By Rajiv Bisnauth
Fifty-one (51) golfers took to the Lusignan Golf Course last Saturday after Sport Minister Dr. Frank Anthony performed the ceremonial swing to signal the start of the second annual President’s Cup golf tournament.
The annual tournament is a collaborative effort of the Guyana government through the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce and the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA).
The event adds to the list of tournaments being played at the venue and is being promoted by the Tourism Ministry in a way that seeks to lift the quality of the game, and at the same time, attract the high-end category of golf-loving tourists.
At the official opening, Dr. Anthony said he was elated at the level of attention that was being given to the sport. The minister said golf is as good as any other sport and has the potential to grow into a big sporting activity.
“It’s one of those games where a lot of professional and business persons easily gravitate towards and we think this is good for the sport and Guyana. This is something that we should promote. It is a game that has a strong international recognition,” the minister pointed out.
Dr. Anthony assured the gathering of government’s unwavering support for the sport, adding that the administration will continue working to improve existing facilities and erect new ones, in order to have athletes train in the best possible environment. He added that the aim is to have more people visit Guyana to engage in the various sport disciplines.
“We in Guyana are right now building a lot of sporting infrastructure; one of the reasons we are doing so is not only about developing sport here in Guyana, but it is also about attracting people to come to Guyana to play in the different sporting disciplines… More recently we have started work on building a warm-up pool and with the completion of that we will have a complete facility where we will be able to host regional and international swimming events,” Dr. Anthony explained.
He continued “We are also building the synthetic track and when completed that would ensure that we get international certification from the international athletics association and again records which would be broken there will be upheld around the world. So with these types of infrastructure, what we have been able to do is to move Guyana up in terms of being a venue to host sport in the Caribbean.”
Minister Anthony also applauded the administrators of the Lusignan Golf Club and wished the participants best of luck. Meanwhile, GTA’s Director, Indranauth Haralsingh, in his address, said he was thrilled that the sport was growing, since it has the potential to attract a vast number of tourists.
The tournament has become an annual feature on the calendar of events of the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce.
