Persaud warms up for year-end main event with title win

2018 Lusignan Open Golf Tournament…

Defending eight-time Guyana Open Champion Avinash Persaud swept the A Flight to capture the Lusignan Open Golf Tournament following last weekend’s two-day extravaganza.
The return of the Lusignan Open after years of absence saw the return of top-level golf over a two-day period which teed off Saturday. Groups went off in 10-minute intervals as planned. It was a day of pleasant surprises as golfers strove to improve on first day’s scores and many of them did indeed.
In the end, it was the reigning golf champ Persaud, who managed to beat off some stiff competition over the weekend to clinch the major title. In the A Flight (Handicap 0-9), second day’s better gross performers were: Persaud with 72; Chandra Lakraj, 76; Mike Mangal, 79; Kassim Khan, 80; and Patrick Prashad, 80.
While this established Persaud as the clear gross winner, it showed the tenacity of

golfers to significantly cut that first-day lead of nine which he held in the A Flight. In other Flights, Joaan Deo and Maurice Solomon were crowned champions.
In the B Flight (Handicap 10- 18), second day’s better gross performers were: Joaan Deo with an amazing 80 (10 points of the previous day’s score) upsetting the order of that group; Lekhnarine Shivraj, 84; Satrohan “Robin” Tiwari, 86; Aasrodeen Shaw, 87; Aleem Hussain, 89; Kalyan Tiwari, 89; and four ties at 90 – Parmanand “Max” Persaud, Ian Gouveia, Lakram Ramsundar and Rabindranath “Ravi” Persaud.
In the C Flight (Handicap 19-28), gross performances on the second day were: Maurice Solomon – a splendid 90 (nine strokes off the first day’s play); Imtiaz Subhan, 96; Philbert London, 110; Lloyd Fung-A- Fat – a fascinating 111 (27 strokes off the first day’s play);
Second day’s Top Net scores in each category were as follows: A Flight – Chandra Lakraj – 68 (a superb nine-stroke improvement on the first day) beating Avinash for the second day’s Net performance; Avinash Persaud, 70; Mike Mangal, 71; Patrick Prashad, 71; Kassim Khan, 73; Vishnu Seecharran, 79; and Mohanlall Dinanauth, 80.
In the C Flight, Net scores were: Maurice Solomon, 68; Imtiaz Subhan, 74; Lloyd Fung-A-Fat, 83; Philbert London, 88; Eion Blue, 87; and Maxim Mangra, 90.
Combining first and second day’s scores produced the following results: Best Gross – A Flight, Avinash Persaud, 144; B Flight, Joaan Deo, 170; and C Flight, Maurice Solomon, 148.
The three Best Net winners for each Flight were as follows: A Flight – 1st Persaud 140/2; 2nd Chandra Lakraj 145/9; and 3rd Kassim Khan (tied with Chandra) 145/8. B Flight – 1st Deo 138/16; 2nd Lekhnarine Shivraj 145/17; and 3rd Patanjalee “Pur” Persaud 149/17. C Flight – 1st Maurice Solomon 145/22; 2nd Imtiaz Subhan 150/22 and 3rd Philbert London 167/22.
The Longest Drive (approximately 325 yards or 297 metres) was won by Mohanlall Dinanauth (a former Guyana Open Champion) while the Nearest to The Pin (about one metre or three feet) was Paton George.
Prizes awarded for total performance over the two days were Best Gross only in each category, and 1st to 3rd Best Net in each category. There was also a prize for the Longest Drive and the Closest to The Pin on the second day.
President Hussain expressed the Club’s sincere gratitude to all the sponsors who were involved in making this Lusignan Open 2018 the huge success it was. Sponsors included Banks DIH, ANSA McAL Trading Ltd, Kissoon’s Furniture, Foodtown Restaurant, CIDI Beverage Company, Grand Coastal Hotel, Peppy’s, Progressive Auto Rental, AN Electronics, Game Express, Builders Lumber Yard, Ramchand’s Auto Spares, Chetson’s, Sylvie’s Variety Store, Brusters Guyana, RRT Enterprise, Steve’s Jewellery, Tropical Woods Lumber Yard, Marriott Hotel Guyana, Aracari Resort, and Nex Gen Global Marketing.