Better organisation, an increase in prize money and a more professional approach are just some of the things Bermuda Golf Association are working on after last week's Bermuda Open.

A player survey taken following the event revealed that the top-weighting to the $50,000 prize fund was the biggest talking point, dividing people evenly between those that hated the split, with $20,000 going to the winner, and those that liked it.

Other concerns raised were the way the Pro-Am was organised, the lack of marshalls on the course and a couple of instances of slow play.

However, all of the players involved said they would come back to compete at Port Royal, while the majority rated the course and greens as excellent, with the rest calling them good.

And BGA vice-president Alan Gamble said there were plenty of positives to take away from a tournament that gave the governing body a firm basis on which to build for next year.

"Obviously there are things we need to learn from, this is why we do surveys, but there are a lot of positives to come out of the tournament," said Gamble.

"Everybody said they would return to play Port Royal, a lot of the senior guys liked the course, thought it was a good length for them, not outrageous, challenging but not like playing a 7,200-yard course, so that's good."

For the first time this year the purse was top weighted, with winner Jerry Bruner picking up $20,000, runner-up Brennan Webb taking $10,000, and only the top 15 players winning any money. It wasn't a move that was universally popular.

"The purse break down, some people hated it. I suspect that the guys at the top thought it was good, and those at the bottom didn't," said Gamble. "I think what we learnt from that was that by having a $20,000 first prize we do attract better players, so if we do that in the future people like Bruner and those guys will bring other players, because that's decent money for them.

"But if we want more numbers (in the field) we would have to pay down to 25th place, and have a lot more winnings in the $1000 to $3000 range. So pay down from $20,000, $10k, $5k, $3k, and then from $2500 go $2400, $2300, etc.

"I know that some the guys who called up, you could hear them sort of trying to figure out 'if I make $1500 I've covered my costs', so if there are a lot of places between 15 and 25 then they feel like they've got a chance.

"Not all the pros come here are thinking they will win, a lot come to make a little bit of of money, or just to get some practice in, have a week in Bermuda. I think we have learnt something there, and if we could have (total prize fund) $75,000 next year, then that extra $25,000 could be spread out down through the last places, and you would probably get a lot more people."

Before the Open began the BGA were making optimistic noises about having a sponsor who would allow them to have a $300,000 total prize fund, attracting some big name players in the process.

Gamble though believes $75,000 is a far more realistic figure, and one which will allow the Open to gradually develop over a period of time, creating a loyal base, as well as improving the talent pool.

"We'll have to see if we can get a sponsor who's going to come to the wicket with that kind of money," said Gamble. "Obviously HSBC came in (this year), but they didn't pay the whole thing. BGA picked up some too, so we'd have to figure out if we want to do it, if we have more money in the kitty, or can we get two or three sponsors to make that happen.

"I think it would be a big improvement, $75,000 to $100,000 would probably enable us to have a much bigger field, to get a much better quality field. I think you're looking at $300,000 to start attracting good Nationwide Tour players.

"The trade off is do we want quality, or quantity, and I think you want both. From the point of view of making it a better tournament, the more the merrier, but for many years it's been that same old crowd of people who have come and the standard has been good, but we found this year there were a few guys in the field that were a step up again."

For the second year running the field for the Open was on the small side, with only 39 golfers taking part, and Gamble acknowledged that the BGA had a lot to work to do if they were going to improve the tournament for next year.

"Already we've realised that our database, and the number of people we reach is very small, too small," he said. "So we're expanding on that, and trying to get the word out earlier.

"For other things, we knew the Pro-Am was a disaster, we accept that, we didn't approach that properly and we didn't follow up properly. It was poor and BGA take full responsibility for very poor marketing, there was no reason for not having 18 teams.

"On the course we didn't have enough officials, and we were badly let down by volunteers but those are all things we will improve on, it all comes down to being more professional."

That professional approach will extend to the feel of the tournament as well if Gamble has his way. In the past there has been a very social atmosphere around the week, with welcome cocktail parties on the eve of the first round, something more akin to the Goslings Invitational, than a national championship.

"We need to have a more serious approach," said Gamble. "But it comes down to whether you want a social tournament or a serious one? The time to party is on the final day, not before."