St. Maarten team wins Overall Low Net and many more category and individual prizes

MULLET BAY - After the first day of this two day 36 hole tournament, St. Kitts was leading with an overall combined score of 646 gross, followed by Martinique with 653 and Guadeloupe was in third place with a score of 660 gross. St. Maarten was in 4th place after the first round with a combined gross score of 662 gross.

After deduction of team and individual handicaps, the St. Maarten Team was leading after day one in the Overall Low Net Team category, the Men’s Team Net category and the Ladies Team Net category. In the Senior’s Team category, St Maarten was trailing leaders Martinique by just one stroke.

The Eastern Caribbean Golf Association Tournament is organized each year by a different host-country and consists of the best players from eleven countries that are a member of the Eastern Caribbean Golf Association (ECGA). These countries are: Anguilla, Antigua-Barbuda, Barbados, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Montserrat, St. Croix, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Maarten and St. Thomas.

The festivities began on Friday evening at the SONESTA Great Bay Beach Resort with a grand opening of the tournament by the honorable Prime Minister Mr. Marcel Gumbs, which was followed by the flag raising ceremony and introduction off all participating countries and teams. The Generation New Status STM Drum Band, one of the community organizations that received donations from the SMGA over the last years, got the crowd in the festive mood by a great performance.

The St. Maarten Golf Association SMGA was able to organize this top ranked tournament due to the great partnership with Mullet Bay Resort & Golf Course, Coca Cola / CC1 and the St. Maarten Tourist Office. Combined with the tremendous support and sponsorships the SMGA received from Air France – KLM, Bank of

Nova Scotia, Canon Business Systems Services, Caribbean Alliance Insurance, Cariburo Office Equipment, Dauphin Telecom, Holland House Beach Hotel, KPMG accountants, Oyster Bay Beach Resort, PricewaterhouseCoopers, RBC Royal Bank, Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort, Sonesta Maho Beach Resort and Winair Airlines, the tournament turned out the be an overwhelming success.

It is without saying that the relentless efforts from the SMGA members, volunteers and help from children from community organizations like the ‘LAB Sports Academy’ from Les Brown and the Junior Golf Foundation of St. Maarten made the organization of this prestigious tournament run as smooth as it did.

The St. Maarten Golf Team consisted of the following 12 players that will compete in 4 categories:

•        Ladies          : Sidsel Jacobsen, Gitte Poulsen and Anne-Marie Bouillé

•        Men             : Howard Hobgood, Jesus Rivera, Kit Lee and Stanley Samuel

•        Seniors         : Sam Bashir, Steven Mix and Philippe Thevenet

•        Super-Seniors         : Richard Gibson and Keith Graham

The St. Maarten team members were selected based on their 5 best scores from a total of 9 monthly Medal Play tournaments that were organized by the SMGA during the period from October 2014 until August 2015. These monthly Medal Play tournaments attract average around 30 golfers, most of which are very competitive and eager to make the St. Maarten team.

The SMGA is a non-profit organization of avid golfers that promotes the practice of the game of golf and to foster community sense. The SMGA organizes golf matches and tournaments for its members and non-members and donates most of its proceeds that are made through membership fees and during these events like the St. Maarten Open to multiple community organizations on the island.