MULLET BAY:--- Ryan Bowey from Anguilla was able to break the continued dominance of Howard Hobgood to win his 1st St. Maarten Open title during the 22nd annual St. Maarten Open Golf Tournament.
Bowey was previously a runner up in 2012, but this year was determined to take home the Championship trophy. After leading the first day by 1 stroke after shooting a score of 74, Hobgood came back on the front nine on Sunday to level the score at the turn. Up to the 17th hole both Bowey and Hobgood made no mistakes and kept the shared lead. It was on this hole that Bowey took the lead by himself after Hobgood dropped a shot by making a bogey. Bowey kept his cool and closed the deal on the final hole to win the 22nd annual St. Maarten Open Golf Tournament by one stroke and end up with a total score of 149 Low Gross.
The prize for Tournament Overall Low Net was won by Keith Graham with a total Low Net score of 132.
During the 2 day 36 holes tournament that took place over the weekend at the Mullet Bay Golf Course,
a record amount of 101 players from both St. Maarten and St. Martin, joined by a large group of golfers from Anguilla, Curacao, Guadeloupe and other neighboring islands as well as from Canada, USA, Great Britain and Holland, got underway on Saturday morning for their first round.
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, Clarence Derby and the relentless efforts from its members, volunteers as well as the tremendous support it received from both the local and international business community. Proceeds from the event will benefit pre-selected community organizations like the 'No Kidding with our Kids Foundation', the 'LAB Sports Academy' from Les Brown and the Junior Golf Foundation of St. Maarten.
The tournament was played under ideal conditions with a mild breeze and sunny weather that, combined with a course that was in perfect shape due to the relentless efforts of the Mullet Bay Golf Course grounds crew led by Howard Hobgood, created perfect scoring opportunities.
In the Champions category, the prize of 1st Low net was won by William Rosa from St. Martin with a score of 139 Low Net, Maki Kobayashi from Anguilla won 2nd Low Net with a score of 156.
In the category Men's 1st flight for players with a handicap between 11 and 16, junior golfer Pierre Garcia from St. Martin came out on top with a score of 167 Low Gross, Kenny Patterson took first Low Net with a score of 148. In the Men's 2nd Flight for players with a handicap between 17 and 36, first Low Gross was won by Ivan Havertong from St. Maarten 187, first Low Net went to junior golfer T.J. Lake with a score of 142.
In a strong field with a total amount of 13 female players that joined the tournament this year, the prize for Low Gross in the Ladies category went to Alizée Vidal from Guadeloupe with a score of 180. Low Net was won by Nathalie Le Senechal from Anguilla with a score of 148.
Philippe Thevenet from St. Martin shot 164 to win Low Gross in the category Seniors for players over 50 years old, while Marius Arrindell took 1st Low Net with a score of 136.
This year again there were a large amount of players participating in the category Super Seniors for golfers over 60 years old. Therefor this category was split up for players with a handicap lower than 18 and a category with handicaps from 19 to 36. In the 'Super Senior's 1st Flight' Richard St. Peter from the USA won Low Gross with a score of 157 and Low Net was won by Keith Graham with a score of 132. The category 'Super Seniors 2nd Flight' was won by Francois Anton from St. Martin with a score of 184 Low Gross, Rolf Lans from The Netherlands won Low Net in this category with a 150.
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.
