International consultants IMG Tourism have given a range of alternatives to the Minister of Tourism, but it is understood that the task of bringing Port Royal up to international standard may require that all or part of the course be closed for some time.

The consultant, Irish golf tourism expert Roddy Carr, advised that the provision of an adequate water supply is the most critical element to be faced by Government in its attempt to turn Port Royal into a first-class golf course. The report covers Port Royal, Ocean View and St. George's golf courses.

"I was employed by the Ministry of Tourism to write a strategic plan for the further development of the golf tourism product in Bermuda," said Mr. Carr. "I prepared a report for the Ministry, which was presented to them, and is currently under review.

"The recommendations we made are being decided on as we speak. I think there was basic agreement with the recommendations that were made. It is just a question of the best timing for (implementation). There are two elements here, marketing and the golf courses.

"To undertake any serious degree of upgrade work, of course, they would have to be closed. They might not have to be closed at the same time. You can do it three holes at a time, or nine holes, or the whole 18 ? there's lots of options in terms of how you do it.

"The fundamental problem is the water, which is something that needs to be rectified, the availability of water to the golf courses, which does not entail closing the courses. There needs to be water put in place at the different courses, which is a fundamental requirement for quality and condition.

"It is not for me to say at this time. I have made recommendations to government which they are currently debating, and deciding which is the way forward.

"It is the Ministry of Tourism's decision as to what they want to do. I am just waiting for instructions as to how they want to proceed, if they want to proceed.

"Putting in a desalination plant and building some lakes is not rocket science. It is a simple situation, that you cannot have top-quality golf courses without water. The courses suffered badly last summer because of the drought.

"Nowadays, that's unacceptable. There's water available from the sea. You can dig a lake in six weeks, the physical building of a four-million-gallon lake is not difficult. You can do water or lakes any time, but if they decided on re-seeding, that has to be done between May and September, the growing season. There are different elements to the recommendations. If nothing happened except water being put in, the courses would improve by, say, 80 per cent in the summer.

"(Bermuda) has some fantastic product. Mid Ocean, Tucker's Point and Belmont have all been upgraded. These courses have been re-done and are absolutely fine compared to any level of product."

Mr. Carr heads up IMG Tourism and is a golf tourism specialist who has worked for the Irish, Spanish and Barbadian governments, helping them to market golf tourism.

Minister of Tourism Ren?e Webb explained that Government understands the importance of maintaining Bermuda as a leading golf destination.

"We were looking at a holistic approach in terms of how we were going to address the golf courses from a marketing standpoint. IMG is a company that is very well-known in this area of sports and sports management.

"Because we are trying to market Bermuda as a golf destination, the report speaks to what it is government needs to do in getting some of our golf courses to be signature golf courses. So, with respect to Port Royal, for example, it is one of the best courses in Bermuda, but it does need some work if we are going to get on the golf circuit, attracting some of the major golf tournaments to Bermuda.

"The report covers how the golf courses are going to be marketed, and improving the courses, all of which were rated. For example, St. George's was given three out of ten.

" The report recommended that Port Royal needed to get a water system in place, so we are looking to get an irrigation system in Port Royal, as well as planting. There is a possibility of a close-down at some point while that is taking place, but it does not mean the whole course.

"Clearly, you can do nine holes at one time, and nine at another. The decision has not been made to close it, but the report did recommend that we might need to close down the course in terms of getting planting. But no decision was made on that.

"The ideal scenario would have been that all the planting take place now, and then re-open the golf course at the end of the season, but that does not look like it can be a reality, because tournaments have been booked there.

"So, the window of opportunity for doing that, in our view, has been lost. So, it might have to go to 2005, unfortunately. We have the option of doing it piecemeal or just shutting it down and getting it done.

"Works & Engineering are actually responsible for the golf courses, but this is a joint initiative with the trustees (of the courses.) We are only responsible for the marketing of the golf courses. Our interest at Tourism is to get the golf courses to a state where we have a really good, marketable product.

"We are developing a web site and tying in all of the golf courses in Bermuda, so that people can go online and book a golf vacation. That's the overall objective. What's happening now is that people can't get tee times in advance, and that is definitely not competitive.

"We're trying to get a golf product, and we have been talking to the private courses to see what we can do to bring it all together. We want to take it up a notch. No decision has been made on closing the golf courses. But the courses do need work, and sometimes you have to make a sacrifice."