Vice President of the Anguilla Golf Association (AGA), Mr. Valentine Banks, is making his voice heard against the high rates per round for local golfers who desire to play on the Greg Norman designed golf courses at the Aurora Resort.
Mr. Banks said that he would like the public to know that voicing his displeasure with the high rates for local golfers to play at the facility should not viewed as a political issue or be considered disruptive. He simply needs the public to be aware of the fact that, for the sake of the sport being played by locals, insurmountable fees pose a major cause of discouragement and turn off. Further, he said that it is his view that the resort is unconcerned about the interest of local players, whether young or old.
Mr. Banks claims that he met with the Management of Aurora and the Government of Anguilla in an effort to have the rates made more affordable to Anguillians, but such meetings were basically unproductive.
In an email to the Honourable Premier, Dr. Ellis Webster, dated June 8, 2022, Mr. Banks described the local rates as being “suppressive”. The email states in part: “Some time ago, I initiated discussions with you regarding the suppressive rates being charged by Aurora to local golfers, wishing to play on its courses”.
Mr. Banks said to The Anguillian that the Anguilla Golf Association has made several efforts to have the rates reduced to an affordable level for local players. We have had a face-to-face meeting with Government, and we have communicated via written correspondence.
In his email to the Premier Mr. Banks reflected: “We have had a meeting with Mr. Schulze, the owner of Aurora, Scott Delong, the Golf Course Director, Ms. DeeAnn Kentish-Rogers, Minister of Sports, Mr. Noel Egan, the AGA President, and yours truly, the Vice President of AGA. In that meeting, Mr. Schultze made what I regard as an unfortunate statement to the effect that if Anguillians were unable to afford to play at Aurora, then “there was a golf course 15 minutes away by boat.”‘
The email to the Premier continued: “For the past 15 years, from 2006 to 2021, Anguillians were playing golf virtually uninterrupted on the course, now known as Aurora. Over that period the rates charged were based on circumstances at the time, and ranged between $80 to $125 per round at any time of day. To suddenly change the rate to $205 per round after 1:00 p.m., in the current environment, marks an increase of over 100%. As a consequence, Anguillians have been blocked from playing golf on the courses.”
In commenting on the situation, Mr. Banks noted to The Anguillian, that despite several discussions, Aurora has made no consequential move towards a tangible rate reduction for locals. “Besides”, he said, “We should not have to go 15 minutes away by boat to play in St. Maarten, as Mr. Schultze offensively suggested. We have the accommodations here, but the high rates are against us.”
Again referring to his 8th June email to the Premier, he pointed out the section which stated: “Our last correspondence with you was on April 19th, 2022, just after we had received an adjusted rate proposal from Aurora. I pointed out to you, at that time, that though there were some changes to the rates, the rates for the time of day most utilised for play by Anguillians remained unchanged. You suggested to me that your action on that matter would be guided only “if” the Minister of Sports, Ms. DeeAnn Kentish-Rogers, wanted to lead further discussions on it. Such discussions have neither been held nor arranged.”
As an avid golfer, Mr. Banks said that he is disappointed over the fact the Government has not continued the effort in trying to resolve this issue. He said that it is extremely disheartening to him, particularly given the fact that he played a role, historically, in the establishment of a golf course on Anguilla.
He revealed that as far back as 2002 the two local banks, namely National Bank of Anguilla and The Caribbean Commercial Bank, which realised the need for golf as another product in our tourism market lent money to the developer for that golf course.
To explain the history, he said: “Through my affiliation with the Caribbean Association of Indigenous Banks, I knew the Managing Director of Republic Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, Mr. Ronald Harford”.
“When Mr. Sillerman approached NBA about a loan to start the horizontal works on the course in 2002, I held discussions with Mr. Preston Bryan, Managing Director of the Caribbean Commercial Bank, and we agreed we could propose to our Boards that the both banks lend about $5 million each”.
“That would not have been sufficient financing, so I then contacted Ronald Harford and explained the plan to him. I told him that it would be a great opportunity to join with CCB and NBA for the benefit of tourism on Anguilla. He readily agreed and, in that manner, our three banks – Republic Bank, Caribbean Commercial Bank and the National Bank of Anguilla – provided syndicate financing for the golf course’s horizontal works”.
“Obviously, the local banks and the people of Anguilla have contributed immensely to Anguilla’s golf course. Anguillian families on the island, and the Government, contributed land to that golf course project. Now, how insulting it is that we cannot conveniently play on the land which this island put into the golf course project”.
In closing his June 8th email to the Premier, Mr. Banks wrote: “The Anguilla Golf Association has now determined that it will pursue courses of action designed to significantly raise the awareness of the Anguillian public to the suppressive stance of Aurora to locals playing golf on its Anguilla courses. Hopefully, these actions will result in a re-think by Aurora.”
