RECOVERING from a broken shoulder suffered five months ago, Patanjalee ‘Pur’ Persaud won gloriously at the Demerara Mutual Golf Classic, last Saturday, from a field of very competitive golfers, all determined to put out their best form in preparation for the international Guyana Open of November 3 and 4 this year.

Teeing-off at 12:45hrs, the competitors played the 3 Flight system and, for the first time in Guyana, played in groups of 3 rather than 4. Another first was the ready-golf system, in which a player in a group would play as soon as he or she was ready, irrespective of whether the player farthest from the green was not yet ready to play.

This is a change in the play of international golf, to be introduced by the United States Golf Association (USGA) from 2019.

Prizes in this tournament were awarded to the 1st- and 2nd-place winner in each Flight, to the golfer with the Best Gross score, and to the golfer with the Best Net score. The golfer with the Best Net score was considered the best golfer for the day and was awarded the overall winner’s prize.

In the ‘A’ Flight – Handicaps 0-9 – winners were: 1st – Mike Mangal 72/9 and 2nd – Munaf Arjune 78/9. Other golfers in this category considered their scores not good enough to be mentioned.

In the ‘B’ Flight Handicaps 10-18 winners were: 1st – Patanjalee ‘Pur’ Persaud with a phenomenal 63/18 and 2nd Hilbert Shields 68/16. The significant thing about these two winners is that during the last 12 months, both were out of the game for an extended period of a minimum 3 months due to hand and shoulder injuries respectively! Their determined performances are a hallmark of the mental discipline that successful golfers embrace.

Veteran Patrick Prashad offered a great 68/10 for a tie for 2nd place, but came 3rd on the ‘Back 9’ recount. Other good scores were offered by Satrohan ‘Robin’ Tiwari 69/17; Joaan Deo 74/16; Kalyan Tiwari 75/14; Shanella Webster 76/16 and Parmanand ‘Max’ Persaud 77/15.

In the ‘C’ Flight, winners were: 1st – Bholawram Deo 66/19 and 2nd – Mahendra ‘Rommel’ Bhagwandin 69/19. Other reasonable scores were offered by Paton George 73/19; rookie Videsh Persaud 76/28; Haresh Tewari 77/19; and Troy Cadogan 78/26.

Best Gross (78) was won by Patrick Prashad, while the day’s winner with the Best Net score of 63 was Patanjalee ‘Pur’ Persaud!

Pur explained, “My game was very good in the Suriname Open of October 6 and 7 (2018) but I didn’t win, and I came here determined to win in this tournament, to make up for my close loss in Suriname!”

He was inspired by the memory of his late father who, as a champion bodybuilder, had encouraged him to always strive for excellence. Pur had used the expression: “I love that winning feeling”, when he won his first golf tournament nearly 2 years ago.