Goodwill Tournament celebrates 60 years

FRIDAY, AUGUST 31: What is the Bermuda Goodwill Tournament?  

It is the longest running Pro-Am in history, founded in 1953 by the Bermuda Golf Association to promote the island of Bermuda and bestow goodwill upon all who participate.  The Bermuda Goodwill takes place on Bermuda’s best courses, including Port Royal Golf Course, home to the PGA Grand Slam of Golf. 

The event features four days of competition, over four different courses and a maximum of 120 pro-am teams.  The 72-hole stroke play competition has teams comprised of one club professional and three amateur players with participants playing in both an individual pro and a team event.  

In 2009, a ladies division was also introduced. 

Past tournaments have brought teams to Bermuda from the United States, Canada, the UK and Europe.  The 2006 event hosted 115 teams from countries that included England, Spain, Italy, Canada and the United States. 

The popularity of the event stems from the reason that the tournament was formed in 1953; the opportunity to develop camaraderie, fellowship and the ability to meet and match abilities with fellow golf enthusiasts in one of the most beautiful settings in the world.

The tournament field is divided into four flights and teams play 18 holes each at Port Royal Golf Club, Riddell’s Bay Golf & Country Club, Mid Ocean Club and Tucker’s Point Club.

There will be many prizes, including daily team low gross and low net, longest drive and closest to the pin competitions.

Professionals will compete in a 72-hole Stableford tournament with a  professional purse in three sections: Men’s Junior Division, Men’s Senior Division (50+) and the Ladies Division.

Special

The event offers club professionals the opportunity to invite their members for a great week of golf and special events in Bermuda.

The Goodwill originally played at three courses, Riddell’s Bay, Belmont and Mid Ocean Club.  1972 was the first year in which the tournament played four courses — Belmont, Castle Harbour, Mid Ocean and Port Royal. 

Port Royal, Castle Harbour/Marriott/Tuckers Point and Belmont were each taken out of the rotation when their courses were redeveloped leaving MOC as the only course that has been played for every single tournament. 

The Bermuda Golf Association originally ran the tournament.

From 2001 until 2011 the tournament was run by To-A-Tee, but with Alex Madeiros taking the position of director of golf at Port Royal, the BGA are once again proud to be organizing and running the event for 2012, especially as it is the 60th anniversary.   

The event has been completely rebranded with a totally new “Bermuda” feel to all the marketing material. 

There is a new website www.goodwillbermuda.bm (all entry forms – hard copy and online as well as information is on it) as well as a Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/BermudaGoodwillGolfTournament, and Twitter @BermudaGoodwill. 

The tournament attracts up to an additional 600 visitors to the island during the first week of December. 

It is estimated over $2 million is spent in from the Goodwill in our “off season”

Discounts

We are offering local retail businesses, restaurants and bars the opportunity to join the ‘Bermuda Goodwill Circle’ - offering merchandise and/or services to our Goodwill participants and their spouses and partners as value added or discounts during the Bermuda Goodwill week. 

The BGA have been working very closely with the Bermuda Tourism locally and overseas in order to promote the event. Susie Kendell Marshall and Nicholas Mansell with assistance from Bermuda Department of Tourism have been able to drive interest in the event which will mean a minimum of 100 teams this year (we can take a maximum of 120) and plan to reach the maximum number of teams for 2013. 

The goal is to have a waiting list for this event and to return the celebrated competition to glory as one of Bermuda’s premier sporting attractions.

I have played in it over the years and have found it great fun, with just the one best score to count it means that you do not have to all play good golf all of the time.

The weather in Bermuda is normally very mild that time of year.

In fact, the Goodwill week is often the best week of the year for sales of shorts in our golf shop as visitors from the northeast don’t expect such nice weather!

Paul Adams is the PGA director of Golf at Rosewood Tucker’s Point.