United States Ambassador, Her Excellency Sarah Ann Lynch expressed her support for the Nexgen Golf Academy Cancer Awareness 5th Annual Golf event on Friday afternoon when she joined dozens of players who came out to participate.

Ambassador Lynch said “I applaud Aleem and his team for this amazing setting and his continued support for a wonderful cause. I hope that this serves as an example and leads to more events for charity across the country.”

The Ambassador, on behalf of Nexgen Golf and Maraiko Bay Resorts, Assuria General Insurance, Toolsie Persaud Ltd and H. Nauth & Sons, presented a check to Ms. Monette Harry from the Cancer Institute who thanked the donors. “This has become an annual event that needs little co-ordination since we’ve had the support from Nexgen and Mr. Hussain for so many years, and it’s getting bigger and better!”

Ambassador Lynch then went on to take a golf lesson and demonstrate that her talents extended beyond diplomacy as she exceeded even her own expectations by hitting the ball close to the 100-yard marker, prompting her comment, “Aleem has finally convinced me to play after many years and this facility, so close to the Embassy, will make it much easier for me to join Kevin when he’s next here.”

Amongst those in attendance were Ian Lee Chung, Executive Director of the Private Sector Commission; Roberto Reale, Country Manager American-Caribe; Rudy Ramalingum, COO Maraiko Bay; Yogendra Arjune, General Manager Assuria General Insurance; Mohamed Majeed, general manager H. Nauth & Sons; and Halim ‘Noel’ Khan, president of the Region 3 Private Sector; Deputy Mayor, Alfred Mentore and Deputy Speaker, Lenox Shuman.

Hussain said to the gathering, “We all know someone who has been affected by cancer (our family lost Dr. Abu Bakar Hussain) several years ago, so this is somewhat personal and rest assured, we will continue the fight.”

The Pink-themed event, which was co-ordinated by Ms. Dianne Innis of Party Castle, was set on the lawns of the golf academy and guests were treated to food and beverages which were served by the UG Second Year medical students who volunteered, in advance, their first luncheon event set for next Saturday at the same venue, along with complimentary massages provided by Modfin Salon & Spa.

Hussain was joined by Allied Arts Unit Sports Co-ordinator, Kurt Braithwaite, after their return from training at eight secondary schools in Region Two. Mr. Braithwaite emphasized that the response to the development of Golf nationwide by Nexgen continues to defy expectations and the next phase would be the building of courses and facilities to train golfers.

Hussain said, “We have laid the foundation and planted the seeds for growth and in our discussions with Noel, we will see rapid growth of the sport in Region Three. We hope that this model of co-operation and promotion is adopted by everyone as it has produced proven results.”

Meanwhile, the in-house golf competition that saw defending Guyana and Barbados Women’s Champion, Julie Stevenson, show-casing her talent ahead of her defence of her title on Saturday.
Winners were as follows:

Women
First Place: Jennifer Timmins
Second Place: Rebecca Wills
Third place: Hardeevi Parsad

Men
First: Devindra Raghubansi
Second: Kelvin Doman
Third: Deputy Speaker, Lenox Shuman

Juniors
First: Adam Arjune
Second: Rishi Jhaveri
Third: Rebecca Reale