• Submitted by: manso
• Travel and Tourism
• 11 / 30 / 2010

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Esencia Hotels and Resorts and Palmares SA announced the 2011 Montecristo Cup & Esencia Cup golf tournaments, the third time the international golf events will be held at the beach resort of Varadero.

The organizers secured The Open and US Open winner Tony Jacklin as guest of honor.

“Cuba is an ideal location for golf tournaments and has a bright future with regards to courses,” the British golfer said, according to an Esencia press release. “The Montecristo Cup and Esencia Cup tournaments lead the way, offering a challenging and enjoyable game … plus where else can you light up a cigar and strike the ball?”

Esencia plans to build a $300 million golf resort near Varadero and is among at least a half-dozen groups close to signing an agreement with the Cuban government. Palmares is the state company in charge of non-hotel tourism businesses.

The events, to be held April 14-16 at Varadero Golf Club, include two tournament days of individual play. The winner of the Esencia Cup will be the player with the best individual net score. The Montecristo Cup will be given to the best individual gross score from those days. The competition is open to those with a handicap of 24 or under for men, and 30 or under  for women.

In the last two events, golfers from the UK, Canada, Spain, Andorra, Korea, Vietnam, Japan and China, as well as Cuba, competed in the tournaments.

“It may be a measure of the bullishness on Cuba, but we have had a bunch of subscriptions so far, and there just seems to be a lot more interest,” an Esencia official told Cuba Standard. “Things are heading in the right direction.”

The Montecristo Cup is sponsored by Habanos SA, the British-Cuban joint venture that markets Cuban premium cigars worldwide.

The awards dinner will be held April 16 at the Xanadu Mansion, built in 1930 as a residence of the Dupont family within the grounds of the Golf Club.

Source: www.cubastandard.com/2010/11/29/esencia-announces-11-golf-events/