ROSE HALL, St James — The inaugural Mojo6 Speedway golf which was played at the Cinnamon Hills course in Rose Hall last week has been hailed as a success by the organisers and sponsors of the week-long event.

Fifteen of the top Ladies Professional Golf Association’s (LPGFA) players and one of America’s top amateurs, 16 year-old Mariah Stackhouse, took part in the two-day event, which followed two days of Pro-Ams and several social events which kicked off last Monday and finished on Friday afternoon.

The event was played in an experimental format, which saw the top eight players having the chance to choose their own tee time and opponents for the six-hole matches.

On the first day each player played three rounds against different opponents and accumulated points for each hole, at the end of which the top eight advanced to Friday’s second day, contested on a straight matchplay format.

Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist won the tournament after beating Amarican Amanda Blumenherst 1up after an eagle on the par five-second hole in the final and took home the US$350,000 first prize and majestic trophy called ‘Goddess of the fairway’, which was designed by noted sculptor Basil Watson.

Joy Stephenson, president of organisers Mojo, was happy with her company’s involvement and said they were ready to come back next year.

Speaking to the Sunday Observer midway Friday’s proceedings, Stephenson — a Jamaican — said the event was “an overwhelming success”.

“It gave us a wonderful opportunity to showcase Jamaica and what we have to offer in terms of the ability to host events such as this and will be even bigger after it is aired on CBS early next month,” she said.

The event was taped by an American television network and will be aired May 1 and 2.

As for her company’s direct involvement, she said she was “ecstatic — if it works for Jamaica, it works for Mojo,” while promising, “We will be back; our sponsors are on board and are enthusiastic about starting discussions about having us back next year, but obviously Jamaica has to make it happen.”

Jamaica’s involvement, she said, was without question as the government was “very corporative, especially in the latter days and helping it to be a success.”

She said Mojo has been approached to be involved in other events outside of the golf tournament.

Looking ahead, she said while there was always room for improvement, she would love to see a lot more children coming out sooner, “so they can see what top flight golf is all about”.

American player, the wildly popular Christina Kim, won’t wait for another tournament, saying she is hoping her third trip to the island will come in the next few months.

“My week has been phenomenal. This is my second time in Jamaica this year and unfortunately, I did not get to the semi-finals, but had an incredible week,” she told the Sunday Observer.

Chesna Haber, a brand manager for Appleton at Wray and Nephew, a sponsor, said the event was “On the right track and our involvement was great”.

She said it was good having international professional golf of this calibre back in the island since the mid-1990s and pledged her company’s support for next year.

Latoya Williams, marketing manager for telecommunications company Claro, said they were “Very impressed with our association with the Mojo6”.