AMATEURS?WILL tee-off today with professionals at the Apes Hill Club in a new pro-am tournament which signals the start of the United Insurance Barbados Golf Open.
The pro-am tournament, which gets going with a midday shot-gun start, is one of the new elements introduced this year for the 30th edition.
Professionals from Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, St Kitts and England are teaming up with amateurs for the pro-am tournament and will then continue rivalry among themselves over another three days, also at Apes Hill.
Among the professionals registered for the pro-am, as well as the 54-hole pro-competition, are Mike Marshall, Sean Edey, Roger Beale and Franklyn Stephenson (Barbados); Jesse Jattan and Chris Richards (Trinidad); Chris Macmillan and Fitzroy Collins (Tobago); Adrian Norford (St Kitts); and Andrew Linch and Alex Sandeman (England).
Hosted at Apes Hill, opened in 2009 as one of the newest high-end golf courses in the Caribbean, the pro-am is generating excitement among the amateurs who are certain to enjoy the opportunity of playing alongside more accomplished players with zero handicaps.
Apes Hill enjoys a prime location at almost 1 000 feet above sea level in the centre of the island and director of golf Ben Hatch said a course of the highest quality was awaiting all players.
“Apes Hill is designed and built to a higher standard and will offer an enjoyable challenge. Our experience is unbeatable in Barbados and we try every day to improve on what we do,” Hatch said.
In the pro-am, each professional will accompany three amateur partners and they will compete as a best-ball foursome, with the amateurs using their handicaps.
Using this format, birdies are commonplace and the team score is normally competitive. In some other events, the teams use a scramble format, selecting the best drive, best second shot, and best putt.
After on-course lessons from the pros, amateur players will contest their traditional three-day tournament, which has come to be regarded as the national championships of local golf.
These championships tee-off tomorrow at the Barbados Golf Club and will be played this year on three different courses for the first time in their history.
Competition continues on Saturday at The Country Club at Sandy Lane and then Royal Westmoreland on Sunday.