New golf course would be a game-changer for Cayman

The Cayman Islands should consider investing in a new public golf course to take the sport to the next level and cash in on high-spending tourists, according to a senior sports official.

Mark Lawrie, the R&A director for Latin America and the Caribbean, visited the island earlier this month to meet with local sports administrators.

He said he was pleased to see golf taking off in Cayman, spearheaded by the exploits of Aaron Jarvis, who made the cut at the UK’s Open Championship last year.

And, he believes, the island could cash in on the surge in popularity of the sport – both locally and across the globe – by investing in another course.

“It would be fantastic for the island and for tourism to have another course,” he said, highlighting Bermuda’s PGA level Port Royal course as an example of a first-class public facility.

“I think the allure of a golf course brings a different kind of tourism,” he said.

“Those tourists spend a lot more money. In the longer term I am sure that the investment would pay off but you have to ensure that locals can get on it and play.”

Cayman currently only has one 18-hole course, the North Sound Golf Club.

At one point there were discussions of a privately funded Arnold Palmer golf resort in the eastern districts but those plans never materialised.

The Dart group acquired the old Britannia course in 2016 and could yet develop something there, but no plans have been announced for the site, which has been locked in a lands dispute since the purchase.

Lawrie believes a government-owned-and-funded course would reap long-term financial rewards for Cayman and would also be great for the sport.

“North Sound is a great course but just having one course does limit you a bit.

“Golf really grew in popularity during COVID and that has been maintained since then, both in Cayman and elsewhere, so I think there is demand for another course.”

He said investing in coaching education – including training female coaches to help grow women’s golf – is another key to growing participation across the region.

Lawrie added that studies showed that girls’ development in the sport rockets when they are coached by women.

Jarvis an ‘inspiration’ across the region

Part of his remit is to grow the game across the region. He believes Cayman, with its increasing population and affluent business-centred community, could be a prime area for golf.

But he insisted the sport is no longer the preserve of the ‘elite’.

He said public courses and government-backed programmes to make courses accessible, helped fuel an expansion of the sport in other areas. And he believes Cayman can make, and is making, the sport accessible to young people who want to play.

One of the biggest incentives for young golfers who want to turn professional is the chance to follow in the footsteps of Cayman’s Aaron Jarvis and use the Latin America Amateur Championship as a passport to the big time.

Jarvis said the R&A had created that tournament in 2015, offering the carrot of entry to the US Masters and British Open. The US Open has now been added.

Despite being a patriotic Argentinian, Lawrie said he had been happy to see Cayman’s Jarvis win that tournament in 2022.

“I was rooting for Aaron because I know that Aaron Jarvis winning that tournament was going to have such a significant impact for all the small countries in the region.

“Aaron Jarvis has proved that if you put the work in you can grab that opportunity and change your life.

“Every kid in every island across the region is going to look at that and think, ‘I can do it too’.”