(Flashback)- Last year’s champions Vijay Deo (right) and Christine Sukhram pose with Digicel’s CEO Gregory Dean following the presentation ceremony .
Defending Digicel open champion Vijay Deo is the hot favourite to retain his crown when the event tees off today, at the Lusignan Golf Course.
Vijay, who defeated a strong filed that included a number of overseas-based players has been exhibiting a rich vein of form recently and was the best local player on show at the recently staged Suriname Open.
However, with the field anticipated to be a competitive one, he will have to reproduce last year’s performance to hold off many of the top players.
Among those expected to participate in the tournament are female champion Christine Sukhram, Carlos Adams, Brian Hackett, who led last year after the first day, William Walker, Colin Ming, Ian Gouveia, Jerome Khan, Dr. Ram Singh and Patrick Prashad among others.
According to a source, the greens are expected to be smooth and fast, allowing for the golfers to produce a high quality of play.
The format will be the Medal play where all the players will be handicapped, while each day will see a winner being declared.
The winner will be the player with the best net score, while prizes will also be awarded for the longest drive of the day, nearest to the pin and the longest shot of the fairway.
Over $1.4 million has been expended for the tournament.