Kim Swan returns to competitive golf on the Island of Bermuda
“Kim Swan returns to competitive golf on the island of Bermuda”
The stage is set for 23 local Professional & Amateur golfers to compete for four qualifying spots into the $6 million dollar Bermuda Championship.
Among those attempting to qualify is former PGA European Tour player, Kim Swan, who won his first of three Bermuda Open Championships 43 years ago in 1978.
Kim Swan has been practically inactive in tournament play since 2007 with only a few isolated appearances and at 64 years old is among the older entrants with most of his tournament wins before many of the entrants were born.
Kim Swan shared, “ I am excited to be entered in the qualifier next week and to compete for an opportunity to participate in a PGA Tour event in my homeland. To prepare, I have purposely spent the past year transforming my body, rebuilding my swing and reestablishing my shot-making ability and rekindling my natural instincts to play the game of golf. “
For the record, Kim Swan was the Ambassador for the inaugural 2019 Bermuda Championship and was bestowed the honour to hit the ceremonial first shot. Ironically, he dedicated the occasion in memory of his mentors the ‘Crack of Dawn’ black golfers who were denied participation on the PGA Tour because of ‘Caucasian Only Clause’ in the PGA by laws between 1934 and 1961.’ A legacy with long lasting impact which saw Kim Swan among a small number of black golfers to have ever played on the PGA European Tour, PGA Tour or to have won at the collegiate level for Troy University in America.
Kim Swan continued, “ The Local Qualifier for the PGA Tour Butterfield Bermuda Championship has essentially become the defacto Bermuda Open (closed) which operated from 1967 after the end of a rigidly segregated era of golf in Bermuda. I hope this event can morph into the Bermuda Open this country desperately deserves. I won it three time before age 30, but was forced to boycott the event for several years (in the prime of my life) in the late 1980’s”
Ironically, Kim Swan boycotted the event when organizers increased the entry fee from $125.00 to $350.00 for a purse of $50K (fifty thousand dollars). The entry fee for next week’s qualifying event is $125.00 for the opportunity to compete for $6million (six million dollars).
Swan concluded, “ While I was blessed to have been a pioneer for Bermuda on the PGA European Tour and as a collegiate player in America – my passion for playing golf has been renewed. I felt driven to get myself physically and mentally prepared to compete in this year’s PGA Tour Butterfield Bermuda Championship and set about it methodically.”
“It’s not lost on me that this is the 50th Anniversary year of Port Royal Golf Course and the 50th Anniversary of my introduction to the game of golf.”
“This year has already been a nostalgic journey for me, there’s definitely a natural mystic in the air and I’m excited to be out again seriously plying my golf trade.”
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