Atlantis is hoping to score a hole-in-one this month.
Golf enthusiasts are gearing up for what promises to be a fantastic start to the 2014 LPGA season with the hosting of the second annual Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic at the Tom Weiskopf-designed Ocean Club Golf Course, January 20- 26.
Serving as the LPGA’s season opener, the tournament comes in advance of the Tour’s traditional February Asia-Pacific Swing and according to Atlantis President & Managing Director, George Markantonis, it could prove to be a profitable endeavour for not only the month of January at the mega-resort property, but for months down the line as well.
“The tournament this year is going to bring to us 1,607 room nights. That’s what they booked. But, here’s what’s particularly significant about it in the January timeframe – it is the LPGA’s first tournament of the year and will be carried on both tape-delay and live national TV in the United States,” he said.
“January already tends to be a spectacular booking month for us for future months of the year and the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic gives us a unique opportunity to be inside all the U.S. households that are interested in golf in a month where we would typically see a large amount of people making travel decisions for the Spring and Summer.”
Over the course of tournament week, which begins Monday, January 20, several activities will be held that will give Atlantis, Paradise Island and The Bahamas “tremendous” publicity opportunities.
Among them charity events, golf clinics for scores of local kiddies and scheduled excursions to Exuma, Grand Bahama and Abaco for a swim with pigs, kayaking and ferry rides where footage from those trips will be incorporated into Golf Channel’s broadcast once the competition officially gets underway on January 23.
Golf Channel will feature four-day live coverage of the 72-hole, $1.3 million tournament being sponsored by Pure Silk and the Bahamas Government.
Some 150 of the world’s top female golfers are expected to participate in the event, which follows the highly successful inaugural tournament held in May 2013 over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, despite severe weather challenges.
The second annual Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic also kicks off events scheduled on The Bahamas’ Sports Tourism calendar.
The government, over the past few years, has been aggressively working toward expanding on what officials say could be a very profitable niche for the country for years to come.
Sports Minister Dr. Danny Johnson recently noted, “Before we had three S’s. They were sun, sand and sea. Now we are adding one more, which is sports. We want to be a destination for sports tourism and a destination for hosting the greatest events in the world.”
