Couples golf tournament raises funds to assist Bahamas
As The Bahamas continues to recover from the passage of Hurricane Dorian, Couples Resorts is set to join the relief efforts following a successful 13th staging of their annual charity golf tournament in Negril.
According to organisers, the majority of the US$30,000 (aproximately Ja $4 million) raised will be donated through ISSA Trust Foundation to two agencies – Direct Relief and Heart to Heart – both of whom are currently on the ground in The Bahamas offering medical assistance.
It is understood that $250,000 from the amount will be donated to long-time beneficiary Montego Bay Animal House to aid with operational expenses.
While most of the funds came by way of an online raffle, organisers lauded sponsors and participants of the tournament, whose kind donations also ensured that the target was met.
Cristy Cowan was the lucky winner of the online raffle for a five -ight stay at a Couples Swept Away Beachfront Suite valued at US$4,000. Sponsors Digicel also gave away a smartphone in another raffle for those on the ground.
Following the announcement, Glenn Lawrence, the chief executive officer of Couples Resorts, expressed delight with the overall outcome both on and off the Negril Hills Golf Course on Sunday.
“We have relief agencies on the ground that we have been in touch with and we are likely to give 95 per cent of what was raised to those agencies.
“We all saw the images of what happened in The Bahamas, we are all Caribbean people and we thought this would be an appropriate contribution to make to people who have been hit very hard. Jamaica is also prone to these disasters, so we are all neighbours and we are trying our best to be good neighbours,” Lawrence shared.
A total of 42 golfers from different parts of Jamaica as well as Ireland and Belgium graced the lush and expansive golf course for the entertaining two-man scramble format 18-hole competition.
In the end, the pair of Nadine Godfrey and Phillip Wilson came out tops on the net score side with 62, ahead of the pair of former Cricket West Indies (CWI) President Dave Cameron and Sherard Philbert, who scored 64.75.
The team of Steve Richards and Norris Scafe (64.75), Glenn Lawrence and Richard White (65.5) and Jesse Brooks and Josh Small (66) completed the top five.
On the gross score side, Murine Blake and Vernal Campbell finished tops with a score of 67, ahead of the pair of Neville Carr and Paul Arthurs (68).
Mike Hefty won the putting contest, while Melissa Glaze, Aubyn Ferguson, Richard White and Nadine Godfrey were the closest to the pin winners.
