Kameika Swaby and Kalefia Bryan, realtors at Keller Williams present Clifton Johnson with the winning trophy at the MCOBA/Lindy Delapenha Golf Tournament after he tallied 44 points to take the title.
Contributed
Clifton Johnson, Diane Hudson, and George Hugh emerged as the top winners at the 7th MCOBA/Lindy Delapenha Golf Tournament, held at the Caymanas Golf and Country Club recently. The tournament, which saw 88 participants, was marked by excellent weather conditions until the afternoon when rain began to fall, just as most players completed their rounds.
Johnson was crowned the overall winner of the tournament, scoring 44 points in the Stableford format. His victory earned him a weekend stay for two at the Half Moon Hotel and a gift basket from Carimed. Hudson, who won the Women's championship with 38 points, received a weekend stay for two at the Spanish Court Hotel and a gift basket from Carimed. Hugh, the Super Senior Men's champion with 41 points, was awarded a weekend stay for two at Jamaica Inn.
In the Men and Senior Men’s category, Damian Chung took first place with 42 points, followed by Calvery Winn with 41 points, and Paul Authurs with 40 points. In the Super Senior Men's category, Khaleel Azan finished as the runner-up, also with 41 points, and Gord Hutchinson came in third with 39 points. Jennifer Mendes was the runner-up in the Women's category with 37 points, while Maggie Lyn finished third with 30 points. Dane Marsh, with 36 points, was the best-performing Munro Old Boy.
Tournament Manager Telroy Morgan, who also participated in the tournament, described this year's event as the most successful yet. "This is the most successful event to date on several fronts inclusive of the tournament being oversubscribed. Unfortunately, we couldn’t accommodate some of the golfers who tried to register on the day, so it seems like next year we’ll need to stage the event over two days to accommodate all the golfers."
Morgan added, "It was a thrill to participate in the tournament for the first time. The possibility of winning the hole-in-one prize was thrilling, but more so, just being out on the course interacting with fellow golfers enjoying the atmosphere was priceless."
Nevin Nish, Qualified Principal Broker at Keller Williams, the main sponsors of the event, expressed pride in the success of the tournament. "Keller Williams Jamaica is very proud of this year’s staging of the Lindy Delapenha Munro College Golf Classics. As title sponsors, it was so heartwarming to see that we were oversubscribed."
Nish continued, "Even to the end of the tournament, and even as it rained, 90% of the golfers stayed right throughout the ceremony. We had a great time. The boys at Munro College will definitely benefit from all the proceeds because 100% of the proceeds go back to those boys at the institutions which are facing hard times. We are delighted, and we congratulate the organizers as well as the Caymanas Golf Club Team for this year's execution, and we look forward to continued support."
Winsome Gibbs, Branch Manager of CG United Insurance Limited, which sponsored the hole-in-one prize, reflected on the event as a day well spent. "It was an honor for our company, CG United, to participate in such a prestigious event. As a people-first organization, we are always happy to support initiatives that contribute to the growth and development of young people in our communities. The experience of watching each golfer take their shot at the hole-in-one was both exciting and nerve-wracking for me. Ultimately it was a bittersweet feeling at the end of the day but with our golfer’s insurance in place, I knew we were covered."
Both golfers and sponsors are already looking forward to next year's event after enjoying a memorable day of golf and camaraderie.
Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.
Caymanas Golf Club all set to host 36th annual Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championship
The Caribbean region’s best young golfers are set to descend upon Jamaica’s Caymanas Golf Course soon to participate in the 36th staging of the Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championship.
Teams will start arriving in Jamaica on July 1 with the competition set to take place from July 3-5 with the first tee time set at 7:00 AM local time.
There will be eight competing countries and these include hosts Jamaica, defending champions Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.
Among these countries, there will be approximately 85 participants taking part in the championships split into the Boys and Girls 18 & Under, Boys & Girls 15 & Under and Boys & Girls 13 & Under categories.
The official media launch for the junior golf showcase was held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston on Thursday.
“The hosting of this prestigious event represents not only a celebration of golf, but it also fulfils our mandate by providing a platform for our junior golfers to hone their skills in addition to being a testament to the spirit of sportsmanship, camaraderie and youthful exuberance that thrives in our Caribbean region,” said President of the Jamaica Golf Association, Jodi Munn-Barrow, at Thursday’s launch.
