OCHO RIOS, Jamaica — Organisers of the annual Sandals Latin America Travel Agents Golf Tournament have hailed it a success, saying that their goals were achieved at its fifth staging held at the Sandals Golf and Country Club.

Over 80 participants, including professional golfers from Latin American countries, took part in the tournament which was held last Friday and Saturday. The teams played in a four-man scramble format, putting their skills to the test throughout the tournament.

At the end of the exciting two days, Team Six comprising of Ricardo Aleman, Edwin Vega, Yon Jayo and Bruno Chaquyo from Panama were crowned the overall champions with a final score of 62 points. They scored 32 on the first day to take the lead and 30 on the second and final day of the competition to take the title in a close race.

Aleman, who is the team captain, thanked his players on a job well done.

“I think we felt very positive and we had a really good round on the final day of the competition. Going five under par was good and we as a team really played well. This was our first time in Jamaica and this golf course is very nice; it is short but demanding and so you had to be very accurate. You have to play with your heads,” Aleman told the Jamaica Observer.

Team 15 (Ayira Prates, Daniela Schiitz, Agostinho Netto and Renato Santos from Brazil), who were third on the first day with a score of 37, shot 28 on the final day for a total score of 65 points to secure second place ahead of Team Four (Hector Fregoso, Monica Valdez, Derado Villareal and Sylvia Chavez from Mexico) with a total score of 68 points.

Other notable winners were Alejandro Alvarez from Argentina (closest to the pin — male), Melida Zuniga from Costa Rica (closest to the pin — female), Renata Santos from Brazil (longest drive — male) and Jazmin Cordeo from Costa Rica (longest drive — female).

Miguel Arthurs, general manager of the Sandals Golf and Country Club, said that he was pleased with how the tournament finished as the golfers really enjoyed themselves.

“With over 80 participants we got close to US$1,000. There never was a ceiling but we surpassed our minimum target though. The final day was excellent as usual. This was our fifth annual tournament and the aim was to showcase the golf Jamaican product and Jamaica itself and not just Sandals, but ensuring that the travel agents got a genuine Jamaican experience,” Arthurs said.

Silvio Paez, director of sales for Latin America, was also upbeat.

“Latin American, right now, is the most fast-growing market that we have in the company, and it is a commitment of Mr Adam Stewart, the chairman of Sandals, and his team to invest in Latin America. This is a great investment, I mean like over 100 travel agents from 12 different countries all over Latin America are here in Jamaica and to know what Jamaica has to offer,” Paez said.

— Ruddy Allen