Historic week for Tobago golf

IT WAS an historic occasion for Tobago when the 47th Annual Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships teed off at the Plantations Beach and Golf Resort at Lowlands on Wednesday. It is the first time the premier golf tournament in the region is being staged in the sister isle, and after a decade in Trinidad and Tobago. The competition has attracted nine overseas countries with Puerto Rico defending four categories while another has been added this year. On Tuesday the Tobago Plantations Golf Course was the scene of a colourful flag-raising ceremony to launch the championships. The ten teams marched past Minister Roger Boynes, the Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs;  Cynthia Alfred, Assis-tant Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly; and a host of Caribbean golf officials including President of the Caribbean Golf Association, Arthur Ziadie, and his Trinidad and Tobago counterpart, Asraph Ali. The tournament has been blessed with fine weather over the past three days and the home team are still in with a chance in the coveted Hoerman Cup competition going into today’s fourth and final round.

Puerto Rico, who swept all categories on their home greens last year, will want to add the new Mid-amateur Championship to its bag however. Host country Trinidad and Tobago are attempting to win all five trophies at stake this year and team manager Robert Costelloe feels that their chances this year are excellent. This titles at stake are: The Hoerman Cup, the Higgs and Higgs Trophy, the Francis Steel- Perkins Trophy, the George Teale Memorial Trophy; and the Ramon Baez Trophy. The Arthur Ziadie Trophy is at stake for the country with the most points. This is Tobago’s maiden Caribbean Amateur Golf Tournament as each Caribbean country gets the opportunity to host the championship only once every 10 years. As part of their tourism drive, Tobago are looking forward to sharing the beauty and ambience of the island with the regional golfers and their supporters.