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• Port Maria Hospital and Care for Kids Junior Golf to benefit from Sandals Golf and Jerk Festival

  The third staging of the Sandals Foundation Golf and Jerk Festival is expected to bring together over 100 of the island’s best golfers competing for Sandals and Beaches Resorts stays and an extraordinary two Hole-In-One bonus prizes of JMD$2million cash and a 2023 Kia Sportage.

  Set for the Sandals Upton Estate Golf and Country Club in St. Ann on Saturday, May 6, 2023, the event, which is a fundraiser for the philanthropic arm, will support the Port Maria Hospital and the continued development of the Care for Kids Junior Golf programme.

  “This festival reinforces our mandate to not only create opportunities for our young people to thrive through sports but it also connects them to a larger responsibility to give back to those in need,” says Heidi Clarke, Executive Director at the Sandals Foundation.

  “With proceeds this year going towards the purchase of security systems for the Port Maria Hospital, we are making a solid investment in ensuring our medical professionals, staff and patients are in a safe and secure environment.”

  The jerk competition will see 12 teams of two compete for a grand prize of $50,000 while the golf tournament will take on a four-person scramble with at least one junior player independently chosen or selected from the foundation’s Care for Kids Junior Golf Programme.

  “We are proud of our junior golfers who are learning great discipline through the sport and opening avenues to represent Jamaica on the international arena. We want to provide them and other young golfers a place at the table to showcase their skills and compete with the best of the best,” said Clarke.

  Already its organizers have accomplished an extraordinary feat pulling in two Hole-In-One prizes with United States based golf and utilities company, Tropicars offering over JMD$4 million cash with a 50/50 split towards the winner and the charities. The second Hole-In-One comes from ATL Automotive with the stunning 2023 Kia Sportage up for the take.

  A host of prestigious local partners has also joined the bill including Best Dressed Chicken, CPJ, Rainforest, Starbucks, Wisynco, and AC Hotels.

  Registration for Golf Teams is US$500 with a 10 per cent early bird discount up to April 16. Interested Jerk chefs can register at $10,000 per team.

   For more information, contact Johnny Newnham This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Natasha Burnett This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

• Olympics chief Bach labels politicians 'deplorable' over calls to deny Russian athletes right to compete

  Olympics chief Thomas Bach has attacked politicians pushing for Russian and Belarusian athletes to be prevented from returning to international sport, saying their attitude is "deplorable".

  International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Bach launched a tirade on Thursday at the "negative reactions" to plans to allow competitors from Russia and Belarus to compete in global sporting events as neutral individual athletes.

  There has been no final decision taken yet on whether those athletes can take part in next year's Olympics; however, there will be potential pathways for them to qualify for the Games, and it could yet mean there are Russians and Belarusians taking part in the Paris Games while war continues in Ukraine.

  Government figures in the UK, Germany and beyond have expressed opposition to such athletes being allowed to take part, although IOC guidance on Tuesday potentially opened that door.

  For those politicians there was a fierce rebuke from Bach.

  Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Bach said: "Today the IOC executive board discussed the reactions to our recommendations issued on Tuesday.

  "There we have taken note of some negative reactions by some European governments in particular. I can only reaffirm there what the Olympic movement and all the stakeholders have made very clear before: that it is deplorable to see some governments do not want to respect the majority within the Olympic movement and of all stakeholders, nor the autonomy of sport which they are praising and requesting from other countries in countless speeches, UN resolutions, EU declarations, and at every other opportunity.

  "It is deplorable that these governments do not address the question of double standards with which we have been confronted in our consultations.

  "We have not seen a single comment from them about their attitude towards the participation of athletes whose countries are involved in the other 70 wars and armed conflicts in the world.

  "It is even more deplorable that they grossly neglect the very clear statement of the two special rapporteurs from the UN human rights council. While in other issues they are always highlighting their firm request for the respect of human rights

  "Discussions and reactions from the Olympic movement are making it very clear, that these government interventions have strengthened the unity of the Olympic movement.

