AMERICAN pro Kirk Hanefeld will defend his $50,000 Gosling's Invitational title at Belmont Hills starting on Monday.Last year Hanefeld took home the $9,000 winner's cheque after he beat Delroy Cambridge by two shots.

Brian Morris, head pro at Belmont Hills, said this week: "It is great to have Kirk come back to defend his title. He has played some Champions Tour (for seniors) events this year and for him to return to Bermuda says a lot about our tournament. Actually a lot of the pros are returning, people like Tim Conley and PH Horgan as well as Delroy. We will have 36 pros and 56 amateurs in the tournament — and most of the pros will be from abroad. We have about 10 local pros playing."

One pro who will be forced to sit out the event is Belmont Hill's touring pro Michael Sims who will be playing in the third and final phase of the PGA Tour Qualifying School next week.

"Obviously Michael cannot come back. What he is doing is very big," said Morris.

Sims overcame the huge pressure to make it to the final stage of Q School — the sixth time he has tried.

"People in Bermuda do not realise what Michael has done in getting to that final stage. Q School is one of the hardest and toughest things a pro can go through. It is unbelievable and we here at Belmont are all cheering for him," said Morris.

Sims needed to finish in the top 20 in the second phase earlier this month and he was tied for 18th on seven-under par after round three at the Lake Jovita Country Club in Dade City, Florida. The 27-year-old carded an impressive three-under par 69 for the final round to leave him home and dry in 16th place.

Sims, along with up to 160 other golfers who made it safely through the tortuous second phase, will now compete over a marathon six straight rounds on two separate courses in La Quinta, California — with PGA and Nationwide Tour playing cards at stake.

The third stage gets underway on November 29 through December 4.

Morris promised that the greens would be fast for the Gosling's Invitational. The tourney is a 72-hole stroke play and finishes on Thursday.

A prelude to the tournament will be held on Saturday when six local pros take on six pros from Canada.

Morris said: "We are taking on six Canadian pros from the Great Lakes Tour — they are here for the Gosling's but we will have our own little competition on Saturday."

The local pros are Morris, Kim Swan, Dwayne Pearman, Cornell Bean, Andrew Trott and Anthony Mocklow. "It will be two-man teams in the morning and individuals in the afternoon," said Morris adding, "we will have a return match against them in Canada later next year."

Last year Hanefeld either led or shared the lead over the duration of the 72-hole tournament for all but a handful of holes.

Bermuda's Sims (71) and Pearman (73) were the top local players, finishing in a four-way tie for seventh.

Tim Conley carded a 65 on the final day in 2005 which was the lowest score of the week and that took him to third place behind Jamaica's Delroy Cambridge who played in the World Cup this year for his country.

Hanefeld is director of Golf Operations at The International in Bolton, Massachusetts and a Titleist staff member for 25 years. The 50 year old secured his Champions Tour card for 2006 with an impressive runner-up finish at Qualifying School last November.