By Clifton Ross

REIGNING Guyana Open Golf champ Avinash Persaud and former Women’s champion Dr Joaan Deo, recently signed coaching deals with the Nexgen Golf Academy as part of the Guyana Golf Association’s (GGA) continued growth.
Dr Deo, ex-multiple-time Women’s Open cup winner and current Suriname Ladies champion, along with 10-time champ Persaud, arguably the best golfer in Guyana and the Caribbean, will now lend their expertise to the members of the club.

“The stars are at the Academy, every day and not just at night,” said GGA president Aleem Hussain as he announced that the stars are committing to the expansion of the academy as well as the fraternity, holistically.
“With the sport gaining momentum daily and national attention growing, the demand for the best training has caused us to seek the top coaches to join our team. We are pleased to announce that effective immediately, the coaching services of two of the top players in Guyana are now available at the Academy to ensure that new players are able to learn from the best players in the country.”

Avinash has represented Guyana in Trinidad, Suriname and Jamaica and has successfully defended the Guyana Open title an astonishing 10 times, beating off top competitors from all over the world.
He is undoubtedly the best player Guyana has ever seen in recent years, considering that he backs up his ability with a record that rivals top performance globally.
Persaud has the talent to hit shots that most players can only imagine and plans to teach all those who want to enjoy the game exactly how it’s done.
“Once you see how effortlessly and smoothly the ball can be hit and maximum distance generated, you will realise that any and everyone has the ability to enjoy this wonderful game,” said the champ.

Dr Deo, despite being in pursuit of her Master’s degree said that she has always been there with Hussain to promote the game and sees this as an obligation to the sport.
“Aleem and I represented Guyana in Barbados and Suriname and together went from school to school, University of Guyana and even Giftland Mall to teach the game and this is just another step towards making sure that golf climbs to become one of the most played and recognised sports in Guyana.”

Joaan has won top honours in Guyana and Suriname along with several major sponsored events locally and brings a fluid swing taught her by her father Chen Deo, former captain of the LGC. He had stated, “I am impressed with the efforts of the Golf Academy to attract so many women and children who are now playing golf for the first time, and it is important that they are given the best instruction at the very beginning.” said Chen.
“This move (to bring on coaches) shows that we are moving in the right direction.”

With more than 400 new players joining the sport in the past few months, the need for coaches has exceeded the current efforts being made by Mr Hussain and Colin Ming, who donated over 25 sets of junior golf clubs and assisted with a kids’ camp, to provide individual training to so many new players.
Additionally, the donations to create programmes for underprivileged children by Christopher Ram and Ramesh Dookhoo has set the stage for the game to continue its expansion as more individuals and corporations join to support such efforts.

The fully lighted Golf Academy and Driving Range is open daily from 06:00hrs to 20:00hrs under strict COVID-19 guidelines and is always in superb condition despite the rainy weather.
All equipment and balls are included in the low fee since the focus is on providing the best experience possible at the lowest cost.