Lead sponsors of the July 3-5 championships are BCIC Insurance Company Limited and their CEO, Peter Levy, expressed happiness to be a part of this competition.
“It’s an opportunity for us to reaffirm BCIC’s commitment to youth development through our title sponsorship of this prestigious event,” he said.
“BCIC has always believed in the power of sport to shape our society and we see this partnership as an investment in the dreams and aspirations of young golfers across the Caribbean,” he added.
Also on hand to give a glimpse of what to expect from the course itself was Caymanas Golf Club General Manager, Peter Lindo.
“Our picturesque little course in St. Catherine eagerly awaits the talented young golfers who will be representing their countries. Our course superintendent, Mr. Jerry Hardy, and out groundskeepers have been working meticulously preparing the course taking every measure possible to present optimal playing conditions,” he said.
“We’ve had some unusually hot dry weather up until last week and that little spell of rain has given us an even greener landscape. One of the challenges we’ve had over the years is the deterioration of our bunkers and Jamaica Aggregates Limited were very kind in donating sand which will go a very long way in the resuscitation of the bunkers,” he added.
Other main sponsors for the championship include Sandals Foundation, R&A, Fleetwood, ORCA Golf, Caribbean Golf Association, CMK Bakery and Digicel Business.
Jodi Munn-Barrow to serve second term as Jamaica Golf Association president
The first female to become president of the Jamaica Golf Association (JGA) returns unopposed for her second-consecutive term of office. Jodi Munn-Barrow had no challenger for the top position of the JGA when the organization hosted its election at the Constant Golf Club recently.
“It’s a true honour to be elected as president of the Jamaica Golf Association. I look forward to working with the members of the new executive committee. The first matter of importance that we will be looking at is the hosting of the Caribbean Amateur Junior Championships in July and then we continue to focus on our Jamaica Open but grateful to have a good committee and grateful to lead this august body” said a delighted Munn-Barrow.
She was nominated by the immediate past president Peter Chin, who is an avid golfer and chairs the Jamaica Open Golf Championship committee.
Vice president Dr. Mark Newnham returned unopposed as well after being nominated by Robert Chin.
The other elected members of the committee are William Brown –Treasurer, Fred Sutherland – Honourary Secretary, Alison Reid – Junior Golf Chairperson, Rowena Coe – Ladie’s Representative, along with committee members Dave Lyn, Vikram Dhiman, Robert Chin, Teddy Alexander and Dave Cameron.
Alexander and Cameron will be serving on the JGA executive for the first time. Cameron, the former president of the West Indies Cricket Board can be seen on the golf course from time to time.
Schauffele: McIlroy put under a microscope after losses
Xander Schauffele believes Rory McIlroy is under tougher scrutiny when he loses and empathises with his need to take time off from the sport.
McIlroy came within touching distance of winning the US Open on Sunday but disappointingly fell short as Bryson DeChambeau claimed the title by a single shot in North Carolina.
The Northern Irishman bogeyed three of the last four holes in the last round at Pinehurst, including a woeful miss from a short putting distance on the 18th allowing DeChambeau to take the win.
McIlroy, a four-time major winner, has not won one of golf's top events since 2014 at the PGA Championship and announced on Sunday in a post on social media that he would be taking a few weeks away from the game following the event.
Schauffele, who was grouped with McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler for the US Open, understands why the 35-year-old has chosen to take a break.
"As a competitor, all of us have had our highs and lows to a certain degree. It's a tough spot.
"I'm sure him and his team are discussing what happened, and sometimes you just need to step away from it all and really try and be as objective as possible, because you're very much in the moment there and it obviously didn't go his way.
"He needs some time away to figure out what's going on."
The American won his first major in May, beating DeChambeau to the PGA Championship title at Valhalla, finally ending his reputation for struggling to close on final-round leads.
"It's different for everyone. It's hard for me to compare my losses to his losses," Schauffele added. "I would say his, he's under a bit more of a microscope.
"When things are going really well, people are all over him, and unfortunately, when things don't go your way, people are all over him.
"So, there's a microscope on him on why he didn't win and things of that nature, and he's going to have to answer those questions at some point, and he will, because he always does.
"I wear them pretty hard, but sometimes it's nice to just get back on the horse and compete."
McIlroy will return in time for The Open Championship in July, where he will look to end his decade-long major drought.
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