For the second consecutive year, RBC Royal Bank is the title sponsor of the Caribbean’s premier golfing event, the 56th Annual RBC Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships.

The tournament, hosted by the OECS Golf Association, tees off on August 6 and runs until August 11 at the Royal St. Kitts Golf Course in St. Kitts and will feature the best of the Caribbean’s amateur golfers. Once again, teams from all around the region will participate including Barbados, Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, OECS, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos and the US Virgin Islands.

St. Kitts has hosted the Championships in previous years and is regarded by many regional players as one of the best conditioned and most scenic golf courses.

According to the official Caribbean Golf Association (CGA) website, Royal St. Kitts plays as an 18-hole, Par 71 course at 6,900 yards from the championship gold tees. The extraordinary layout boasts water hazards on 10 holes, 80 bunkers and a multitude of coconut palm trees along the Atlantic Ocean.

In sharing plans for the event, President of the Caribbean Golf Association (CGA), Asraph Ali, shared his praise for the main sponsor.

“To have one of the largest financial institutions in the region support our Championships for the second year is positive reinforcement for us as we continue to add more value to the event. We are quite excited that RBC Royal Bank has reassumed the role of Title Sponsor for this year’s event. In so doing, we look forward to building upon the tremendous successes enjoyed from last year’s event,” he said.

Suresh Sookoo, CEO, Caribbean Banking, RBC added: “RBC is proud to once again support the CAGC. Our decision to get on board is driven by our desire to elevate the game in the Caribbean much in the same way that we have in Canada and the United States through our parent company RBC.”

The 56^th Annual RBC CAGC will showcase the individual skills of the players in the national teams, as they strive to cop trophies in six categories:

Men’s Open Competition – Hoerman Cup

Men Over 35 Years – Ramon Baez Trophy

Men Over 50 Years – Francis and Steele-Perkins Trophy

Men Over 60 Years – Higgs & Higgs Trophy

Ladies’ Open Competition – George Teale Trophy

Overall Team Championship – Arthur Zaide Trophy

At the 55th CAGC 2011 in Trinidad, the host team took home the Overall Team Championship Trophy, the Ramon Baez Trophy, the Francis & Steele-Perkins Trophy and the George Teale Memorial Trophy and Puerto Rico took home the coveted Hoerman Cup.

When asked about his expectations for the tournament, President of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Golf Association, Chris Taylor said, “It is an honor to host these Championships and to have RBC as the title sponsor improves the future of golf in the Caribbean. As with previous years, we expect fierce competition as all the players bring their A-games to the Championships.”

“What remains to be seen is if teams like Trinidad and Tobago and Puerto Rico can repeat past successes against such an array of talented teams not forgetting our local favorites from the OECS. ” he added.