Persaud cruises to Lusignan Open title

From left: President Aleem Hussain; Imtiaz Subhan; Chandra Lakeraj; ‘Pur’ Persaud; Maurice Solomon; Avinash Persaud; Dr. Joaan Deo; Mohanlall Dinanauth; Paton George; Kassim Khan; Lekhnarine Shivraj; and Captain ‘Chen’ Deo.
From left: President Aleem Hussain; Imtiaz Subhan; Chandra Lakeraj; ‘Pur’ Persaud; Maurice Solomon; Avinash Persaud; Dr. Joaan Deo; Mohanlall Dinanauth; Paton George; Kassim Khan; Lekhnarine Shivraj; and Captain ‘Chen’ Deo.

Reigning Guyana Open champion Avinash Persaud added the Lusignan Golf Open on Sunday to his long list of titles as he continues to sit at the pinnacle of the sport locally.

Persaud’s first day had already pinned him in the lead but as the dust settled in the A flight (0-9 handicap), he easily walked off with the Best Gross and Best Net scores

The top seed grossed 72 on day two while Chandra Lakeraj trailed with 76 and Mike Mangal, 79. Patrick Prashad and Kassim Khan tied with a gross score of 80.

Persaud’s gross of 144 and a two handicap, gave him a net score of 140. Lakeraj and Khan both tied on 145 but with Lakeraj was better on the back nine forcing Khan to settle for third.

Meanwhile in the B Flight, Dr. Joaan Deo emerged the top golfer in the 10-18 handicap division.

Deo had a remarkable day, bettering her first day’s play by shaving 10 strokes off y to close day two with 80, disrupting the order of the group and breaking away from a three-man tie for the top spot at the end of day one. Lekhnarine Shivraj, Satrohan Tiwari and Aasrodeen Shaw were the front runners of the group on day two with scores of 84, 86 and 87 respectively while Aleem Hussain and Kalyan Tiwari tied on 89 and Max Persaud, Ian Gouveia, Ravi Persaud and Lakeram Ramsundar tied on 90.

Deo’s combined net score of 138 made her the clear winner with Shivraj ending as the runner up with 145 and Patanjalee “Pur” Persaud finishing third with 149.

The young dentist said it was a rough first day having struggled with her putts, however, according to her “I just went out there and war to play my best golf…Honestly I was just happy to put up a good score.”

Deo said that the competition in the B flight was always keen since the majority of the players fall in this division but that she was glad to come out on top.

In the C flight (19-28 handicap), Maurice Solomon grossed 90, nine less than his first day to come out on top with Imtiaz Subhan grossing 96 and Philbert London reaching 110.

Solomon’s combined net score of 145 saw him five points ahead of second placed Subhan while third place was won by London with a net of 167.

Mohanlall Dinanauth won the longest drive with 325 yards while Paton George won the nearest to the pin with one meter.