Tag: Puerto Rico

Watch: Large shark on the hunt frightens surfer to shore

A surfer in Puerto Rico on Monday was frightened out of the water by a large hammerhead shark that could be seen thrashing just outside the lineup.

A surfer in Puerto Rico on Monday was frightened out of the water by a large shark that could be seen thrashing just outside the lineup.

Jorge Benitez, who captured the accompanying footage at a spot called Middles, told FTW Outdoors that the surfer closest to the shark is Rolando Montes “and he definitely saw the shark and paddled to shore quickly.”

However, Montes might not have been in danger.

As science writer Sarah Keartes pointed out via Twitter, the shark is chasing a large ray – “maybe an eagle ray?” – and shows no interest in the surfer.

“Only a close call if you’re the majestic flap flap,” Keartes wrote, referring to the wording in a CBS News tweet showing the footage. “No danger here.”

RELATED: Hawaii diver captures close great white shark encounter on video

Benitez told FTW Outdoors that he spotted the leaping ray and began to capture that on video. He was not aware at the time that a shark, possibly a hammerhead, was pursuing the ray.

When Montes reached the beach Benitez asked him, “Why were you so afraid of a stingray?”

Benitez said he did not see the shark until he and Montes reviewed his footage. “It was definitely a big one,” Benitez said.

–Image courtesy of Jorge Benitez

It’s island time: A look at the island stops on the PGA Tour

The PGA Tour follows the sun to some of the most beautiful spots around and is currently swinging through a series of our favorite islands.

The famed island green at the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, may be the best known island on the PGA Tour, but it’s not the only one. In fact, the PGA Tour enjoys its own island swing.

Bermuda (October), Bahamas (December) … it sounds like a Beach Boys song including all the island paradises where the Good Ship PGA Tour drops anchor to spend a week and play 72 holes. This week: St. Simons Island, Georgia, for the RSM Classic.

Jimmy Buffett would enjoy the Tour’s island fever, hopping to the Riviera Maya in Mexico (October), Puerto Rico (March) and places such as the Dominican Republic (March). When it’s sweater weather for much of the contiguous 48 states in January, the Tour heads to Maui and Oahu and returns for stops along the eastern seaboard at Ponte Vedra Beach and Hilton Head Island in March and April, respectively. And this list doesn’t even include the British Isles because, well, you get the idea: These guys are living the dream.

After all, island time is the best time. Here’s a closer look at these island destinations.

Puerto Rico will host its first USGA championship in 2022, the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball

The PRGA became the first association outside the U.S. to join the alliance and now, Puerto Rico has a USGA championship on the books.

Last month, the U.S. Golf Association brought the Puerto Rico Golf Association into its network of Allied Golf Associations. The PRGA became the first association outside the U.S. to join the alliance and now, Puerto Rico has a USGA championship on the books.

Grand Reserve Golf Club, host site of this past week’s Puerto Rico Open on the PGA Tour, will host the 7th U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship on April 30-May 4, 2022. That week will also mark the first time a USGA championship is held outside of the U.S. mainland in a U.S. territory.

“We have a wonderful, longstanding relationship with the Puerto Rico Golf Association, and bringing a USGA championship to the island further demonstrates our commitment to working together even more closely moving forward,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA senior managing director, Championships. “The Grand Reserve has an impressive pedigree, and we very much look forward to bringing the Women’s Four-Ball there.”

Sidney Wolf, president of the PRGA, is just as excited to host it.

“This is big news for Puerto Rico for our development, and the one we really wanted,” Wolf told Golfweek. “We want to do our part to grow women’s golf, which is becoming such an important segment in the game. This is perfect for us and positions us for bigger events as we make our comeback.

“When we started talking about becoming an AGA in September 2019, one of the hopes was to do a championship in Puerto Rico. Who knew it would be so quick. And it’s the right one for us. This has quickly developed into a major for female amateurs.”

Grand Reserve stretches across a beachfront peninsula in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, and is located just 15 miles outside the capital city of San Juan. The parkland-style golf course, a Tom Kite design that opened in 2006, overlooks El Yunque National Forest.

The U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, along with the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, are the USGA’s newest championships, having come online in 2015. Both were canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball will be played at Maridoe Golf Club in Carrollton, Texas, on April 24-28. Starting with this year’s championship, winners of the U.S. Women’s Four-Ball will earn exemptions into the following U.S. Women’s Amateur.

Adam Schupak contributed reporting.

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Puerto Rico reopens golf courses in wake of coronavirus pandemic

The governor of Puerto Rico allows island’s 18 golf courses to reopen in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic

Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vázquez reopened golf this week on the U.S. territory’s 18 courses in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Most of the island’s businesses had been closed since March. The course reopenings are part of a larger initiative that allowed businesses such as restaurants, beauty salons and car dealerships to return to limited operations.

Puerto Rico’s courses are popular destination for mainland players, offering holes that play directly alongside ocean beaches and a few that take advantage of mountainous terrain.

Six of the island’s courses rank inside the top 50 on Golfweek’s Best list of top courses in the Caribbean and Mexico, with Bahia Beach Resort and TPC Dorado Beach’s East course tops among those.

As of Friday, Puerto Rico had logged more than 3,400 cases of COVID-19 and more than 131 deaths from the virus. A 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew will remain in place until June 15, and all people will be required to wear a mask when outside or inside a business.

In opening its courses, Puerto Rico follows the U.S. trend in which all 50 states have allowed the game to resume or never shut it down. The National Golf Foundation reported this week that more than 97 percent of U.S. courses are operating now.

St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort in Puerto Rico (Courtesy of Bahia Beach Resort)

“This is encouraging news, and people wishing to visit the island can soon embrace all that is waiting for them when the time is right to travel,” Leah Chandler, chief marketing officer of Discover Puerto Rico, the island’s destination marketing organization, said in a news release.

Several of the island’s courses are currently open to the public, including Royal Isabela and Club Deportivo del Oeste. Several others – examples include TPC Dorado Beach, Palmas Athletic Club and Wyndham Grand Rio Mar – are only open to members but expect to accept public play soon.