Guanacaste Pro Golf
Tournament Now Called
Costa Rica Golf Classic
(Infocom) — Less than
three months away from
having the best
professional golfers in
the Tour de las Americas
(TLA) and the Canadian
Tour come to Guanacaste
to take part in the
high-caliber tournament
that will put Costa Rica
back on the world golf
map, local tournament
organizers announced
that the tournament’s
official name has
changed to Costa Rica
Golf Classic.
According to Ricardo
Valdivieso, director of
the organizing
committee, reasons for
the name change are
significant.
“When it was time to
register this tournament
they told us that ‘Costa
Rica Masters’ had
already been registered
by another company, so
we were forced to seek
another alternative,”
Valdivieso explained.
“That’s how Costa Rica
Golf Classic came about,
an attractive name that
we have properly
registered.”
The tournament will be
held Dec. 11-14 at
Reserva Conchal Golf
Club.
“We believe the change
in name will actually be
an important advantage,
as in the past few weeks
we have noticed that in
Costa Rica many people
tend to identify the
term ‘Masters’ with
events for veteran
athletes or retired
players, and that’s not
the case with this
tournament,” Valdivieso
added. “Both the Tour de
las Americas as the
Canadian Tour will bring
their best players, who
in many cases are young
golfers with great
prospects.”
In preparation for the
tournament, local
organizers are awaiting
the visit this month by
Henrique Lavie, Tour de
las Americas
commissioner, who will
come to supervise and
coordinate several
aspects related to the
event — as Costa Rica
will host TLA for the
seventh consecutive
year.
The 2008 Costa Rica Golf
Classic will be the
first professional golf
tournament ever to be
held in Guanacaste, and
will have a purse of
$125,000. The tournament
will be the last in
three-event Latin
American tour that will
also visit Chile and
Argentina, with all
three stops being
rubber-stamped by Tour
de las Americas and the
Canadian Tour.
The tournament’s
official announcement
appeared in The
Guanacaste Journal last
Aug. 12. Back then, the
director of the Costa
Rica Golf Classic said
that “we are very
pleased by making this
tournament a reality,
which proudly puts the
country back on the
international golf
scene. We are also proud
of bringing high-level
professional golf for
the first time to
Guanacaste, where golf
and tourism development
are growing at a fast
pace. We than Tour de
las Americas and the
Canadian Tour for their
support, as well as
Reserva Conchal, who
opened the doors to
their spectacular course
designed by the famous
Robert Trent Jones II.”
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