NEGRIL, Westmoreland — On Sunday, the Couples Resorts Negril Charity golf tournament returned after a two-year absence at the Negril Hills course and raised $1.4 million which is earmarked for various charities.

Green Island High School in Hanover and Montego Bay Animal Haven will benefit from the proceeds, Glenn Lawrence, the chief executive officer of Couples Resorts, told reporters after the event.

Forty-six players showed up for the event at the par 72 course as the annual event resumed after a break forced by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The team of national amateur player Sean Morris and John Hayletts was the net winner with a 63.5 score, while Oshaye Haye and Clive Chambers combined to take the gross winners honours with a score of 65.

In addition to topping the field, Morris also won the putting contest in a play-off, while there were four winners of closest to the pin contest: Murine Blake at the fourth hole; Kerry Washington at the seventh hole; Vernal Campbell at the 10th hole; and Philip Dewar at the 16th hole.

“It went well, we ended up with 46 players which exceeded our expectations,” Lawrence said.

“We know Negril is a tough ask for many players, but we had players from Kingston, Ocho Rios and Montego Bay, primarily, so we had a good turnout and we raised about $1.4m between participation, raffles and donation from the sponsors.”

He said the charity had pledged to cover the “entire bill” for reconstruction work at Green Island High, which had recently “come off the shift system and needs partitioning in some of the classrooms”.

Looking ahead, Lawrence said while they appreciated that the Negril is not a close venue for the majority of players, they were thinking of “taking it to a full field of 72 players”.

He added:”That will take a lot of selling to the players, especially those in Kingston who make up the majority of players. But we will try to make it more attractive but considering this was the first since COVID, it was not a bad turnout.”

Hugh Logan, director of sales for Caribbean Producers Jamaica’s institutional division, whose company has been involved with the event from the start, told the Jamaica Observer: “CPJ has been involved with supporting the ISSA Foundation since it existed. I have a personal interest in playing golf so I get to do both. I get to fulfill the support, both in terms of supporting one of our great customer relationships as well as supporting a cause that every Jamaican ought to support.”