The Sandals-sponsored annual Jamaica National Amateur Golf Championship will, for the first time, be hosted at the Sandals Golf and Country Club, in Ocho Rios.

This year’s staging of the premier event on the Jamaica Golf Association (JGA) calendar is the first outside of the Corporate Area.

The highly anticipated three-day competition, scheduled for the weekend of May 21-24, was launched at the picturesque Sandals Golf and Country Club yesterday.

The championship will give competitors a significant platform to build on ahead of the national trials in June, where they will vie for a spot on the team for the Hoerman Cup and George Teale competition to be staged in The Bahamas in August.

A number of the country’s top male and female, junior and super seniors, locally and in the diaspora, are set to be on show. Sean Morris out of Montego Bay is expected to lead the field of male participants, along with Caribbean champion Jonathan Newham. Last year’s Junior Caribbean Champion Romaine Evans, from the Sandals Academy, will headline his category.

Peter Chin, president of the JGA, said the shift in venue will enable more golfers from the north coast to participate.

“We have never taken it out of Kingston and this golf course is in superb condition. A lot of golfers believe this is a good venue and it will make it much easier for golfers from Montego Bay and Ocho Rios to enter the championships,” Chin told the Jamaica Observer at yesterday’s launch.

“[In] most sports, and golf is no different, if you don’t have sponsors it can’t happen, and I’m very happy that Sandals has embraced the title sponsorship this year,” he added.

Brian Roper, general manager of Beaches Ocho Rios, is promising three days of warm hospitality.

“I am thrilled that the JGA has taken the bold move to take this championship here. We are so excited to be involved this year. It is a one of a kind, three-day event, and it brings out the best ladies and gentlemen in Jamaican golf and we are confident that the JGA has found a home for their National Championships,” Roper noted.

“Sandals is particularly pleased to again be involved in Jamaican golf and sponsoring this event. We are promising a whole heap of hospitality, a fantastic facility; and our golfers will remember not only the golf course, but the after golf as well,” he added.

The Jamaica Observer, ATL Autobahn and Beaches Resorts are also sponsors of the event.