?It is not about who we are, it is about how far we have come?.

That is the motto of Calvin Tyler, the man behind the Ghetto Open, an annual Labour Day golfing extravaganza that has landed in Bermuda this week.

On Saturday and Sunday on Belmont Hills and Port Royal respectively, 74 players ranging in ability from scratch to ?duffers? will compete in the 23rd playing of the tournament, the only thing binding them together is ?that we have all come from humble beginnings and made something of ourselves and become successful?.

Doctors, lawyers and judges will join the 63-year-old Tyler ? himself an 18-handicapper ? in the event, started back in 1983 when the former UPS senior vice-president of US operations got together with three friends for some Labour Day golf.

?We played that weekend and we had a winner,? said Tyler, a regular visitor to Bermuda who has already played five of the Island?s courses.

?If you have a winner, you need a trophy and we were sitting around thinking of a name and we came up with the Ghetto Open. It was my idea actually and when we thought of it, we just laughed and laughed.

?We have that sort of reaction wherever we go, over the years we have been all over North America and Canada, normally five star hotels, and the name has attracted all sorts of different reactions.

?I think it works well because it sums up what we have in common, we are all people who have come from very little and reached the stage, well, where we can all afford to fly off and play golf when we want to.?

Aside from Hawaii, the event has never left the North American mainland before, with the Caribbean in hurricane season regarded as too risky.

But when Marshalle Smith from the Department of Tourism?s Florida office met the Tylers at a different golf event earlier in the year ? and the Tylers were the ones who had to choose the venue ? they were seduced into bringing the event to Bermuda.

They visited the Island in May where Tyler played a round at Port Royal with Tourism Minister Dr. Ewart Brown and two friends ? the pairing of Brown and Tyler was triumphant ? and the rest is history.

?Bermuda is a lovely place, we have always enjoyed our stays here,? added Tyler.

?They have done a lot to make us welcome and we felt that it would be the right choice.?

Many in the group, which including non-golfers numbers 130, have decided to take longer vacations both before and after the Labour Day weekend and will be taking up 351 hotel nights between them.

A lot of the players have been out practising across the Island in the last few days ahead of the weekend event and there is also a reception on Friday as well as a boat trip aboard the on Saturday and then a prizegiving banquet on Sunday.