Tryall course is expected to be ready for the 57th JGA Open

THE 57th Jamaica Golf Association Open gets underway today with a pro-am before Sunday’s start of the 54-hole championship.

Despite two major storms hitting the island in recent months, including a tropical storm earlier this week, Tryall director of golf Ewan Peebles expects the course to provide players with a challenge.

After the passage of Hurricane Beryl in early July and Tropical Storm Rafael, which brought inches of rain to the course earlier this week, Peebles said they have been working on the course for months and it will be ready.

American Andrew Arft will attempt to defend his title on Sunday when the three-day championship gets underway. Five of last year’s top 10 finishers are also in the 70-man field.

Just like in 2021, when bad weather caused the course — which was upgraded at a cost of more than $4 million in 2019 — to flood, Peebles said they would be ready.

“With experience comes knowledge, right,” Peebles told the newspaper Jamaican observer Friday at a media briefing at the Tryall Club to announce the event. “We are refining our maintenance techniques to try to become more effective and efficient as the days, weeks and years pass.”

Despite a light drizzle during the media event, Peebles said good weather was forecast. “The sun is shining now, so it’s drying out quite a bit. I expect the golf course to be in great shape on Sunday morning.”

Peebles said an inspection of the course with the officials took place earlier on Friday.

“It looks really beautiful,” he said. “Not only did we have this week’s tropical storm, but the boys also spent months cleaning up after the hurricane that came through here on July 3. I think it’s quite remarkable what the team has done here. The golf course is looking good and I know another great champion will be identified this week. This is a golf course that tends to separate the best golfers quite quickly and that is expected to happen again this week.”