Synonymous with golf, The Johnnie Walker whiskey brand has once again come to the fore and has partnered with the Jamaica Golf Association to stage the 59th Caribbean Amateur Golf Classics (CAGC) which tees off today.

Nasha Douglas, Brand Manager-Spirits & Wines at Red Stripe Diageo, said they are extremely happy to be on board with the Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships as it’s a natural progression with their long time support of the sport.

“We hosted our own tournament, the Johnnie Walker Learning for Life Golf Classic, and many of the players from the Jamaica team supported to raise funds for Learning for Life,” noted Douglas.

“For the CAGC week Johnnie Walker will do what we do best by providing hospitality services for the golfers and friends of golfers,” she added.

“We are proud sponsors of this golf event and we want to ensure that the Johnnie Walker brand connects with our consumers through golf and we believe that this is the perfect opportunity to make this connection,” said Douglas.

The Caribbean Amateur Golf Classics will be played at the Cinnamon Hill and Half Moon golf clubs and will bring together 150 of the best golfers from across seven Caribbean countries.

The tournament actually began on Monday with an opening ceremony at the Hilton Ballroom and will continue until Friday.

Jamaican golfers will be looking to end their long winless drought. “It has been a long time since Jamaica has been Caribbean champions and we are hopeful we can regain that status on home soil,” said Peter Chin, president of the Jamaica Golf Association.

This premier golfing event, which started in 1957, has grown from a competition between just Jamaica and Trinidad to a tournament that now includes seven other Caribbean countries — The Bahamas, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos and the US Virgin Islands.

— Howard Walker