SHORTLY before leaving Bermuda after a brief Christmas vacation to see his family a couple of weeks ago, Michael Sims vowed to stick with his dream of playing professional golf even though the fates had seemingly been against him since he turned pro in May of 2002 after a glittering amateur career.

And Sims got 2004 off to a superb start last weekend when he finished fifth at the Caribbean Open in Freeport, Bahamas ? a tournament on the Tour de las Americas circuit.

Sims, who collected $2,500 for his efforts, also saw a friend and Bermuda regular Tim Conley win the $50,000 tournament. Conley has probably won more professional tournaments in Bermuda over the past 20 years than anyone else.

"I suppose eating the island food agrees with him," laughed Sims from his West Palm Beach base in Florida this week.

Sims managed to grab that fifth place with one of the best rounds of the tournament when he shot a 68 on the final day in rather miserable weather. That 68 was also the low round of the day.

"I was very happy with the way I played. I played well on all days and I putted really well on the last day which saved me a few times," he said.

However his putting during his second round of 77 let him down. "My putting on the second round was really horrible. I had to work on it to sort myself out."

The last day saw some rain and wind and it was also "a little chilly".

"It was a mixture of everything," said Sims.

The tournament was played over two courses. "One (Reef) was more open ? kind of a linksy course while the other course (Lucayan) was tight and lined with trees. It was like hitting down a hallway and then the wind came into play making it very difficult. We played the Reef course for the first two days and then the last two rounds were on the Lucayan course. And the greens were also very different on both courses ? one was overseeded while the other was Bermuda (grass). That was one of the reasons the scores were not as low as perhaps they should have been," he said.

Sims shot 72, 77, 74 and a 68.

Of winner Conley, Sims said: "I know him well from playing the same stuff that he does. It was nice to see him play well and win the tournament."

Sims original plans were to travel to South America at the end of this month to play in the TLA's $50,000 American Express Abierto del Sur de Argentina tournament at the Mar del Plata Golf Club.

That plan has now changed.

Instead the Bermudian started a 54-hole tournament yesterday close to his West Palm Beach home in Florida.

The tournament is part of the Golden Bear Winter Series and is being played at the Martin Down Country Club which sports a 72-hole, 6,828 yard championship course.

But Sims still plans on competing in the in the TLA's Challenger series in February which will see him play at the $100,000 Cable & Wireless Summit Masters in Panama, the $150,000 Costa Rica Open and then the $100,000 Telefonica de Centro-America in Guatemala.

At the Caribbean Open in Freeport last weekend Conley shot a 72 to win ? and a total of four under par for the tournament. Conley had led the championship from day one and never relinquished his hold. Over the four days of competition, Conley shot as low as 69 (on day two) to ensure his win.

The bad conditions on the final day was a challenge for the golfers. "I have played golf all over the world, so I know that you can run into all kinds of conditions. But you just have to be able to concentrate regardless of the conditions," said Conley.

The 47-year-old American, who represents the Chateau Elan club in Braselton, 60 miles north of Atlanta, took one look at the morning conditions and changed his game-plan. "When it was calm early I thought someone could possibility shoot 66, 67, and I might have to play aggressive," he said, speaking of defending his overnight three-shot lead. "Then it blew up some and the front nine got tough and tight, so I started to play much more defensive. I almost got too defensive and left myself a lot of difficult putts."

He added: "I am in the Bahamas, I am having fun and winning a tournament, so I really can't complain about nothing." Looking ahead, the newly crowned champion said he hopes that all continues to go well for him and he is looking forward to coming back to the Bahamas perhaps later this year and next year for other tournaments.

However Conley said: "I can't make a commitment to the future because from March I have Nationwide status but I will do all I can to support the Tour de las Americas and I shall certainly be speaking to the Commissioner about the possibility of playing in the European Tour Central American events."

Jamaican Peter Horrobin finished second to Conley, down four shots in the overall total.