The best golfers in the Caribbean will descend upon The Bahamas next month for the highly anticipated 60th Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships (CAGC).

The Bahamas has a 10-member team that will compete in the event. Representing The Bahamas on the men's side are Team Captain Peter McIntosh; Vice Captain Horace Miller; National Amateur Champion DeVaughn Robinson who resides in Houston, Texas; Richard Gibson Jr.; Elijah Delancy, Steven Kemp; and alternates Paul Bowe of Freeport, Grand Bahama and George Swann and Simon Fielder of New Providence.

On the women's side, representing The Bahamas will be National Amateur Champion Inecia Rolle; former National Amateur Champion Sheridan Robinson, Taneka Sandiford, Marlique Hield and alternates Ashley Michel and Tynesha Tynes. This year, the championships feature a revised format, entertaining just two categories - the men's Hoerman Cup and the women's George Teale Cup.

President of the Bahamas Golf Federation (BGF) Glen Archer said golfers from Jamaica, Barbados, the Cayman Islands, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico will compete against the Bahamian golfers at the Ocean Club Golf Course on Paradise Island. Approximately 90 golfers will participate in the competition, July 24-30.

The event is expected to draw scores of regional golf enthusiasts and supporters.

"This event is being held in The Bahamas on a reduced competition format," Archer said. "In other words, it's an event to showcase the best of the best. This competition will be limited to regular golfers, the best of the best."

Archer said The Bahamas is hoping to put on a good showing and encouraged Bahamians to come out and support the team.

"Golf is a game of the mind. Golfers do better when they're comfortable and supported," Archer said. "I think we are going to do very well. We have a well-rounded team a good mixture of young and experienced players who have been in the tournament before."

Archer said the federation wants to see The Bahamas return to its "glory days" in the sport.

"The last time we won this event was back in year 2000," he said. "That's when it was held in Barbados. In the past we were really a dominant force when the competition included a category for aged men. We dominated that category.

"It's fair to say that our performance during those years was directly related to golf facilities that were available. We are now trying to revitalize that with the facility at the sports center. We expect that with the re-emergence of available facilities, The Bahamas will once again become a bigger force."

Archer said during the opening ceremony for the championship, Bahamian golfer Fred Higgs will be inducted into the Caribbean Golf Association (CGA) Hall of Fame. Additionally, Peter Hall and Ambrose Gouthro will be recognized by the CGA.

There will be no charge for entry to the championships, Archer said.

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