Jarryd Dillas has withdrawn from the Butterfield Bermuda APGA Championship, which begins at Port Royal Golf Course this morning.

The top local amateur was forced to make the difficult decision to pull the plug on his participation as a result of a scheduling conflict with other important commitments.

“I decided to give the APGA event a miss this week due to family and work commitments,” Dillas told The Royal Gazette.

“I had a good showing at the Gosling’s Invitational last month, so I feel like my game is in decent shape right now, but unfortunately the timing just didn’t work for me.

“From a golf perspective, it’s obviously disappointing as I had to miss the Central American and Caribbean Games earlier this summer as well.

“The reality is my priorities are different now and I’m no longer in a position to play in every tournament that comes along.”

Taking the player’s place in the 36-hole tournament is Arriek Douglas, who will now carry the island’s hopes along with fellow professionals Chaka DeSilva and Nick Jones.

Dillas, DeSilva and Jones qualified for the second instalment of the event after securing one of the three available spots up for grabs in the Bermuda Championship Local Qualifier at Port Royal in October.

“I’m excited to cheer the local guys on over the next two days,” Dillas added.

“The APGA event is another opportunity for international competition, which can only benefit the local game. The more our players tee it up in events like this, the more comfortable we all become in shooting lower scores under tournament conditions and against better opposition.”

DeSilva is looking forward to his tournament debut and hopes to capitalise on the improvements he has made to his game recently.

“I am feeling good,” DeSilva said. “I hit it really well in the qualifier, so if I can just hit it like that then I will feel pretty comfortable about my ability to get it around Port Royal in a decent number..

“I have been working on a few things since the qualifier and I feel pretty good about it, so I am going to go out there and give it a good shot.

“I don't know any of the guys I will be playing against, but I do know that the APGA Tour has a great number of world-class golfers.

“I am excited to tee it up this week and see where my game stacks up. Local knowledge does help, but at the end of the day the cup is the same size wherever you go.”

Jones is equally as excited to be competing at this level for the first time.

“I’m eagerly anticipating tomorrow and my game is shaping up well,” he said. “Although the event delay initially disappointed me, it's granted me extra prep time.

“It marks my debut on the APGA, and I’m excited to challenge myself in this highly competitive setting.

“The greens are rolling great and the course conditions are in my favour.”

Jones has added incentive as he hopes a good showing can lead to more appearances on the tour.

“I hope that I can bring my best foot forward so the tour will invite me to play in other events,” he added.

The championship was originally scheduled to be held in October but was postponed as a result of bad weather associated with Hurricane Tammy.

Willie Mack III beat fellow Americans Joseph Hooks and Marcus Byrd in a three-way play-off for the title last year in the inaugural APGA Championship at Port Royal, which also featured local foursome Damian Palanyandi, Oliver Betschart, Camiko Smith and Cory DeSilva.