VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Bermuda remains a prime candidate to host a tournament as part of the Canadian professional golfing tour.

Tour commissioner Dick Grimm, who succeeded pro-Bermuda tour boss Bob Beauchemin as the Canadian circuit's top man this season, said yesterday that he is well acquainted with the island and would be happy to make Bermuda the first international stop on the tour.

"It's definitely the kind of thing I'd be happy to talk to anybody down there about,'' said Grimm, who spent a decade as chairman of the Canadian Open before taking on his new post. "It would come down to money, but there's no shortage of money in Bermuda.'' Grimm, who presides over a tour that has dropped from 12 events a year ago to its present nine-tournament set-up, succeeds Beauchemin, a former competitor who plans to return to play the tour. Grimm brings a businessman's approach to his work -- and says a $250,000 investment is required to stage a tour event.

"My priorities are more events, bigger purses and getting our tournaments on golf courses as good as we can get them on, wherever they may be,'' Grimm said. "I'd be happy to take a tour event to Bermuda.'' Grimm, who played the prime tournament site, Port Royal GC, five years ago, calls it a "fabulous layout'' -- and said he sees only one stumbling block to holding a tour event on the island.

"The big hang-up is how we get the players down there,'' he said. "This tour moves from west to east across Canada, finishing in Prince Edward Island in September. Most of the players drive across the country, and my only concern with Bermuda is that only kids from wealthy families or who had done well on the tour would be able to afford to get down there. Having said that, maybe we could get an airline to help us out.

"Otherwise, I don't see why Bermuda wouldn't be a prime spot. Freeport, in the Bahamas, had full PGA tournaments there in 1970 and 1971 -- they were able to do it because their Tourism Department got involved. And, while the tournament didn't get the spectators it needed, you'd certainly get the spectators in Bermuda. And you'd get volunteers, too. As oriented as Bermudians are to golf, they'd be knocking down doors to get involved.'' Like St. George's pro Kim Swan a year ago, Belmont golf director Cornell Bean supports the idea.

"It's a great idea -- the only thing we need is the sponsors,'' said Bean during his two-week tour stay. "It seems everywhere in the world has a golf tournament, so I don't see why we shouldn't. Jamaica has four tournaments.'' Bean agrees with Grimm that an airline would have to be recruited to help sponsor the tournament. And he says that the island's hotels could help with some off-season rates, which would help to attract players.

"It's difficult for a professional golfer to come to Bermuda to play because the island is expensive, and the player has no guarantee he's going to win any money,'' he said. "So we'd need Tourism to get involved, and we'd need the hotels to co-operate with special rates for the players.

"This would be a great tournament to hold during the October to March off-season. The people who come to Bermuda are golfers, and they could spend part of their vacation watching the tournament while they're on the island.'' CORNELL BEAN -- `... I don't see why we shouldn't. Jamacia has four tournaments.