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BERMUDA | RSS PODCAST

Battered Port Royal is good to go

Down but not out: play is scheduled to start on time for this morning’s Pro-Am despite the weekend’s bad weather

PGA of America officials breathed a collective sigh of relief after Port Royal Golf Course was given a clean bill of health to host today’s Grand Slam of Golf Pro-Am event in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Fay.

The 6,842-yard, par-71 Southampton layout suffered mild damage during the storm which lashed the Island in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Once the storm had subsided, the course remained closed to the general public while PGA officials and Port Royal staff worked frantically behind the scenes clearing away scattered branches and leaves in and around the fairways and bunkers.

Only one green was mildly damaged, the par-five 7th, which was left with indentations from a television stand that toppled over during the storm. The start of the Pro-Am has been pushed back half an hour and will now begin at 11.30am with gates to open at 9.30.

The Grand Slam, which starts tomorrow and finishes on Wednesday, features PGA and Open Champion Rory McIlroy, Masters winner Bubba Watson, US Open champion Martin Kymer and Jim Furyk, the 2008 Grand Slam winner.

Furyk completes the foursome as an alternate from the Major Champions Point List because McIlroy won two Major championships this year and last year’s Grand Slam Champion, Adam Scott, was unavailable because of a scheduling conflict.

As of yesterday afternoon, all but one of this year’s Grand Slam foursome had arrived on Island but organiser expect them to make their tee-off time this morning.

This year will be the final time Bermuda hosts the Grand Slam, which it has held since 2007.

Meanwhile, little or no sport was played in Bermuda at the weekend after Tropical Storm Fay lashed the Island with heavy rain and gusting winds, forcing the cancellation of a host of events.

Premier and First Division football and Karting at Southside fell foul of the bad weather that started almost immediately as soon as Flanagan’s Onions’ match against Somerset Trojans kicked off at Goose Gosling Field on Saturday night.

The pouring rain rendered it almost impossible for either side to play much in the way of free-flowing football, although Onions — who were looking to pick up their first point of the season — were arguably edging matters before Anthony Francis, the referee, abandoned the game at half-time. It is understood that officials at BAA, the landlords of the Woodland Road facility, had expressed concerns to the match officials about the game continuing as the rain continued to tumble during the half-time interval.

With large pools of rain collecting around the artificial pitch, it was deemed in the best interests of protecting the expensive synthetic surface to call off the game, which will now be rearranged by the Bermuda Football Association.

The other three top-flight matches were called off by the BFA yesterday morning, as were the four First Division games.