There will be much more than pride at stake for Bermuda’s golfers at next month’s Bacardi National Par 3 Championship at Turtle Hill Golf Club.

The 36-hole national championship, to be held on January 18 and 19, will serve as a qualifier for the Grey Goose World Par 3 Championship to be held at the same venue in March.

The top ten men and women finishers in the professional, amateur and senior divisions will advance to March’s main event where they will get the opportunity to play against overseas players.

“I want Bermudians to qualify for the event [Grey Goose World Par 3 Championships] so they can show these international visitors how great golf is in Bermuda,” said Anthony Mocklow, the Turtle Hill director of golf.

“We now have another top flight tournament to add to our schedule and now all we need are golfers in Bermuda to embrace it. Golfers at all levels should take a shot at this because it is not every day you get to qualify for a world championship.

“We have a brand new tournament on the schedule for all Bermudians to play that a sponsor in a recession economy thinks that much of what we are doing that they are willing to sponsor another event. Bacardi are an incredible sponsor and we have a tournament in Bermuda that has such a high demand from the world of golf that we have to have a qualifier in Bermuda.”

The Grey Goose World Par 3 Championship will feature as many as 100 overseas players heralding from four continents. “We have people coming in March for the tournament from all over the world and my dream is to get it to 30 countries to get as many international people coming to Bermuda to play golf as possible,” Mocklow said.

In addition to earning a national title and qualification to the Grey Goose World Par 3 Championship, the eventual winner in the men’s senior division will receive the Lionel Pengelly Memorial Trophy honouring the legacy of the late Turtle Hill member.

Last month, Grey Goose vodka and the PGA Tour announced a marketing relationship designating Grey Goose as the Tour’s “Official Spirit” for the next three years.

“Now we have a world championship in Bermuda that has a sponsor that thinks enough of golf to put a value on this event at the same time they signed a deal with the PGA Tour in America,” Mocklow said.

“That to me is a massive indication and vote of confidence for golf tourism in Bermuda and there is not another event in Bermuda with a world class sponsor — and I am talking a global brand here.”