Around 20 golfers from overseas as well as 32 local players have entered the inaugural Ross (Blackie) Talbot Junior International Classic which begins at Tucker?s Point Golf Club on July 5.

Tournament director Kevin Benevides said yesterday that given it was only the first year he was happy with the number of ?high-quality? golfers they had succeeded in attracting from abroad, while underlining his commitment to develop the event into one of the more significant tournaments on the international junior golf calendar.

?That is certainly our aim and I can see no reason why we cannot achieve that,? he said.

?We?ve got some very good overseas junior golfers coming this year and to be honest it would have been even better had our event not unfortunately clashed with the World Junior Strokeplay Championships at Torrey Pines in California.

?But we?re still very happy with the response we?ve had and it also gives some of our best junior golfers a chance to compete against some excellent players from overseas.

?By next year our goal is to have our tournament ranked by the United States Junior Golf Association, because once you have an event offering ranking points, that is when you start attracting the very best junior golfers in the world, which is what we are looking to do.?

The International Classic, which is sponsored by Tyco, caters to golfers between the ages of nine and 20, with the scores set to be updated live on the internet.

Well known local players taking part in the tournament include Jarryd Dillas, who finished fifth last week in the Bermuda Amateur Strokeplay Championships at Port Royal, as well as Cornell Bean jr, who has a handicap of two.

A notable overseas entrant is 13-year-old American Adam Lewicki, who finished fifth in his age group at last year?s prestigious Scotland Junior Open.

The practice round takes place on July 5 with the 54-hole tournament ? sanctioned by the Bermuda Junior Golf Association ? scheduled to get underway the next day.