… Record number of entrants to compete
CHIEF Executive Officer of Digicel (Guyana) Incorporated Gregory Dean will at 05:45hrs swing the first club to tee-off his company’s inaugural Digicel Guyana Open Golf Tournament which is being contested over the next two days at the Lusignan Golf Course (LGC).

In an invited comment, vice-president of the LGC, David Mohammed, informed Chronicle Sport yesterday that close to a record 100 entrants, including the defending champion Avenash Persaud will be vying for supremacy over the next two days.
“The fairways and rough are in excellent conditions, while the green is lightning fast so the players will enjoy competing over the next two days in this tournament, since they will be doing so in an atmosphere that was never before seen at the club,” said Mohammed.
He said the clubhouse has been repainted, while indoor facilities have been upgraded at the Lusignan, East Coast Demerara-based venue, which is expected to be buzzing with activity, as the male competitors battle in three flights, namely 0-9, 10-18 and 19-28 with the best gross and net being rewarded, while on the distaff side, the players will compete with handicaps 0-36.
Among the players expected to traverse the fairways and greens in their aim to be crowned the Digicel Guyana Open Golf champion are: Alfred Mentore, Clifford Reis, Christine Sukhram, Avinda Kishore, Shenella Webster, Troy Cadogan, Jaipaul Seenanand and Roger Rajkumar.
“Certainly, this is a record number of entrants for any golf tournament in Guyana, living up to Digicel’s slogan ‘Bigger, Better Network’ and we are thankful to Digicel for being the premier sponsor of this tournament and I am sure that after seeing what the players will be putting out over the next two days, they will gladly be on board with us for another Guyana Open tournament next year,” said Mohammed.
He disclosed that of the competitors who have registered to date, 13 hail from Suriname, 8 from Canada and 6 from Trinidad and Tobago and 6 from the United States of America – a total of 33 overseas competitors – while they are awaiting the French Guiana contingent.
Below is a list of the previous winners of the Guyana Open Golf tournament, prior to Digicel becoming the premier sponsor this year:

1999 – Mohanlall Dinnanauth
2000 – Mohanlall Dinnanauth
2001 – Mr Yan
2002 – Alfred Mentore
2003 – No tournament
2004 – Marlon Albino
2005 – Mike Mangal
2006 – Avenash Persaud
2007 – Jaipaul Seenanand
2008 – Imran Khan
2009 – Avenash Persaud
2010 – Avenash Persaud
2011 – Papo Haniff (Rajkumar won the Digicel-sponsored Golf Classic in 2011)
2012 – Avenash Persaud

(By Calvin Roberts)