Veteran golfer Kim Swan has launched a vociferous protest against the $500 entry fee for professionals to compete in the Bermuda Open next month.

The fee has been charged since 2007, up from $450 in 2006 and $375 in 2005, but Swan, a former Open winner, still believes the fee is too high and is discouraging those in the paid ranks from entering.

“It’s just exorbitant,” Swan said. “It’s nothing to do with what it’s been, it’s what it is now in the absence of any type of sponsorship.

“In the late-1980s, I boycotted the Bermuda Open for three years when they raised the entry fee from $75 to $350. I didn’t see the logic of it and at that time I was a three-times champion. In the spirit of the national championship, I didn’t see the logic behind taking the tournament beyond the means of the common person.”

The Bermuda Golf Association (BGA) has pointed out that in 2007 and 2010 the prize money for the tournament was $50,000, however, in 2007 there were 24 professionals. In 2010 with a similar purse available, the field consisted of 30 professionals, while in 2013 with a $9,750 purse there were 26.

“Surprisingly, there does not therefore appear to be any direct correlation between the pro purse and the number of entries,” Andrew Woodworth, the BGA president, said.

This year the entry fee for amateurs is $250, down from $350 the last few years and the lowest it has been since 2004.

“I am aware of the concern raised by Kim Swan regarding the fee for entering the Bermuda Open Championships,” Woodworth said.

“The matter has been discussed at a recent meeting of the executive committee of the BGA and the opinion of the committee was that a fee of $500 for entering a professional event such as the Bermuda Open was not excessive and should remain as advertised. It should also be noted that the professional entry fee for the Bermuda Open has been $500 every year since 2006. Our research into events of similar stature support our fees, with most events having entry fees ranging from $400 to $1,150.”

Swan contacted the BGA last month to suggest the fee for professionals should be between $100 to $150 and sponsorship money found to keep the entry fee down. “Mr Swan has indicated that the high cost of entering this tournament has ‘damaged’ the event and discouraged some of Bermuda’s young up and coming talent from entering. However, the facts do not totally support his argument,” Woodworth said.

“First, the 2014 entry fee for amateurs, which would include the players to whom Mr Swan refers, is $250. This is the lowest it has ever been since prior to 2005 beyond which data is not readily available. The entry fees for amateurs from 2005 to 2013 has never been lower than $300 and in most cases was in the range of $350 to $400.”

The lack of a major sponsor for the tournament has forced the BGA to rely on the entry fee to provide a minimum prize money of $10,000.

“We’re in the midst of a recession and people are feeling the pinch,” Swan, a winner of the tournament in 1978, 1983 and 1984, said in support of his argument. “When the entry fee goes to that amount, it becomes cost prohibitive and it loses the purpose of the national championship.”

The tournament has lost some of its prestige over the years and in an attempt to generate a bigger field, it has been moved closer to the start of the Grey Goose World Par 3 Championships at Turtle Hill, which will attract several overseas professionals. Yesterday the BGA confirmed that professionals from Britain, Sweden, Canada, United States and Australia have already signed up for the Open, which runs from March 24 to 27 at Port Royal. Michael Sims, the Bermudian professional who is based in the US, confirmed his participation a week ago.

“I would love very much to play in my national championship, but I have to admit that in the midst of a recession, $500 is a lot to ask people to pay,” said Swan, a teaching pro at Port Royal.