at Los Angeles Country Club.

Kim equalled the tournament record when he raced to the turn in just 29 shots on Saturday, the 20-year-old from South Korea making birdies on the first, third, fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth.

Another birdie on the 10th took Kim to seven under for the day and four off the lead, but the back nine continued to provide a stiffer test and Kim dropped three shots in the space of four holes before eventually signing for a 66.

One of Kim’s dropped shots came at the par-three 15th, which had become the shortest hole in modern US Open history at just 80 yards.

The previous shortest hole in the US Open was the famous seventh at Pebble Beach – 92 yards in the final round in 2010 – but anyone expecting a fourth hole-in-one of the week on the 15th could be disappointed.

Two-time major winner Thomas wrote on Twitter: “Fifteen is interesting…guys playing early have a chance to hold that section I think. But this afternoon (dominantly downwind), I don’t see a ball holding at it.

“Watch for many guys to one hop it over the back. I think the play is to hit a big cut spinner off that middle slope.

“With how fast the greens will play, it has a chance to get down within 5-10 feet. Will be a spicy one for sure!”

Thomas missed the cut on Friday after rounds of 73 and 81 left him 152nd in the 156-man field and admitted his performance was “humiliating and embarrassing”.

“I was playing the best I’ve played in a really long time this week, so (it’s a) funny game, man,” Thomas told the Golf Channel.

“It can leave you speechless, both good and bad, and right now it’s unfortunate. But once I’m able to reflect and figure out what I can learn and get better from, it’ll end up good. But it sucks right now.”

Thomas won his second US PGA Championship 13 months ago at Southern Hills, but has not tasted victory since and the former world number one has slipped to 16th in the rankings.

“I’ll figure it out,” he added. “I have another major left (this season).

“If I go win the British Open, nobody even remembers that I’ve missed the cut by a zillion here, so I’ve just got to find a way to get better and learn from this and if I can, I don’t have to look at this week as a total failure.”

Next month’s Open Championship will be staged at Royal Liverpool and Rory McIlroy revealed watching the highlights of his victory there in 2014 had influenced his approach this week.

“For whatever reason I went on to YouTube a few weeks ago and was looking back at Hoylake 2014 and I could not believe how many irons and three woods I was hitting off the tee and it set something off in my mind,” said McIlroy, who headed into the third round two shots behind leader Rickie Fowler.

“You know how to do this, you know how to play smart. You don’t have to take driver all the time – yes it’s a big weapon but I feel like I have more weapons in my arsenal than I did then so I may as well use them.”

Asked how much he wanted to win another major after a drought of almost nine years, McIlroy added: “I started thinking about winning this thing on Monday and no one wants me to win another major more than I do.

“The desire is obviously there. I’ve been trying and I’ve come close over the past nine years and I keep coming back.

“I feel like I’ve showed a lot of resilience in my career, whether I get rewarded or punched in the gut, I’ll always keep coming back.”

Coincidentally, Fowler was joint second behind McIlroy at Hoylake in a year in which he finished in the top five in all four majors, and was also third behind McIlroy in the following month’s US PGA.

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    At the heart of this transformative journey stands Bill Williams, a man deeply committed to changing the lives of young Jamaicans through the Sandals Foundation Care for Kids Junior Golf Programme.

    Williams, the lead professional golfer at the Sandals Golf and Country Club, has for years been dedicated to empowering boys who are at risk of straying down troubled paths, introducing them to the game of golf, not just as a sport but as a means of character building and personal development.

    “I love kids. There’s a duty in me to take care of kids. I always tell myself, if you can grow kids, you grow the country, and you’re growing something good. The guys tell me they love it because I take them off the streets and... them things,” Williams said in a recent interview.

    “I’ve been doing this programme since 2002; that’s when I started. I went into my village where I live in Exchange and I see kids... and I bring them over and [guide] them,” he added.

    Williams sees golf as more than a series of strokes and strategies. For him, it is a way to teach young men about patience, discipline, and respect—qualities that they can carry well beyond the green.

    Bill Williams (centre) shares a photo opportunity with members of Team 13 during the Sandals US Travel Advisors Tournament.

    The success stories he tells are numerous, as many of the boys who once faced uncertain futures have gone on to compete at the national level, among them are Zandre Roye, Romaine Evans, and Oshae Haye, just to name a few.

    “I turn out some very good kids out of this thing here. And they are all over the world, global now. There [are] so many kids because I used to do this for eight years on my own before Sandals Foundation came on board. And even though they leave the programme at the age of 18, they still come back here, and I still try to offer advice because there is always room for improvements,” Williams shared.

    Williams is especially enthusiastic about the future of the programme, as funds raised through the three Sandals Travel Advisors Golf Tournaments—Latin America, Canada, and the United States—the programme is set for significant expansion.

    This funding will allow Williams and his team to reach more young men across the island, providing resources to further develop their skills and broaden their opportunities. The latest United States Travel Advisors tournament raised US$800 (about $127,000 Jamaican) for the programme.

    “This is a very important tournament every year for us to get a little extra for the foundation because the kids [have] got to play tournaments and we use the money to fund them. We help who cannot really afford to go to school—we do help with that too. So, I think this programme will go much further and impact more youths,” Williams ended.

