Fiji’s Jai Lin Rahman is leading defending champion Avinash Persaud at the end of the first day’s play of the GTT Business Solutions-sponsored Invitational Golf Tournament at the Lusignan Golf Course (LGC) yesterday.
The competition will resume today with Persaud looking to go all out in his title defence in hopes of not losing out to a foreigner on home soil. . Another name that is sure to be in the mix is Suriname’s top ranked golfer Ridel Doekoe.
Yesterday some 96 competitors took to the green, inclusive of golfers from Suriname, Canada, Barbados, Fiji, Mexico, the USA and Colombia.
Although there has been some controversy over whether or not the Guyana Open has been replaced by the GTT Business Solutions Invitational that is not the case.
In an exclusive comment to Stabroek News Sports, LGC Vice-president Brian Hacket revealed that due to an unprecedented interest in the club’s marquee event this year, they had to change the name and qualification basis for entry into the tournament.
While golfers from anywhere could have shown up and registered for the Open tournament, the invitational format has ensured that only recipients of invitations from the club are eligible to participate.
“Despite the name change, our premier event still has the same flavour, quality and entertainment,” stated Hackett.
He also pointed out that it has been the largest turnout at the tournament since its birth in 1965. The previous best according to Hackett was 82 participants during the 1990s.
The day’s play had to be split into two segments due to the large number of golfers and up to press time, there were no official results.
While GTT Business Solutions are the title sponsors, Oasis Cafe, Montra Bar and Banks DIH Limited, have also thrown their support behind the tournament.
