Highlighting Port Royal As It Hosts PGA Tour

[Written by Kim Swan & Jayson Jackson]

Now celebrating 53 years, Port Royal Golf Course is on the threshold of hosting our 5th Butterfield Bermuda Championship on the PGA Tour and what an exciting experience it is for our Bermuda Government owned and operated public golf course.

Clearly the vision of our forefathers to introduce Port Royal as a world class public golf course has enabled Bermuda to market golf globally, allow visitors to access a golf course that is good enough to play host to the best golfers in the world.

Framed against the backdrop of a 17th century Whale Bay Fort on the beautiful south shore coastline, our signature hole #16 is in view of the migratory humpback whales, undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and treacherous holes on the PGA Tour.

Practicing Environmental Consciousness

With limited open spaces in Bermuda, we have adopted strategies to lessen our environmental footprint along our pristine coastline.

Fostering relationships with local agencies such as the Bermuda Audubon Society, the Bermuda Bluebird Society and other key community stakeholders is the cornerstone to our environmental stability project and its symbolic relationship to our golf course product in our overall vison for Bermuda public golf courses.

Collectively we obtain over 20 bluebird boxes on the public golf course provided by the Bermuda Bluebird Society which assists in the preparation of the dwindling bluebird population. Our five manmade ponds and shoreline vistas offer a unique ability to provide sanctuary for migratory winter birds traveling north or south, and local birds. Thus, local birders enjoy the vagrant birds who take residence in these areas at the golf course.

In fact, since 2022, Port Royal Golf Course has introduced an Integrated Pest Management [IPM] Program to reduce pesticide applications and promote a healthy, disease-resistant, and stress-tolerant turfgrass system that creates an environment for sustainable high performing turfgrass playing surfaces.

The IPM programs create an opportunity for us to reduce our overall pesticide application, curating a more satiable environment for coastal and inland organisms. Additionally, we follow the stringent guidelines and restrictions form the Department of Environmental protection, this not only protects our environment, but additionally provides our staff with a mindset that places the protection of the environment first and foremost.

We are proud to share that we have actively removed invasive species from encroaching on more native areas of our property.

We’ve removed many invasive species such as Brazilian Peppers and Casuarina Trees that have threatened the infrastructure of our neighboring Whale Bay Fort. We are replacing them with endemic trees such as Bermuda Cedars.

In recent years, we’ve partnered with local Government agencies such as the Department of Parks and together in partnership we have removed a substantial number of mature casuarinas from the West Whale Bay Fort’s coastline. We are embracing environmentally friendly and agronomically sustainable practices which will position us as a world leader in agronomic best practices.

Notwithstanding, our commitment to maintain a world class golf course suitable to host a PGA Tour event, our present-day mandate and vision is to grow the game of golf among the people in Bermuda and provide a quality golf facility available to host our golfing visitors from overseas.

We are most proud that Port Royal Golf Course plays host to the Butterfield Bermuda Championship as it has provided the Bermuda Government Golf Course an opportunity to stand tall on the world stage.

We embrace our role as a quality tourism product that enables our local golfers, hospitality stakeholders, business partners and visitors to call Port Royal Golf Course home.

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Category: All, Environment, News, Sports