Travel Tickets | Hospital, Academy To Benefit From Golf Classic

October 30, 2011 – 9:10 am

OCHO RIOS, St Ann – The St Ann’s Bay Hospital and Sandals Foundation Junior Golf Academy will be the beneficiaries of the second staging of the re-launched Panasonic Golf Classic slated for the Sandals Golf Country Club in Upton on November 18-20.

The tournament is organised by the Sandals Foundation and is a two-day 36-hole medal play under the auspices of the Jamaica Golf Association. The weekend begins on November 18 with a practice session.

The charity event features a gala charity auction, including cocktails and dinner after the first day’s play at the Sandals Grande Ocho Rios.

Last year the event raised US$75,000.00 which benefitted two Sandals Foundation community projects in the Ocho Rios region – the building of the Seville Golden Pre School in Priory and the Sandals Golf Academy for youth.

This year the organisers are targeting US$85,000 for the Pharmacy upgrade of the St Ann’s Bay Hospital and the Sandals Foundation’s Junior Golf Academy.

“In order to put on such an event like this, raise US$70,000 and have so much fun while doing it, and it going to such an amazing cause just shows you that as corporate Jamaica we have a responsibility to do better by people that are less fortunate,” declared Adam Stewart, CEO Sandals Resorts International and president of the board of directors of Sandals Foundation at the launch on Friday.

This year the Classic will see a new professional category, where top pros from Jamaica and the Caribbean will compete for total cash prize of $300,000.

The pros will compete in two categories, Open and Seniors.

There will also be a Junior division for Under-15 and Over 15, where about 20 juniors are expected to participate.

There will be three categories for men – Open, Seniors and Super Seniors, and just the Open for women.

The amateurs will be vying for Panasonic appliances and trophies, while some of the prizes at the auction will include air travel tickets, hotel and villa stays, artwork, dinners and lunches for two, miscellaneous pieces of electronics, furniture and venture tours.

As a public institution, the St Ann’s Bay Hospital is constrained like all others by a tight fiscal environment in which it tries to meet expectations but is only able to provide the very minimum standard of health care to those who would seek its services.

The hospital is expected to meet the needs of a population of close to 350,000 people across at least four parishes.

Meanwhile, three years ago as part of a programme designed to give young boys and girls from Sandals Golf Country Club’s neighbouring community the chance to expand their opportunities in life through sport and education, the Sandals Foundation launched its Junior Golf Academy.

Apart from title sponsors Panasonic, the hole and long drive sponsors include Ansel Golaub, ATL Autohaus, Chukka Caribbean Adventure Tours, Wisynco Distributors, Mystic Mountain, Rainforest Seafoods, Caribbean Producers Limited, Stocks And Securities Limited, Red Stripe, Dolphin Cove, Island Routes Caribbean Adventure Tours and the Jamaica Observer Limited.