Chris Richards Jr won the Tobago Golf Open Championships Division title for the third straight year when he scored 221 at this year’s edition of the tournament at the Plantation Golf Course, Magdalena Beach and Golf Resort in Lowlands, Tobago from July 18-20.
Richards Jr finished ahead of Zico Correia (229) and Ross Ramkissoon (231).
The Pointe-a-Pierre Club member came from behind as he was in joint fourth after the first round of play with 76, along with Alex Kangoo. Correia took the early lead (74) with Ramkissoon and Jerseem Boodram (75) were next, tied for second. However, Richards Jr rebounded on the second day with 73 to move ahead (149). Correia slipped second on 155 after he tallied 81. Ramkissoon also dropped to third (155) with a score of 81. The Championships Flight players teed off last on the first two days and had to suffer the misfortune of the mid-afternoon rains, which forced them to seek shelter after the completion of the first nine holes. The top flight golfers had to cope with more inclement weather after they headed for the 18th and final hole on each day.
However, on the third and final day, Richards Jr, who is this country’s highest-placed player on the World Amateur Golf Association (WAGA) Rankings at 312th, showed his pedigree by hitting 72 on Sunday to amass 221 and secured the title by eight shots over Correia (73 on the final day).
Ramkissoon was a further two strokes behind Correia (231) in third with Boodram (238) in fourth.
Richards Jr was hoping to match his 202 scores in 2023, when the tournament was last held, where he shot a course record of 60 on the final day. The 2023 Pan American and Central American and Caribbean Games competitor was named the top male player at this year’s Caribbean Amateur Gold Championships Hoeman Cup in Barbados from July 1-4.
Boodram, who is the third-best local player on the WAGA Rankings (1555th), is this country’s lone golf representative at the Junior (Under-23) Pan American Games in Ascension, Paraguay (August 9-23).
Clint Alfred and John Holly recorded comfortable victories in the Seniors (Over 50) and Super-Seniors (Over 60) categories, respectively. Alfred (86) held a seven-stroke lead at the end of the first day over Jodi Giuseppi (93) and extended his margin to eight (173) over his Chaguaramas teammate Desrond Ambrose (181). At the end of the third and final day, Alfred (254) was 13 shots clear of Ambrose (267). Rafi Mohamed (282) of Brechin Castle finished in third.
Holly posted 235 to triumph over Chaguaramas’ Wayne Baptiste (241) and Daniel Boodram (265) of Leewards. The Pointe-a-Pierre golfer took an early lead with 74 compared to Baptiste’s 84. However, on the second day, Holly was only one shot ahead of Baptiste (161-162) thanks to a score of 78 by Baptiste.
On the final day, Holly (74) regrouped and matched his first day score on Sunday to take the title. Baptiste also hit his best score of the weekend, 79, but had to settle for the runner-up spot.
Elise La Borde took care of the Ladies’ field with 172 in a two-day contest. The national player emerged ahead of her 10 other competitors with 83 on the first day on Saturday, with her Chaguaramas clubmate Tori De Freitas-Baptiste (88) and Ramsahai and Pointe-a-Pierre’s Madison Davis (96).
La Borde, a sixth form student at Holy Faith Convent, Couva, then ensured her win with an 89 on the second day. De Freitas-Baptiste held on for second with 93, over Ramsahai, who shot 88. La Borde and De Freitas-Baptiste represented T&T at the Caribbean Championships in Barbados while La Borde will head off to Puerto Rico later this week for the Caribbean Junior Championships (July 27 to August 2).
Warren Steele and Zahir Sookram produced come-from-behind finishes to emerge champions in their divisions. Steele won the First Flight by two shots (256). The Tobago-based dentist was in third after day one (90) as Christan Khan (86) was ahead with Brian Fares (87) in second. However, Steele seems to have had the corporation of flora on his home course as his shots up in the trees luckily resulted in his balls landing on favourable spots on the fairways. With the good fortune, he led the field on the second day with 139 over Khan (133). On the final round, Steele held his lead with 84 to win with a net of 256 ahead of Khan (258) and Courtney Edwards (267).
Sookram moved from 16th on the first day to the top of the pile in the Second Flight with 210 (net). The Second Flight proved the most competitive, with a different leader on each day. Curtis Lee Poy (73) took the lead after the first round before Abba Bally Roopchand (122) took command after the second day. Sookram started slowly and improved slightly to 14th and delivered 88 on the final day. For his handicap of 30, he was rewarded with a revised score of 58.
Ahamad Ali of Millennium Lake Golf Club was the top Masters (Over 70) golfer with his two-day gross of 156 (78/78). Bill Ramrattan (Brechin Castle ) had to settle for second, 176 (88/88) ahead of Ramlal Boodram 179 (88/91).