Melissa fails to stop Jamaica Golf Tournament

Undeterred by last October’s Hurricane Melissa, which had derailed their historic golf tournament dubbed the ‘Jamaica’, a dozen Argentine female golfers flew into the island last Wednesday to fulfil their ‘dream’ of playing at the Sandals Upton Golf and Country Club in St Mary.

A spin-off of the annual Sandals Latin American Travel Advisors Golf Tournament, the Jamaica Tournament, an Argentine all-female showdown, was originally scheduled for November 21-26 before Hurricane Melissa huffed, puffed and blew the match off-course.

However, determined to reward Sandra Azar, overall winner of five qualifiers hosted last year at Buenos Aires’ San Jorge Golf Club with an all-expense-paid trip to Sandals, in addition to the other competitors travelling as paying guests, conceptualiser Mariana De Pina of Good 4 U Travel Agency rescheduled for four days, starting last Wednesday.

“Originally, we should have had 20 women, November 21-26, but Hurricane Melissa happened. Some were still not able to come, but we have 12 players, which is still good. We will call the next one (November 2026) the first Jamaica Latin American Women’s Tournament, inviting other countries such as Brazil, Puerto Rico and others,” said De Pina, who was convinced to stage the Jamaica after participating in last September’s 11th Latin American Travel Advisors Golf Tournament.

“I really wish to thank Betzabeth Flores, Sandals’ business development manager for Argentina,” De Pina said, pointing out that Jamaica became a must after her experience last September.

“After experiencing the Latin American Travel Advisors’ Golf Tournament and the warmth of the people in Jamaica, I really fell in love with the people. It’s because of the people why we are here. Sandals’ hospitality is excellent, but the people are always smiling and helpful.

“On the golf course, the caddies are always ready to tell us exactly how and where to hit the ball. For golfers, especially women, that is something we really value,” De Pina explained.

Sandals has hosted travel advisers’ tournaments for almost three decades, at which its industry partners are invited to personally experience the Jamaican brand and the island’s uniqueness of also being a golfing destination — the oldest being the Baxter Media Canadian Travel Advisors Golf Tournament, which had its 28th staging last year at Sandals Upton Golf and Country Club, an 18-hole, par-72 course.

De Pina already has her heart set on this year’s Latin American Golf Tournament and staging the first Jamaica All-Female Latin American.

“Our tournaments in Argentina start in March and end in October, so we chose November for Jamaica,” she pointed out, thanking San Jorge Golf Club’s captain, Maria Marta Iglesias Paz, as well as Maria Mercedes Valdez Diez as being pivotal in making the ‘Jamaica’ a reality after Melissa.