… 24 overseas players already in Guyana for weekend’s tournament

GUYANA’S premier golfing event, the Guyana Open, was officially launched yesterday with title sponsor Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) handing over a sponsorship cheque valued at $3M to members of the Lusignan Golf Club (LGC).

President of the LGC, Patanjilee Persaud, said that the club was happy to collaborate with GTT and has rebranded the prestigious tournament this year as the GTT Guyana Open Golf Championships.

“When we first approached GTT for the sponsorship, they welcomed this opportunity to work together with the LGC for the premier event.”
Persaud added that the executives have gone the extra mile to ensure that all systems are in place to run off a smooth tournament.

Up to yesterday afternoon, some 66 players had already registered for the event, including 24 from outside of Guyana. The foreign players have travelled from North America and the Caribbean.

The lone female in the travelling side is defending female champion, Julia Stephenson from Barbados.

The Guyanese-born defeated former Guyana Open champion Shanella London by a single stroke when the event was last held in 2019.

This year, she will also have to contend with the likes of multi-time winner Christine Sukhram and another former champion, Joaan Deo.

PARTNERSHIP
Chief Operations Officer of Business Solutions in GTT, Orson Ferguson, acknowledged the partnership and pointed out that GTT is “extremely proud to be the title sponsor for this tournament”.

He added that the objective is to deepen the relationship with the golf club. “We think it’s a fantastic sport. It teaches people some valuable life lessons.”

Ferguson added that the hope is to build the game from the youth level.

“We will also challenge the Lusignan Golf Club to go even younger, to get into youth golf. We would like to see youth golf being played. We think again, it’s a fantastic sport and exposing kids to the sport is an important thing.”