Sandy Lane Resort to Serve as Host Venue
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL, USA– The International Federation of PGA Tours has announced that the Caribbean Island of Barbados will host the 2006 World Golf Championships-World Cup. The Country Club Course at the Sandy Lane Resort in St. James, Barbados will serve as the host competitive venue for this global championship.
A total of 24 nations, including the host country, will participate in this prestigious event, which will be known as the World Golf Championships-Barbados World Cup, from December 4-10, 2006, with a minimum purse of US$4,000,000.
This will be the first time a World Golf Championships event, including the historic World Cup, has been played in Barbados, and only the third time it has been held in the Caribbean. Puerto Rico was the host of the 1961 and 1994 World Cups.
"We are pleased to announce that Barbados will be the host of the 2006 World Cup," said PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem on behalf of the International Federation of PGA Tours. "The World Cup has a tradition of visiting some of the world’s great golf venues in exotic locations.
"Next year’s event will continue that tradition by going to one of the world’s most attractive destinations at one of the best courses in all of the Caribbean."
Sandy Lane’s Country Club Course is one of three golf courses at the Sandy Lane Resort. Along with the recently opened Green Monkey and historic Old Nine Golf Club, the Tom Fazio-designed Sandy Lane Country Club is a 7,060-yard, par-72 layout that opened in 2001.
Barbados also has two other existing championship golf courses–Royal Westmoreland designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and the Barbados Golf Club designed by Ron Kirby–as well as one additional nine-hole track at Rockley on the south coast. Two new championship courses will commence construction in 2006.
"Barbados is a world-class destination. The hosting of the Barbados World Cup in 2006 followed by the World Cup of Cricket in 2007 will enable us to globally showcase our beautiful island and firmly establish Barbados as the Caribbean’s leading country for sports, active and lifestyle tourism," said the Honourable Noel Lynch, M.P., Minister of Tourism and International Transport. "The Five Diamond Sandy Lane Resort has set new standards for excellence in the Caribbean and we look forward to welcoming the best players from all over the world and their supporters to experience our great golf courses and famous Bajan hospitality."
Commenting on the 2006 Barbados World Cup, Dermot Desmond, principal owner of Sandy Lane, said, "All of us at Sandy Lane are honored that the World Cup will be played here next year, and I am confident that everyone at Sandy Lane and in Barbados will do their utmost to make this the best World Cup ever."
The Barbados World Cup, which will be sponsored by the Barbados Tourism Authority, will be broadcast to more than 140 nations, including ESPN and ABC in the United States and on Sky Sports in the UK & Ireland.
The World Cup of Golf became the fourth event of the World Golf Championships in 2000 when the International Federation of PGA Tours entered into an agreement with the International Golf Association, the organization which operated the World Cup beginning in 1953.
The United States has won a record 23 World Cups with David Duval and Tiger Woods winning at Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2000 when first the World Cup was played as a World Golf Championships event.
This year, the World Golf Championships-Algarve World Cup in Portugal was played at the Victoria Club de Golfe-Vilamoura in the Algarve region of Portugal. The team of Stephen Dodd and Bradley Dredge led Wales to their second title in the event.
The other World Golf Championships include the Accenture Match Play Championship, American Express Championship and Bridgestone Invitational. For more information, please visit www.worldgolfchampionships.com
Contact:
James Cramer
Director, Public Relations, PGA TOUR
Phone: 904-273-3293
Fax: 904-273-3582
E-mail: jcramer@pgatourhq.com
Melanie Brandman
The Brandman Agency
Phone: 212-683-2442
Fax: 212-683-2022
E-mail: Melanie@brandmanpr.com
