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GOLF ace Colin Montgomerie is showing his belief in the kingdom by backing plans for a celebrity tournament which organisers hope to stage the week before the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.
The event is likely to take place at the Royal Golf Club in April to help tee-off the celebrations across the island for the return of the F1 after last year’s cancellation caused by the unrest.
Another sporting victim was the proposed Volvo Golf Champions tournament which was due to open the European Tour in January but was moved to a venue in South Africa. Organisers of the annual event are said to be ‘seriously considering’ bringing it back to Bahrain for 2013 if the Grand Prix is successfully staged and Monty’s warm-up event receives a positive response.
A source close to the star golfer said: “Monty has never given up on the people of Bahrain and sincerely wants the course he designed to be a global attraction.”
The Royal Golf Club’s hosting of Bahrain’s first European Tour event in January 2011 was considered an enormous success with the course, club house and employees receiving many accolades from organisers, sponsors and players alike.
The BD143,000 Volvo Golf Champions first-prize and trophy was won by England’s Paul Casey with the very last shot of the competition, outduelling his playing partner, Swede Peter Hanson, by a single stroke in what was a nail-biting finish.
After the 2012 tour blow, Volvo, IMG and the European Tour said Bahrain would be included on a roster of venues for future events.
Monty starred in a similar celebrity tournament to mark the course’s completion in 2008. A three-day festival of golf brought together some of the world’s top golfers with other iconic stars from the sporting world.
The Scottish former captain of Europe’s winning Ryder Cup team was joined from the pro-golfer ranks by South African two-time US Open Champion winner Retief Goosen, another previous US Open winner, Kiwi Michael Campbell and Colombian star Camilo Villegas.
