The man responsible for bringing the Grand Slam of Golf to Bermuda has praised Ewart Brown for his decisiveness in helping him persuade the PGA of America to move one of their signature events to the Island.

Irishman Roddy Carr, a vice president of global sports marketing giant IMG and also the sport and lifestyle consultant for the Department of Tourism, negotiated with the PGA of America on Bermuda’s behalf and succeeded in fighting off rival bids from the likes of Las Vegas, the Dominican Republic and former hosts Hawaii.

Carr, who is based in New York but travels extensively helping governments increase tourism revenues through elite sporting events and other initiatives, said of all the tourism departments he worked with during his many years in the business, Bermuda’s had been “by far the most pro-active.”

“In all honesty I think the determination of the Dr. Brown and the Tourism Department made the difference,” said Carr yesterday, who has been on the Island since Sunday to continue preparing for the Grand Slam.

“It made a huge difference to me to come across somebody who just said ‘go and get it’. In my experience with politics, things take a lot longer than they should do and sometimes opportunities can be lost. Las Vegas, for instance, were originally very interested in hosting the Grand Slam, but they faffed around for too long and we managed to take advantage of that. Before the announcement was made, I remember reading an article (in The Royal Gazette) where somebody (Opposition Deputy Leader Michael Dunkley) was implying that Dr. Brown had exaggerated the chances of Bermuda getting the Grand Slam.

“I was desperate to come out and respond to that because I knew we had it in the bag and I’d told the Premier that. Unfortunately it wasn’t possible at the time but hopefully now people will understand what was going on behind the scenes.”

Pressed on whether the Grand Slam could really bring about a major increase in the Island’s golf tourism, Carr said it represented the first major step in what was a long-term plan.

“Three years ago I wrote a report on Bermuda golf, detailing what I thought needed to be done to get it on the map,” he said.

“One of those recommendations was to attract a major televised golf event to the Island and the other was to facilitate an urgent revamp of Port Royal.

“In an ideal world, I would have liked them to get on with the upgrade of Port Royal a little sooner so that it would have been ready for the Grand Slam. But if the PGA of America likes how Bermuda runs the tournament there’s a possibility we could hold on to it for an extended period of time, and then when Port Royal is ready we could end up staging the 2009 event there.

“What the Grand Slam is really about for Bermuda is putting the Island back into the minds of golfers across the world. At the same time there needs to be major investment in the golf courses as well, and then I think you will really start to see some results.

“Golf revenue for tourism at the moment is around $18 million a year and we believe there is the realistic potential to generate around $40 million. So there is a way to go yet and a lot of work to be done, but getting the Grand Slam here represents a great start to the whole process.”

Carr also moved to clarify how the event will actually be funded.

Bermuda Golf Association president Bob Legere expressed concern last month that the BGA could end up competing with the Department of Tourism for corporate sponsorship as the former seek to raise funds for October’s inaugural World Amateur Strokeplay Championships.

But the Irishman said that while Tourism had put up $1.5 million to purchase the right to host the event, all the other costs would be met by the PGA of America — eradicating the danger of Tourism and the BGA having to battle each other.

“The beauty of the Grand Slam is that it’s a very clean event which offers incredible exposure for what you’re marketing at an unbeatable cost,” Carr said.

“The Department of Tourism put up $1.5 million, but the responsibility of sponsorship and prize money is the entirely the responsibility of the PGA of America.

“In my opinion it’s almost impossible to find a better value-for-money deal than this one.”

Brown praised