Toast to RBC Classic success

PLAYERS, organisers and sponsors are celebrating another successful staging of the RBC Classic, the second biggest tournament on the calendar of the Barbados Golf Association.

This year’s event coincided with the Independence Games being staged by the Barbados Olympic Association and was contested last weekend on a well-prepared and inviting Durants course at the Barbados Golf Club.

In between efforts to stave off their rivals and land podium finishes, several players commended the staff at the BGC for producing a course in top shape, where the fairways offered rewards for good drives and the greens rolled true and relatively fast.

Among such players was Barbados veteran Julian Jordan, who finished mid-table in the men’s championship; but he said he was happy that two of the island’s young national players had stood up to be counted and won the event.

Lauded sponsors

Winners of the main championship divisions of the Classic were 16-year-old Iz Hustler among the men and Emily Odwin, 13, among the women.

Jordan also said it was a tournament he always looked forward to playing, and lauded sponsors RBC, Royal Fidelity and the BGA for working to elevate the RBC Classic to “a Tier-1 event” on the golf circuit.

Close to 100 players took part in the 13th annual RBC Classic, and among them were well-known former cricketers, including Desmond Haynes and Nolan Clarke, and player Shamarh Brooks.

During the traditional post-event awards ceremony at the BGC clubhouse, managing director of Royal Bank (Barbados), Robert DeSilva, and BGA president Trevor Tasker, both thanked all stakeholders for making the tournament a success and were particularly full of praise for the performance of the young players.

Committed

“At RBC we are committed to making a positive difference in the communities in which we operate and we strongly believe that sports help our youth to be better equipped to grow and reach their full potential. With our involvement in events like the RBC Golf Classic, we bring to life our purpose of helping our clients thrive and communities to prosper,” said DeSilva.

The tournament was organised by the BGA, and Tasker further said the emergence of the young players had underscored the importance of the association’s junior development programme, which includes order of merit competitions during the year.

The president also suggested that it was significant to note that several of the younger players had broken through to earn places on the senior national team over the past two years, and lauded RBC for its support of the Classic and junior golfers over the years. (PR)