  "All stakeholders make it very clear again: it cannot be up to the governments to decide which athletes can participate in which competition. This would be the end of world sport as we know it today.

  "The Olympic movement stakeholders are very concerned about this politicisation of sport. They are very concerned about the attitude of these governments wanting to take over the participation and the decision of participation in sport events in their country or even in other countries."

  Bach pointed to a letter from the presidents of the five regional groupings on national Olympic committees, representing all 206 NOCs, in which he said it was stated that "international sports competitions welcome athletes from all countries".

  Asked why it was only athletes from Russia and Belarus that were being asked to compete as neutrals, rather than those from other conflicts and wars to which he referred, Bach said that was "because this was a blatant violation of the Olympic truce and happened between the Olympic Winter Games and the Paralympic Games".

  That was a reference to the timing of the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

  With regard to Germany and the UK, Bach said: "Both NOCs have made it very clear they do not boycott, and we will not punish athletes or an NOC for the position of their governments.

  "We will always make every effort not to punish athletes for misbehaviour of their national governments."

  Bach, who is German, said "a vast, vast majority of all stakeholders of the Olympic movement" supported the IOC putting in place conditions for the possible return to international competition of athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports.

  He added: "I can only reaffirm the entire Olympic movement strongly stands by its values and by its mission to unite the world in a peaceful competition."

• Reed and Watson expect no LIV Golf and PGA Tour animosity at Masters

  Former Masters champions Bubba Watson and Patrick Reed do not expect any issues when LIV Golf International Series and PGA Tour players meet at the famous Augusta major.

  Watson and Reed are among 17 LIV Golf stars set to feature at The Masters, with six of those rebel golfers automatically qualifying with a lifetime exemption after winning the tournament.

  Cameron Smith, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau are also part of the breakaway league but able to play due to winning a major in the last five years.

  Major competitions are the only place the two sets of golfers can feature after the PGA banned those who joined the Saudi-backed rebel series for record purses and 54-hole events.

  But Reed, speaking ahead of the LIV Golf League event at Orlando that starts on Friday, does not foresee any animosity when the two groups tee off at the Augusta National Golf Course on April 6.

  "It's one of those things, the media and the storylines are going to be obviously LIV versus PGA Tour and all that kind of stuff," 2018 Masters champion Reed said.

  "But really the majors, that's all the guys that come in, top players in the world are going and playing against each other, no matter where they come from.

  "It doesn't matter what tour they're on or anything; it's the top guys going and trying to play for one of the most coveted events in the world.

  "For us, at least for myself, it's going to be business as usual going out and playing. Would I like to have LIV be up at the top? Of course.

  "But really at the end of the day, it's all of us going in there and just trying to play the best golf we can and be ready for the four biggest weeks of the year."

  Watson, a two-time Masters victor, echoed Reed's sentiment as the American reiterated the only issues between players are coming from media speculation.

  "It's only awkward in the media," Watson said. "I've talked to people that are going to be there. I'm going to sign up with Jason Day and Cam Young in the par-three and some guys have already asked me to play some practice rounds.

  "The media is the only one that is pushing it. I have nothing against anybody. If you change jobs, I'm not mad at you."

  Koepka was another big-name superstar LIV managed to secure from the PGA and the four-time major winner says it would be a "big statement" for whoever wins in Georgia, regardless of allegiances.

  "Anytime you win the Masters, it's going to be a big boost off the golf course for you," Koepka said. "I don't care who you are. Look at anybody that's won it, I guarantee they would say the same thing.

  "I can't speak for what would happen because I don't know the future, but I'm assuming that would be a massive, massive boost for any team, player, individual, whatever, it doesn't matter what it is, it's going to be a big boost.

  "Anytime you win The Masters or The Open, that's usually a pretty big statement."