Prominent black businessmen and former athletes from the United States have begun arriving on the Island for the inaugural Black Masters Golf Classic which tees off tomorrow at the St. George's Golf Club.

The tournament has been clouded in controversy because of its very name which suggests it is exclusive to blacks.

But, not so says Tony Moore, Director of Marketing at Events International, the Atlanta-based company which is working with the Bermuda Department of Tourism to organise and promote the event.

Moore says the aim of the event is to provide networking opportunities among black professionals by bringing together doctors, lawyers, CEOs, entrepreneurs and bankers. He sees it, also, as a way of uplifting the black community, though the intention was never to exclude whites from participating.

"I would hope some of the white Bermudians would choose to participate and, if they're good enough, win the tournament,'' said Moore yesterday.

The golf, which takes place over three days at St. George's, Port Royal and Castle Harbour courses, will be the main event, though there are also seminars on international trade, forums and an international matching service which will provide networking opportunities.

About 60 amateurs from the United States and Bermuda will compete in the tournament which begins with a shotgun start tomorrow at 8.30 a.m. Some of the prominent names include former football players Eddie Patton, Matt Blair and Greg Pruitt, former Atlanta Hawks All-Star Dan Roundfield, BET (Black Entertainment Television) leading sportscaster Charlie Neal, Director of Sports at BET Kirk Simmons and George and Pat Lottier, owners of the Atlanta Tribune newspaper. Klenton Sparks, a PGA professional, will be helping to run the tournament.

The local amateurs include Bill Pitt Jr, Dennis Samuels, Barry DeCouto, Dr.

Vincent John, Denton Outerbridge, Coolridge Benjamin, and Hugh Williams.

"There has not been an event of this nature that's been put together for blacks and we wanted to target the blacks because we feel like it's an untapped market,'' said Moore.

The event is similar to the recent Black enterprise/Pepsi Challenge Golf and Tennis Classic in Florida.

Aside from the golf there will also be a concert on Saturday night in Dockyard featuring top group the O'Jays, jazz musician Miles Jaye, local group Legacy and comedian Bootsie.

Despite criticism from some sectors, Moore sees the event as being positive for the black community.

"We've been down for so long, we've had all these negative things said about us -- we can't organise, we can't do that, we can't pool our resources, we don't support each other -- this is an opportunity to say `yes we can'.

"We're getting together, networking, exchanging ideas, business cards and hopefully we'll do business with each other and hopefully some positive things for the black community to counteract the negativity.'' Events International President Ted Sapp, who first took the idea to the Department of Tourism about a year ago, is pleased with the way the build-up to the tournament has gone, though disappointed about the controversy surrounding the name of the event.

"It's unfortunate that it's viewed that way,'' he said. "Our intent is not to be exclusive, we do have some whites who will be playing in the tournament.

"The intent of Events International is certainly not to be racists or separatists. Our focus was to increase tourism by targeting a specific market and that was the gist of it, nothing more, nothing less.'' TONY MOORE -- `I would hope some of the white Bermudians would choose to participate and, if they're good enough, win the tournament.'