Bloomfield, Wi headline Lime Jamaica Open field

Elton Tucker, Assistant Editor - Sport

Three-time defending champion, Jamaica's Johnny Bloomfield, and United States-based South Korean, Charlie Wi, will headline a field of more than 90 golfers who will compete in the Lime Jamaica Open Golf tournament set for December 1-4, at the Half Moon Course in Montego Bay.

Bloomfield, 31, has been playing with some success on the Canadian tour this year and won the Open in 2006, 2008 and last year.

The 38 year-old Wi made his first entry on the Professional Golf Association (PGA) tour in 2005 and had a best result on the tour in 2008, when he finished ninth (tied in the PGA Championship, a major event in the United States. He was tied for 56th last year in the same tournament, but missed the cut this year.

The golfers will be competing for prize money totalling US$70,000 with the winner pocketing US$13,000, second US$7,000 and third US$5,000. The top nine finishers are guaranteed cash prizes.

Amateur golfers with a maximum handicap of 10 will also compete for attractive trophies and merchandise. In addition, the top performing senior professional will receive a special senior's purse.

President of the Jamaica Golf Association, Wayne Chai Chong, speaking at yesterday's press launch at the LIME head office on Carlton Cresent, St Andrew, said the Jamaica Open is a part of the country's rich sports history.

"The tournament started in 1953 at the Constant Spring Golf Course in St Andrew and has been played at Caymanas, Runaway Bay Course, Half Moon and the old Wyndham (now Cinnamon Hill)," Chai Chong said.

Major partners

The JGA president also lauded the major partners of this the 47th staging of the tournament - Half Moon Hotel and local tele-communications giant LIME.

"My friend Aram Zerunian, the managing director of Half Moon, approached me three years ago to revive the Jamaica Open. His challenge to the JGA was to bring it back to the level where it would attract name players to Jamaica and build our image as a golf destination. To this effort he committed the Half Moon golf facilities for three years and backed us up with his marketing and sales teams ....

"The Jamaica Open would not be possible without our other major partner, LIME, our title sponsor continues to demonstrate its firm belief in supporting sports ..." Chai Chong added.

LIME is supporting the tourna-ment for the second consecutive year and chairman, Chris Dehring, said his company was committed to help to promote Jamaica as the premier golf destination in the Caribbean.

"We understand that the benefits of sport to the nation are significant. It is for this reason that we continue to invest our resources in the building of the nation through sport," Dehring said.

Tournament director, David Mais, expects a competitive open on the very testing Half Moon course.

"I am looking forward to some very keen competition ... there are six or seven people that you can look at who are going to be shooting sub-par rounds and I hope that Bloomfield, our own Jamaican professional, will be in that mix," Mais said.

Mais who is also chairman of the Sports Development Foundation, added that the course at Half Moon has been redesigned and a number of sand bunkers added.

"We find that on the back nine there are some real challenges, with four or five holes that can cause a golfer to have some pretty big scores if they are not careful," the tournament director said.

The tournament will begin with a pro-am or practice day next week Wednesday, to be followed by three days of serious competition on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.