Canadian Baxter Travel golf tourney enters thrilling final day
AFTER an exciting first day of classical golf on Monday, C J Smith, director of sales at Unique Vacations Canada, says he is anticipating a thrilling finish to the 26th staging of the annual Canadian Baxter Travel Industry Golf Tournament at the Sandals Golf and Country Club in Upton Estate, St Ann.
“The first day is off to a great start. The teams are super competitive and I am waiting to see what the count is on Monday and finishing up tomorrow. It is going to be fun; we are getting some good shots as well,” Smith told the Jamaica Observer.
“What to expect? Lots of upsets — that’s what you are going to expect on the final day. Expect that the people who are expected to win are not necessarily going to be the ones to win. This is a super competitive bunch and so you can’t really call the game until the final hole because they are that good,” Smith further expressed.
Smith said that while competition is fierce on the course, the golfers are enjoying themselves.
“It’s great energy as you have got people from all areas of the travel industry joining us and having a good time. It is a competitive environment but it is designed to be fun as well as a good cause because there’s some good partnership with the Sandals Foundation.
“The weather is nice, the caddies are fantastic — everyone is having a good time — and the Red Stripe beer is cold,” Smith effused.
The team of Norah Hogan, Joanne Shinwell, Curtis Dewar, and Jake Coldiron led day one with a score of 60 and were slightly better than the team of Angell Bennett, Racquel Queenborough, Colin Harris, and Charles Gorden, with a score of 61. The team of Chris Nowrouzi, Mitchell McLung, Lisa Lau and Robert Smith are third on a score of 65, with the team of William Duplak, Logan Senathirasa, Michael Degrace, and Michael Curmi rounding off the top four with a score of 67.
Gord Ramkisson, whose team is tied for sixth place, said he came here with one thing in mind — and that was to win the tournament.
“We have a really good chance of winning this. We came runners-up the last time this tournament was held and I told my partners today that I am running after nobody — let them run after us,” Ramkisson declared.
