Persaud, Sukram comfortably ahead on day 1

– Tournament sets international benchmark – Minister Bulkan

Minister of Communities and veteran golfer Ronald Bulkan said the 2017 Guyana Open Cup Golf tournament which teed off on Saturday at the Lusignan Golf Course, will inevitably help to raise the international standards of the sport in Guyana.
Guyana Times Sport caught up with the Minister following Saturday’s opening day of the tourney. He shared his views on the tournament which has been the premier event of the LGC, saying “It will be nice if the title remains in Guyana but the idea of an open championships is to attract a very competitive field of international players which will help to raise the standard of golf locally.”
Minister Bulkan further praised the executives, sponsors and organizers of the Cup for maintaining a top caliber annual event despite numerous challenges. “I’d like to congratulate the executives for hosting a superb 2017 Open Cup, the club has been faced with challenges; weather related and other factors. It has been a struggle to maintain the profile and visibility of the sport as well as the golf course, so in this regard I’d like to congratulate all the executives for ensuring we have a large open this year,” said the
Minister.
Following a competitive opening day, seven time defending champ Avinash Persaud ended nicely with a gross of 71 and a 69 net while his brother Avinda Kishore ended with a gross/net of 74 and 70 points
respectively, heading into the final day.
The Minister was also in full support of Persaud who he said would be very hard to beat given his vast knowledge of the LGC Greens. “It’s going to be very difficult for anyone to get close to him (Avinash)
but there’s a lot of golf left to be played but I think it will be very difficult to beat Avinash given his knowledge of the golf course and the competitive nature he has shown over the years. It’s not about
big shots; it’s about playing well under pressure.”
When asked on his thought regarding strategies players could likely turn to with a final day remaining, Bulkan declared that the final Back 9 of the day will be crucial for the golfers. “In any tournament,
in particular, one like this with golfers vying for the title, the first day has very little relevance.”
He continued, “The tournament is always decided at the Back 9 of the final day, so there’s a lot of golf to be played because even the front 9 will be of little relevance. This will separate the men from
the boys so by this time tomorrow we will see which of these players can withstand the pressure because it will be enormous.” In the Female category, Best Gross went to the highly touted Christine Sukram who opened her 2017 campaign on top with a Gross of 82 and a 72 Net. She was followed in second place by Shanella Webster (86/69) who also ended the first day with the Best Net of 69 while defending champ Joaan Deo came in third with 89/71.
The action concludes today.