submitted to the Cabinet Minister planning the future of the Base lands.

The new golf course should be a "destination'' style course, that would bring visitors to Bermuda just as Pebble Beach and Augusta National bring visitors to California and Georgia, Mr. Mansfield (Jim) Brock said yesterday.

Mr. Brock, who recently chaired the Premier's Commission on Competitiveness, said the Commission has recommended to Management and Technology Minister the Hon. Grant Gibbons that 160 acres at the Annex be set aside for the golf course and other facilities.

And while he will not be involved in the development himself, Mr. Brock said he is aware of several Americans, a Scotsman, and "a couple of top touring senior pros'' who have expressed interest in the golf academy as an investment.

"The purpose of this whole idea is to increase occupancy in our hotels in the shoulder months and the winter when the weather is not suitable for swimming and the beach,'' Mr. Brock told The Royal Gazette .

"We have to find a way to keep people employed more than seven months a year.'' Bermuda in winter would be an ideal spot to teach golf, tennis, and yachting, he said.

In addition to 18 holes designed by one of the world's top professionals, the golf course would have a driving range, a hole for practising sand shots, and three practice holes to keep students of the game away from the other golfers, Mr. Brock said.

A top international pro would work with the Bermudian pro, he said. A typical golf course in the United States can be developed for about $500,000 a hole, but this one would likely cost much more, he said. "If you want to get a Rolls Royce, you've got to pay Rolls Royce money.'' The golf academy "could increase the number of visitors coming to Bermuda quite considerably in the off-season.'' And the multiplier effect would be felt through the entire economy.

Locals would be able to use the course, but certain tee times would be reserved for visitors, Mr. Brock said. "Unfortunately, over the years Bermudians have bragged that we have more golf courses per square mile than any other country in the world.

"That's irrelevant if the tourists who come here can't get on the golf courses.'' Port Royal Golf Course and Mid Ocean Club were "destination-type'' golf courses, Mr. Brock said. In addition to a masterful lay-out and superb upkeep, the new course would need a major event like the Merrill Lynch Shoot-Out or perhaps an LPGA or Senior PGA tour event.

Mr. Brock said Bermuda would be an ideal spot for a winter sailing school, attracting the kind of people who might one day sail in the Newport to Bermuda yacht race.

And tennis academies run by former top pros were very successful in Florida.

"It's big business,'' Mr. Brock said.

An implementation committee chaired by Dr. Gibbons and assisted by a team of international and Bermudian planners is charged with making recommendations on the future of the 250-acre Annex and other Base lands.