Errol Eccles shot a top score of 39 to be named overall champion at the eighth staging of the MCOBA/Lindy Delapenha Golf Classic, played in a Stableford format at the Caymanas Golf Club last Saturday.

Eccles, who walked away with a weekend for two at Half Moon hotel and a Jamaica Standard Products gift basket, surprised himself with his win. He was delighted to have his name associated with the legendary Lindy Delapenha.

“It was a lovely day. I did better than I have been doing more recently. It was good to be out there with a whole lot of people for a good cause, and to be crowned champion on top of that is just the cherry on top.

“I’m part of a ‘Weekend Warriors’ group, and I am proud of that group. That’s why I am here, and I am happy to win this for them. Lindy, arguably one of Jamaica’s greatest sportsmen ever, to win something with his name on it is just magnificent and an honour,” he said.

There was no winner of the special hole-in-one prize at hole #10, which offered a grand prize of a 2025 Nissan E-Power X-Trail, however, Cedric Blair came closest to snagging the prize.

As she so often does, Diane Hudson, who is the only female to ever be crowned overall champion at the tournament, topped the ladies’ category with a 38 and won for herself a weekend for two at Sandals Beaches and a gift basket from Carimed. Maggie Lyn was the runner-up after scoring a 37 and received a Spa Divine gift certificate and a gift basket from Carimed.

Richard Josephs topped the Super Senior Men’s category with a 38 and won for his troubles a weekend for two at Jamaica Inn and a Jamaica Standard Products gift basket. Larry Lodenquai, who had a similar score for second in the category, walked away with a weekend for two at the S Hotel in Kingston and a Jamaica Standard Products gift basket. Third-placed Howard McKenzie, who shot a 37, received a Samsung tablet and a Seprod gift basket.

In the Men and Senior Men’s category, Philip Gooden won a weekend for two at the S Hotel Mobay and a Carimed gift basket for his 37. Second placed Damion Anderson, who also shot a 37, won a Samsung tablet and a Lasco gift basket while third placed Oshae Haye won a Dunns River day pass for finishing with a 36.

Howard McKenzie was the top performing Munro College Old Boy, winning the Elias Azan Trophy, which was presented by Yasmine Azan and outgoing champion Dane Marsh.

A few of the sponsors helped to create a festive atmosphere at hole ten, with title sponsors Keller Williams providing coconut water and cold rags for the golfers to cool down while Monymusk provided drink mixes from their award-winning rums for those who wanted something a little stronger during their trek across the luxurious Caymanas Golf course. The 2025 Nissan E-Power X-Trail was also on display at hole 10 where insurance sponsors CG United Insurance also had a tent for cooling down and networking purposes.

Victor Tomlinson, President of the Munro College Old Boys Association (MCOBA) was delighted with the player turnout and the efforts of the sponsors on the day.

“The day was absolutely wonderful. The support was good, the players enjoyed themselves, the event was quite nice, and I appreciate the turnout and support given by sponsors. We continue to have a great tournament, and despite all the challenges, the support is here, and that is always special to us,” he said.

Tomlinson also explained that his organising committee will do a postmortem of the event to see how they can make the charity event even bigger and better next year.

“Our postmortem group will sit down and look at how can we improve the event, how can we drive up participation, how can we drive up sponsorship because the objective is to raise funds and to support the sports programmes at Munro College, to give the younger boys opportunities, so we have to find a way to make it bigger,” he explained.