Bermuda Amateur Match Play champion Jarryd Dillas will miss next week’s Bermuda Open as it clashes with the Azalea Invitational in Charleston, South Carolina.Dillas, who won the Match Play for a record fourth straight year last weekend, will travel to play in the Azalea Invitational (March 21-24), one of the top amateur tournaments in the United States.“It’s a good event, strong field and a lot of collegiate guys and in the past few years that I’ve gone Tony Romo, the quarterback for the Cowboys had played in it, he likes his golf,” said Dillas.“I’ve been fortunate to be invited back there so I’m going to go and hopefully give it a showing, I’ve played the last three years. I’ve always scored okay but I haven’t actually made the cut in the three years I’ve been so I need to make the cut this year at the very least. It’s a fantastically strong field. Events like that are goods building blocks for me and for Bermuda golf so that we know where we are compared with the rest of the world, especially the US, our neighbours.”Last year’s tournament was won by South Carolina resident Matthew Nesmith as Dillas shot 80, 76 and 72 to miss the cut. The field included Nathan Smith who just prior won his third USGA Mid Amateur Championship and participated in The Masters in April.As well as missing the Bermuda Open, Dillas will also miss the Par 3 Tournament at Fairmont Southampton. “I’ll play the Stroke Play in June and I may play the Mixed Tournament but hopefully I’ll be selected to represent Bermuda in the Island Games in July,” he said.The field for last week’s Match Play wasn’t as strong as Dillas would have liked and he thinks some changes may be needed to make the event more competitive.“I’m on the BGA board and the event has been held in March for as long as I can remember, but participation numbers are down and part of that is to do with the poor weather that we traditionally get for the event,” he stated.“Mid Ocean have been great hosts for as long as I can remember but steadily over the years the numbers have been going down and in the last two years we have struggled to get one flight of 16 in the championships, whereas when I was a junior you had 40 to 50 guys coming out to play so the level right through the field was a lot higher back then.”The four-time champion added: “Taking nothing away from this field but as a competitor you always to beat the best and the more good players who come down the better it is for the event and the better for Bermuda golf. At the end of the day that’s what we’re trying to do, grow the sport. It was nice to see Cory DeSilva, one of our juniors, come out to play and we want to see more juniors playing and want to attract more players from overseas and locals as well.“Maybe it’s tough in the middle of the week, taking so many days off work, especially to battle weather like this. Maybe we can look at a few things to try to improve the event for years to come.“The reality is that any proposed format or date changes would have to be discussed and agreed with Mid Ocean Club first. They have been a very gracious host to the BGA and the Match Play tournament since its inception, and I think everyone involved wants to see that relationship continue on for many years to come.”Meanwhile, the deadline for entries to next week’s Bermuda Open has been extended to today. “We have received a large number of enquiries from people stating that they would like to enter the Bermuda Open, but we have not received their entries, therefore we will be extending the deadline to close of business on Wednesday,” said a BGA spokesperson.The tournament will run from March 18-21 at Port Royal, having been brought forward from a June date last year when Daniel Augustus won the rain-shortened championship for the first time. The weather forced the cancellation of two days’ play as the tournament was reduced to a 36-hole event.