Created: Sep 19, 2025 08:00 AM<\/p>\n
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Rewriting history: Oliver Betschart tees off from the 10th at Port Royal Golf Course to become the youngest Bermudian to to feature in a PGA Tour event (File photograph by Ras Mykkal)<\/p>\n
Kim Swan is hoping organisers of the Johnnie Walker Classic have a \u201clast-minute rethink\u201d over a revision to the competition\u2019s rules that has denied one of Bermuda\u2019s top amateur golfers entry into the event.<\/p>\n
Oliver Betschart, 17, is ineligible to compete in the 36-hole tournament at Ocean View Golf Course this weekend after tournament organisers raised the minimum age required to compete to 18.<\/p>\n
Swan, who has served as chairman of Bermuda Government Golf Courses, said the timing of the rule change is difficult on the promising teenager and has also denied him the opportunity to test his game against adults, which was beneficial to the former European Tour player\u2019s own development as a youngster.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m unaware of the reasoning for the rule change at this time,\u201d Swan told The Royal Gazette.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe timing of the rule change\/implementation is especially difficult for Oliver, who has played in this tournament on two previous occasions. He is a former amateur winner in this championship and is looking for every opportunity to test his game.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kim Swan (File photograph by Akil Simmons)<\/p>\n
\u201cIronically, 50 years ago when I was one of the island\u2019s top juniors, playing with adults benefited my development immensely. Hopefully, there will be a last-minute rethink.\u201d<\/p>\n
Defending champion Camiko Smith is also unhappy that one of the island\u2019s top players will not be able to showcase his talents this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am disappointed not to have Oliver Betschart in the tournament this year as he is one of the top local players and a past winner,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
Tournament director and acting Ocean View head professional Oliver Pitcher has declined to comment on the matter, as did Bermuda Golf Association president Craig Brown.<\/p>\n
However, Owen Darrell, the sports minister, did go on the record to point out that while Ocean View is run by the Government, the rules and regulations for the tournament are solely the responsibility of the organising committee.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Government of Bermuda strongly supports all sports and young athletes in our community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the Classic is held at a government-owned facility, it is important to note that the Johnnie Walker Classic is a privately run event.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sports minister Owen Darrell presents the low amateur trophy to Oliver Betschart at the 2023 Johnnie Walker Classic at Ocean View Golf Course (Photograph supplied)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe eligibility criteria are set by its organising committee and Ocean View simply serves as the host venue. The management and rules of the tournament remain the responsibility of the private committee that oversees the Classic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Betschart vented his frustration over the new policy earlier this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very disappointed to be ruled ineligible for this year\u2019s Johnnie Walker Classic because of my age,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have played the last two years, winning low amateur in 2023 and finishing fourth-best amateur in 2024, so it makes little sense that I\u2019m suddenly not allowed to compete at 17.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is one of the few Bermuda events where top pros and amateurs meet, so it\u2019s frustrating to be left out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Created: Sep 19, 2025 08:00 AM Rewriting history: Oliver Betschart tees off from the 10th at Port Royal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155468,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-155467","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}