Ansa McAl annual Golf tourney lives up to expectations

Feb 26, 2015 Sports

– ‘Pur’ and Shanella excel

Patanjalee ‘Pur’ “I love the winning feeling” Persaud and Shanella “By His Grace I win” Webster with their sterling performances emerged clear winners in the annual exciting Ansa McAl sponsored Golf tournament

From left standing are – Ansa A McAl staff, PRO – D. Yussuf (red top), Brand Coordinator – R. Hitchcock, LGC President – D. Mohamad, 2nd place winner – S. Webster (centre), 3rd place winner – J. Solomon, LD – K. Tiwari, 2 other Ansa McAL staff.
Stooping from left; NTP – M. Bhagwandin, 1st place winner – ‘Pur’ Persaud and 4th place winner and BG – A. Kishore.

at the Lusignan Golf Course on Saturday last.
Rain delayed the scheduled Tee-off from 12:00noon to near 1:00p.m., causing group composition to be announced inside the Club House rather than normally done in the open on the golf grounds. Ansa McAL, represented by Robert Hitchcock – Heineken Brand Coordinator, and Darshanie Yussuf – PRO, along with some three other staff members were present even before the scheduled midday start. Club member, Troy Cadogan, whose input at Ansa McAl continues to promote support for the Lusignan Golf Club, played in the tournament returning a reasonable score of 24/73. The Ansa McAl representatives indicated they thoroughly enjoyed the day’s activity, with Mr Hitchcock even giving thought to becoming a golfer.
Some 39 golfers took to the course which was in commendable condition – despite the rain – due to the tremendous work being done by the ground staff. At the end of play, it was Pur Persuad (26/65); Shanella Webster (23/65) dubbed the “Most Improved Female Player -2014” by Captain Chen Deo;Joe Solomon (26/68) – 86-year old former West Indies batman; and Avinda ‘Gangully’ Kishore (2/68) former Guyana-Open winner, who placed 1st to 4th respectively by their net scores.
Keen rivalry produced same net for Persaud and Webster, as well as same net for Solomon and Kishore! But it was the better back nine of 30 that pushed Persaud into 1st against Webster’s 33, and caused Solomon’s 32 to place him 3rd before Kishore’s 34.
Nearest to the Pin (NTP), was won by Mahendra Bhagwandin. Longest Drive (LD), (some 270 feet,) was achieved by Kalyan Tiwari who quickly asserted that he is currently “the Biggest Driver on the golf course!” Best Gross (BG) of 70 was won by Avinda Kishore – his performance ‘parred’ the course – an accomplishment few local golfers have in their lifetime!
The day’s champion, ‘Pur’ Persaud commented, “While golfing is my hobby – I play for the fun and enjoyment of the game – I recognise that mental toughness and concentration are necessary to produce a good game.” Very well said, especially for the day’s play when a distraction almost threw him off of his win! He continued in cheerful spirit, “It’s not easy keeping focus throughout the game; I had a few hitches, but I persevered. I plan to take my game in hand this year and to bring my handicap down to single digits, if that’s possible in such time!”
Public Relations Officer of Ansa McAl (Guyana), Ms Yussuf thanked the LGC for the opportunity to contribute to Golf in Guyana another year. She congratulated the winners and encouraged the other golfers to maintain good play. She added, “I look forward to us at Ansa McAl sponsoring another exciting tournament for golf in 2016.” The company is a subsidiary of the Ansa McAl Group of Companies -one of the largest conglomerates in the Caribbean,- and continues to be one of the very reliable sponsors of tournaments for the Lusignan Golf Club.