BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE St. Kitts Tourism Authority used the 7th Annual Pro-Am golf tournament to teach more than two dozen youngsters the art and techniques associated with the game at a one-day junior clinic.
With the official tournament teeing off yesterday (Feb. 6) morning at the Royal St. Kitts Golf Course in Frigate Bay, several professionals competing in that tournament took to the course on Sunday afternoon to hold a junior clinic with interested students.
According to the St. Kitts Tourism Authority’s Marketing Officer in Canada, Jack Widdowson, they used it as an opportunity to ensure that the golfing programming within St. Kitts continues to grow.
He explained that there was no better opportunity to host such a programme than when there are visiting professionals on hand to impart their knowledge and skills to the young people of the Federation.
“I was a junior back in the day and I would have loved to, and appreciate having an event such as this. So we are hoping to put together more and more events like this in the future…”
With the SKTA doing more promotional work on the international arena, Widdowson noted that golf is being used as one of the tools to market St. Kitts as one of the top tourist destinations.
This comes as Saju N’ Gala, SKTA’s Media Relations Manager told reporters at the recently held Z Adventure’s Marathon that St. Kitts is positioning itself as one of the top destinations for sports tourism.
The Canadian SKTA official reminded that there are two championship standard golf courses on the island and more emerging, adding that it is an important feature for the entire Federation.
He noted that St. Kitts is being positioned to attract top golfers, pointing to Canada which is one of the billion-dollar markets for the sport.
“In terms of golf, it is very important for us. In Canada, golf represents a 20 billion market and we want to bring as many golfers from there to St. Kitts. And we are an emerging market globally.”
Over 130 golfers from Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom are on the islands for the four-day tournament and would be competing for the spoils on offer.
The tournament is being played simultaneously in St. Kitts and on Nevis at the Four Season Resort Golf Course.
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