  • 57th Jamaica Open Golf Championship launched 57th Jamaica Open Golf Championship launched

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    The championship will be held at the picturesque Tryall Golf Club in Hanover for the fifth consecutive year from November 10 to 12 while the pro-am tournament is scheduled for November 9 with an 8:30 am start.

    It will feature the majority of the pros and the amateurs playing in teams, to share skills, generate camaraderie and introduce the course to the overseas based golfers. 

    Sixty players from United States of America (USA), Canada, Trinidad & Tobago, Bermuda, and host country Jamaica have completed their registration already, including the defending champion, professional Andrew Arft of the USA.

    The playing format will be stroke play, 18 holes each day for a total of 54 holes. 

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    “We are hopeful every year to increase the prize money because that is what attracts the top professional golfers. The prize money this year if we have a full field is US$110,000,” added Chin.

    The honouree for this year’s event is Johnny Bloomfield who won the Jamaica Open three times.

    JGA president Jodi Munn-Barrow expounded on the choice of Bloomfield as honouree.

    “Johnny is the only one to win three consecutive Jamaica Opens on two different golf courses. He won his first one at Caymanas (2006) and then the last two (2008 and 2009) at Half Moon Golf Course when we had it at Half Moon. So that itself is a feat. Seymour Rose is another three-time winner but not consecutively so we thought it was just right to award him as the honouree this year for that feat.” 

    She said that the Tryall Golf Course was “excellent as usual."

    "I got word from them that they are ready to go. The superintendent is on top of the preparations. The rough will be grown in again like last year so it will make it a little bit more difficult for the pros and the amateurs but Tryall is challenging on its own and if the wind comes up it will be even much harder so I think Tryall is the perfect spot for championships such as the Jamaica Open.” 

    Two of the sponsors, Tourism Enhancement Fund and Sports Development Foundation were represented by Dr. Carey Wallace and Alan Beckford respectively. They endorsed the open. 

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    Beckford, the SDF’s general manager said “the Sports Development Foundation has historically supported the sport of golf and it goes more than just supporting the golf federation. We also have had a summer camp that we have supported in collaboration with Insports and we have had this camp for a number of years where we have students from the community around Caymanas Golf Course coming out to participate in the camp. We have sponsored a pro-am tournament a couple of years as well too so we see golf to be a very important sport among the sports in Jamaica. We think it’s an excellent sport and we wish them the best with this tournament.” 

    Aqua Bay Resort returns as presenting sponsor for the fifth consecutive year. The major sponsors include the TEF, Tryall, JTB, Jamaica Tours, Grand Palladium, SDF and Vybwear while the product sponsors are Wata, Juici Patties, Café Blue, Honey Bun and Rainforest.

     

     

  • Garth Laird celebrates resilience, camaraderie as Team Six top Sandals US Travel Advisors Golf tourney Garth Laird celebrates resilience, camaraderie as Team Six top Sandals US Travel Advisors Golf tourney

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    “This tournament itself goes beyond just a game of golf,” Laird shared passionately.

    He continued: “It's really about bringing advisors down. It's about reengaging with the product and what it has to offer, and if I can use three words, it's love, legacy, and learning. Love of the product, love of Jamaica, the legacy that Sandals offers to the greater audience of the travel agency community, and it's also about learning.

    “It was only one day of golf; we still got the educational component built into it. In the last few months we've also taken a bigger approach because when you add this number together, we've brought about a thousand people to the destination over the last eight weeks because there's so many things that are happening in Jamaica that people aren't aware of. So there's so many new things that's going on, and our responsibility is to educate the advisors so that they can educate their customers,” he added.

    Thought rain threatened to wash out the two-day event entirely, the clouds parted on the second day and the advisors got their swing on in the four-man scramble format, which ended with Team Six taking the title with a nine-hole score of 61 at the Sandals Golf and Country Club. They won ahead of Team 13 and Team Five, which ended with scores of 62 and 64, respectively.

    That team, captained by Jeremy Lee and included father and son duo David and Adam Anderson, as well as David Schutz, was particularly determined to clinch the top spot this year.

    After securing the championship in 2022 but narrowly missing out last year, they entered the tournament with renewed focus, and Lee said the win was the culmination of hard work and the camaraderie they’d built over the years of competing together.

    “I think in general, we all could have shot a little bit better, but the weather played into it. Thankfully, there was no thunder or lightning, and we ended up coming out okay. This is the same team we had last year, and two years ago we had one different player, but three of us have been together every year,” Lee, who is based in Alabama, said.

    “Just to get an invite to the tournament means a lot to me. This is my third year. Like I said, it's a huge deal. We're really competitive, but really we're here to have fun, learn more about Sandals and Beaches products, and learn to sell more. I sell destinations all over the world, but when people call me and ask what's my favourite place, I say Jamaica because the people are so genuine and nice,” he declared.

    Meanwhile, Welton Bowie and Donna Tanner won the men’s and women’s closest to the pin awards, while Schutz and Megan Sams won the respective longest drive awards.

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