Source: http://www.journalcr.com
Posted by Roger Vlasos
Broker/Owner
Century21 At the Beach
Playas del Coco, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Website: http://www.century21incostarica.com
Email: roger@century21incostarica.com
(Infocom) — Everything is ready for Costa Rica to re-immerse itself in the world of professional international golf, thanks to the Costa Rica Masters 2008, which will be held in Guanacaste’s Reserva Conchal Golf Club next Dec. 11-14.
The tournament was officially announced by Tour de las Americas (TLA) and the Canadian Tour, as part of a partnership between the two tours that will alos include tournaments in Chile and Argentina later this year.
In addition to being the first joint competition between TLA (the men’s professional golf tour for Latin America) and the Canadian Tour, the Costa Rica Masters will mark a new era in the country’s golf scene. With a purse of $125,000, the event will be the first at this level ever to be held in Guanacaste, which is now home to many high-quality courses that have made Costa Rica famous as a premiere golf destination.
Both TLA and the Canadian Tour, which are associate members of the International Federation of PGA Tours, published press releases last week making official the tree-country tours they will hold together.
The announcement comes at a time when golf has become an important source of foreign currency, employment and hotel occupancy for Costa Rica, which welcomes 34,000 tourists every year who come here exclusively to play golf.
Golf tourism is generating approximately $87.6 million annually in food, lodging and recreation expenses, in addition to sales of sporting equipment. Most golfers who come to Costa Rica are individuals of high purchasing power who take advantage of playing the game to do business with colleagues and new clients.
In a release issued by both tours, the director of the Costa Rica Masters, Ricardo Valdivieso, said: “We are very pleased for being able to make the new Costa Rica Masters a reality, as this tournament will proudly put the country back in the international golf scene.” He added that the tournament is proud to taking high-level professional golf for the first time to the province of Guanacaste, where golf and tourism development are growing by leaps and bounds.
“We thank Tour de las Americas and the Canadian Tour for their support, as well as Reserva Conchal Golf Club, which opened the doors of its spectacular course designed by the famous Robert Trent Jones II,” Valdivieso said.
The other two tournaments of the joint tour will be held Nov. 27-30 in Chile (50th Anniversary of the Sports Frances Open) and Dec. 4-7 in Argentina (Torneo de Maestros at Olivos Golf Club). Costa Rica will be the last leg of the trio. The tournaments will combine for a grand total of $435,000 in prize money.
The great business potential of golf and Costa Rica’s reputation as an exotic destination have contributed to the emergence in the past few years of new courses designed by internationally recognized golf stars, including Robert Trent Jones II, Greg Norman, Arnold Palmer and Mike Young.
The number of golf courses is expected to climb in Costa Rica in the short term, as at least six new projects are underway, several of them in Guanacaste.
