CHANCES of Natalie Gulbis and Paula Creamer, glamour girls of the LPGA, playing in January's Bermuda Open are probably slim at best considering that both can demand pretty hefty appearance fees.

But the fact that both have expressed an interest in the event now that Bermuda Golf Association have opened up the tournament to females for the first time is a sign that golf's governing body are making huge strides towards turning the Island into a viable golf destination.

Besides beefing up the Open's image, the BGA also have plans to market more heavily their major amateur tournaments such as next March's Match Play event, traditionally played at Mid Ocean Club, and June's Strokeplay Championships at Port Royal, as well as putting new competitions on the calendar.

BGA president Terry West, vice-president Alan Gamble and executive Nick Mansell have all said they are committed to giving the sport a new image which hopefully will attract not only more local players to their tournaments – many of which have been suffering in terms of the lack of entrants in recent years – but also create more interest overseas.

The first step towards achieving that goal has been the various changes made to the Open, considered the Island's top tournament.

Moving the event from October to January makes sense in that it will become more attractive to foreign professionals.

Of course, the cream of the US PGA won't be bothered, most opting to play in Hawaii which kicks off the PGA Tour season and offers millions of dollars in prize-money.

The $50,000 purse here – even with a first prize of $20,000 as will be the case next month – is peanuts compared to what they can earn elsewhere.

But with the second tier Nationwide Tour, in which Bermudian Michael Sims plays, preparing for a new season, there might be some players on that circuit who would be interested in Bermuda in January where options in North America are limited by weather conditions at that time of year.

And the decision to invite players from the LPGA could prove to be a massive coup.

While attempting to bring in either Gulbis or Creamer, or for that matter Mexican star Lorena Ochoa, might be slightly ambitious, there could be many on the professional ladies' tour who would relish the chance to play against the male pros, especially in Bermuda on a course such as the recently-renovated Port Royal which received rave reviews after hosting this year's Grand Slam.

They'd play for the same prize-money and play off the same tees as the men – an interesting concept in that male players supposedly hit the ball much further than their female counterparts, although some statistics from the LPGA this year show that the gap is getting much closer.

If one other change could be made to the Open, it might be to relax the qualification rules.

At present, only players with handicaps of five or less are eligible. That certainly rules out a lot of reasonably talented Bermudian amateurs.

The BGA will argue they don't want to lower Open standards, but anybody with a single-digit handicap shouldn't do that. They wouldn't affect the pros who might be irritated playing alongside a bunch of hackers, but not single-digit amateurs.

It does happen in other countries and in State championships, although the amateurs taking part are mostly playing off scratch or better.

That can't be the case here. In a population of 60,000, there very few who boast handicaps of five or better.

By allowing nine-or-better handicappers to compete, the field would be much larger. And if the BGA want as many as 80 players in January's event, that would be a way of increasing the field – not to mention increasing revenue.

Whatever the case, the changes already made are an indication that golf in Bermuda is on the right track.

Hopefully 2010 will see a reversal of the trend which has seen the sport decline, and signal a new beginning.

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BERMUDA Football Association in recent years have forged a much better relationship with the media – thanks to the likes of former president Larry Mussenden and General Secretary David Sabir, and even the more cautious current chief Richard Calderon.

But if they want football to continue to make the headlines for the right reasons, they might also want to have a quiet chat with some of their affiliates . . . in particular Devonshire Cougars and Dandy Town.

While most clubs cooperate with the Press regarding match previews and post-game comments, Cougars and Town seem to take great delight in shutting up shop whenever approached.

Coaches, players and officials are reluctant to talk whether the resulting publicity is positive or negative.

This paper takes pride in covering almost every Premier Division game every week of the season, and attempts to cover both the First Division and the Corona League, but it's difficult to produce balanced reports if certain clubs don't want to cooperate.

Perhaps the BFA could take a leaf out of US and European football books in which the governing bodies demand that either a coach, player or manager be available for interviews before and after games.

This isn't just about the media, it's about informing the paying public who support the game.

– ADRIAN ROBSON