Fourball ChampionshipsNick Mansell and Jarryd Dillas will pair up for the Bermuda Amateur Fourball Championship at Port Royal Golf Course.The duo have already been installed as red-hot favourites to win the event, having each claimed the title in the past two years.Mansell won last year alongside Rober Vallis, while Vallis and Dillas came out on top in 2009.In a change to the regular format, next month’s tournament has been reduced to 54 holes and will be played over the holiday weekend of November 11 to 13.“We talked to a lot of people about it (the event) and to take two days off for work for the locals and then two days at the weekend was a lot of time,” said Scott Roy, the BGA’s tournament director. “We can hold a championship over three days, people don’t have to take as much time off, and it helps lower our costs a little bit.So far seven men’s teams have signed up, while last year’s female winners Tracy Nash and Nikki Boyce are one of five women’s teams to sign up.Roy is expecting more entries before the November 4 deadline though.“Because it’s next month most people wait until the beginning of November before deciding what they are going to do,” he said.Amateur statusThe BGA have written to the Royal & Ancient Golf Club to get clarification on what might threaten a golfer’s amateur status over concerns that players are winning too much money at club tournaments such as Riddell’s Bay’s Bombay Trophy.With some golfers taking away as much as $6000 in recent years, the BGA have decided to set a limit of $1500 on the amount a player can receive in vouchers or prizes.“An amatuer is not allowed to recieve any more than £500 ($750) in prize vouchers or prizes, no cash at all, and that is set by the R&A,” said BGA manager Scott Roy. “Amateurs are not allowed to play for cash or win cash at any level.“They (the R&A) do have in the rules an exception for gambling and Calcuttas, where in a closed event you may hold a gambling event within a tournament as long as the gambling does not take away from the tournament or does not supersede the tournament.“What the R&A have said is that depending on the country, the governing body has the right to say whether a prize or winning is excessive. If you were to go out and win $100 that’s not going to make or break you, $10,000 would be different.“Locally we have come together and said if you win a set of golf clubs, a golf bag, that’s usually going to cost around $1500, and that’s our benchmark. If you were to win $6000 you could be in danger of losing your amateur status.”Annual General MeetingThree new members have been elected to the BGA’s board.Camiko Smith, Cindy Hardart and Bromwin Thompson were voted in at the annual general meeting last Friday, where the BGA also unveiled plans for their new player development programme.Craig Brown and Jarryd Dillas have been responsible for producing the new programme which will be open to all BGA members who want to improve their game.Mainly focused on helping young players who are returning from university with hopes of representing Bermuda at competitions such as the Island Games and World Amateur Team Championships, the programme will provide coaching, health and fitness education and an indepth look at the rules of the game.Bermuda OpenBermuda Golf Association have said the Bermuda Open will retain its new formatt next year saying there had been plenty of positive feedback from June’s tournament.Three competitions were combined in to one event this year with the Bermuda Open played alongside the Amateur Seniors Championship and Bermuda Amateur Stroke Play Championship at Port Royal Golf Course.“The Open had that feel of a large event, it did have the tournament atmosphere,” said Scott Roy, the BGA’s tournament director. “Some of the players enjoyed having the choice of playing in the junior or senior division.“We are looking on building on the success we had and our planning for 2012 has already begun.”Pompano’s Couple’s TournamentA record number of couples have signed up for next week’s Pompano Couple’s Golf Classic.The tournament, which will be held at Port Royal, Riddell’s Bay and Belmont Hills, is in its seventh year and has once again attracted interest from across North America and the UK.Fifty teams will play in the tournament, with the first round to be played at Port Royal next Tuesday with the tournament finishing at Belmont Hills on Saturday, November 5.