2009 Charity Golf Tournament

 

The Rotary Club of Gros Islet and Diamonds International once again hosted their annual Charity Golf Tournament at the weekend, generating over $110,000 for the Club’s community projects, thought to be the highest total in its seventeen year history. 34 teams sponsored by local businesses battled it out at the St. Lucia Golf Club for a vast array of prizes, and to have their names engraved on the now legendary crystal putter.

Kicking off the festivities was Friday night’s Team Auction and Cocktail Party, hosted by the St. Lucia Yacht Club with support from St. Lucia Distillers, Windward & Leeward Brewery and INSO. Players, sponsors and Rotarians alike bid on the teams they felt had what it would take to emerge as champions on the day, with a chance to win back half of the total stake.

On Saturday morning players emerged and were ready for the rigours of the day, inspired by a hearty breakfast provided by the Rotary Club with assistance from Consolidated Foods/Waitrose, the St. Lucia Golf Club and Admac. The weather was kind to players, with the heavy rainfall of last year confined to distant memories, and the 102 players were soon in full swing.

It was a closely fought Tournament, with only a few points separating most of the teams, but first place, with a score of 61, went to the Allamanda team, comprised of Michael Richings, David Farrin and Ames Amos. With an identical score, and missing out on first place only on a countback was the American Airlines/American Eagle team of Brad Paul, Heather Floissac and Paul Marshall, and in third place with a score of 62 the Guardsman team of Tim Augustin, Sacha Popovic and M. S. Kim.

View Full Results

Title sponsor for the event was Diamonds International, now two years into a three-year sponsorship deal worth $30,000 plus numerous prizes of designer watches and jewelry, themselves no strangers to supporting community efforts both locally and internationally.

The Rotary Club has also cemented a three-year partnership with LIME, which by next year will see the telecommunications giant and the Rotary Club providing computers worth $60,000 to schools throughout the island.

American Airlines/American Eagle continued their ongoing support of the Tournament by donating return flights to both Las Vegas and Miami for the Grand Prize Raffle, an integral part of the Tournament.

Windward & Leeward Brewery, another long-time supporter of the Tournament, and last year’s winners, donated EC$21,500 which will be matched by the Rotary Club to bring in a container of brand new medical equipment valued at EC$1,000,000, destined for St. Jude’s hospital in Vieux Fort.

To add further excitement to the Tournament, JQ Motors offered a brand new Audi A3 as a prize to the first player to achieve a hole-in-one on the eighth. Unfortunately, despite one participant landing the ball within three feet of the hole, the car was returned to the showroom at Choc.

First Caribbean remain the premier banking sponsor of the Tournament, with a cash donation of EC$7,500 providing a welcome boost to the total earnings, expected to total around EC$112,000.

Numerous prizes were awarded on the day, donated by some of the island’s most popular hotels and restaurants, many of whom have been supporting the Tournament since its inception in 1993. The Rotary Club drew particular attention to LIME, Glace Motors and M&C, the only three companies to have fielded teams in each of the seventeen Tournaments to date.

The Rotary Club would like to thank all those who made the Tournament such a success, including team and prize sponsors, donors of venues, staff, food and drinks, members of the media , students of the International School who assisted at the Cocktail and Tournament and Mrs. Joan Paul, Tournament Director.

View Full Results

Prize Donors:

Anse Chastanet, Big Chef Steakhouse, The Body Holiday at LeSport, Calabash Cove, Cap Maison, Cotton Bay, Crown Foods, Delirius, Dennis Nardoni, East Winds, The Edge, Fire Grill, Harmony Suites, Jade Mountain, Jn Marie Gas Station, Kevala Studios, Ladera Resort, Memories of Hong Kong, Rendezvous, Spinnakers, Star Publishing, Village Inn & Spa