Colombia earns event with strides in safety, golf

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Camilo Villegas has helped grow the game of golf in his native Colombia, which will host a Nationwide Tour event in 2010.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- It took five years to convince Nationwide Tour president Bill Calfee that staging a tournament in Colombia was feasible.

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That's how long Colombian golf officials, seeing the sport grow before their eyes, have pushed to host an American Tour event.

But Calfee had read the newspaper articles. He saw the TV reports. Colombia, as well as most of South America, didn't have the safest reputation around the world. So he and others waited.

Finally, Tour officials ceded a visit a few months ago. By the end of his trip, Calfee realized he had waited long enough; Colombia was ready. The Nationwide Tour proudly announced the addition of the Pacific Rubiales Bogota Open presented by Samsung to its 2010 schedule Wednesday.

The March event marks the first time a PGA TOUR-sanctioned tournament for official money will be played in South America, six years before golf will make its Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro. In the sport's global growth, it's another step -- a cautious one.

"We had some reservations [about coming to Colombia]," Calfee said. "It took us a long time to get comfortable, probably longer than we should have. We wanted to really make sure of who we were doing business with, how committed the government was."

On the trip to Bogota, Calfee met with an American ambassador and top Colombian government officials. He was assured that it would be safe to stage the event. Calfee toured the Colombian capital and checked out the tournament site, the Country Club of Bogota. The host contingent tried to show Calfee "a different Colombia."

"The main object was security because unfortunately everybody thinks Colombia is so dangerous," said German Calle, the tournament's executive director.

Calle and others insist the country has improved under President Alvaro Uribe, whose popularity could lead to an unprecedented third term. Security concerns have been allayed.

"The gap between the perception of the country and the reality of the country is very, very wide," Calfee said. "I felt very, very safe."

About a dozen Colombian officials were on hand for Wednesday's announcement, expressing glowing approval to boost the sport.

"It's not a tournament for me as director ... or the Country Club of Bogota," Calle said. "It's a tournament for the country."

Colombia does have a golf history. Arnold Palmer's second professional victory came at the 1956 Colombian Open. The event's winners list also includes Chi Chi Rodriguez, Sam Torrance, Bernhard Langer and native son Camilo Villegas, perhaps Colombia's biggest sports star.

It's not a stretch to say the Bogota Open wouldn't be possible without Villegas, a two-time PGA TOUR winner and recent Presidents Cup participant. His celebrity transcends the sport.

"He's all over the magazines," said Jose Maria Rodriguez, president of the Country Club of Bogota.

Thanks to Villegas' rapid rise, a Colombian TV station began broadcasting 30 PGA TOUR events per year in 2006.

"The Villegas effect," Calle said. "Camilo has done some great things for the country. He's a great ambassador, but it's not enough."

Why not? Bogota has more than 20 golf courses, and the country has more than 50. But Rodriguez cited that only three courses in Bogota are public, and the inherent expenses associated with the game are a hindrance.

Colombian golf officials hope it can still flourish. They see it happening in Asia, which hosted its first World Golf Championships event in China last month and touts LPGA major champions and 2009 PGA champ Y.E. Yang.

Colombia and South America also have a star in Villegas. They have a future not just with this event, but with the 2016 Olympics and the hope of a Presidents Cup coming to the continent.

Having waited five years for a Nationwide Tour event, they also have patience.

"It's a tournament that gives my country an opportunity to show the world the real Colombia," Calle said. "Colombia has a lot of potential."