Lara, Vaughan for Cotton Tree Golf

OPPOSING West Indies and England cricket captains Brian Lara and Michael Vaughan will don their golf togs and take to the St Andrew’s Golf Course, Moka, Maraval on Wednesday for the Cotton Tree Foundation Charity Golf Tournament. The event will be staged under the patronage of President George Maxwell Richards, who is expected to attend both the opening ceremony at 8.45 am and the prize-giving ceremony at 4 pm. Lara, who reclaimed the world record for the highest individual Test score of 400 not out in the fourth Cable and Wireless Test match at Antigua last Monday, will be paired off with businessman Jeremy Matouk, the managing director of National Canners while Vaughan will team up with Chris Aspden, an executive with the tournament’s gold sponsor British Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago.

In all, 36 teams will be participating, with Windies chairman of selectors Sir Vivian Richards in tandem with TT’s veteran golfer Maria Nunes. Other English cricketers expected to tee off on Wednesday are Marcus Trescothick, Ashley Giles, Paul Collingwood, Ian Blackwell, Andrew Strauss, Darren Gough, James Anderson, Steve Harmison and coach Duncan Fletcher, while WI selector Gordon Greenidge, legendary opening partner Desmond Haynes and commentators Ian Bishop, Chris Cowdrey, Paul Allott and Tony Greig will also feature in the charity venture. The competition will be played according to the two-ball better-ball format with a three-quarter handicap stableford scoring system.

There are prizes available for a hole-in-one, the longest drive (male and female), closest to the pin, low gross team score and best dressed (male and female). Among the sponsors of the day-long event are National Lotteries Control Board, Petrotrin, Southern Sales and Service Company Limited, Grace Caribbean and the National Gas Company Limited. According to the tournament officials, team sponsorship is still available at $5,000 per team. Any interested companies can call the Foundation at 623-5120.