This weekend’s Digicel sponsored Guyana Open golf tournament promises to be the biggest thus far.
So said Dave Mohamed, vice-president of the Lusignan Golf Club (LGC) at the tournament’s launch yesterday in the boardroom of the sponsors in Kingston.
According to Mohammed, approximately 90 golfers will be participating in this year’s tournament.
According to Mohammed, this year’s tournament has attracted participants from the USA, Canada, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
Mohammed said that the club was pleased to have the telecommunications giant as their premier sponsor and promised that the event will be exciting.
He wished all the players both local and foreign the best of luck, confirming that the course was in excellent condition despite recent showers.
President of the Lusignan Golf Club (LGC) Jerome Khan was also of the opinion that the tournament would be exciting.
“What I can tell is that this tournament is going to be very, very competitive and exciting.
“As we speak, we have at least 72 golfers confirmed for this weekend. Out of that figure, 30 are from overseas, and those golfers have been arriving in Guyana over the past week,” said Khan.
Digicel’s Head of Marketing Jacqueline James said that the company, which has been sponsoring most sports disciplines in Guyana, was excited to be involved in golf.
She urged Guyanese, both young and old to come out and support the tournament and thanked the LGC for its support in the partnership.
Digicel’s Head of Sales Nalini Vieira reiterated the views of James adding that the tournament will be “phenomenal” event.
The defending champions are Avinash Persaud and Christine Sukhram. Persaud is a four-time winner of the event while Sukhram has also won the tournament more than once.
Some of the leading overseas golfers expected to participate include Roger Rajkumar, Andrew Claxton, M.F. Shaffie, Mo Shaffie, Anwar Shafi and Ramesh Hardowar.
Meanwhile 2011 Digicel Open winner, Raj Kumar, said that he was “pleased to be back home,” and was optimistic about doing well in this year’s event.
He also opined that at least 20 to 30 other golfers have what it takes to win the tournament.
The tourney will see the men’s category being contested in three flights; 0-9, 10-18 and 19 -28, while the females who are expected to be on display will play one flight. Tee-off time is expected to be announced later in the week and the deadline for registration closes Friday.
