THE Johnnie Walker Learning for Life Golf Classic returned to the Tryall Club, Hanover, recently for its second annual staging. More than 90 golfers participated in the event, which raised over $3million for the Diageo Learning for Life Programme.

According to LeVaughn Flynn, senior communications manager at Red Stripe, he is elated that they were able to surpass the previous target.

“We managed to raise approximately $2.7 million at last year’s Johnnie Walker Golf Classic and this year we can proudly say that so far we have raised over $3 million. We are grateful for the support that we received throughout the tournament for the worthy cause,” Flynn said.

Since the inception of the Diageo Learning for Life programme, it has assisted in shaping the lives of thousands of underprivileged individuals by providing them with the skills and expertise needed to become employable. These Learning for Life graduates have gone on to add value to many businesses aiding in nation building while encouraging others to be a part of the programme.

The overall champion of the tournament was Murine Blake, who led the scoreboard from early in the day. Blake walked away with a leading 43 points. Alison Reid and Rowena Coe followed with 26 and 24, respectively, in the same Ladies 0-18 category. The Ladies 19-36 category saw Diane Hudson, Gillian Goodwin and Alison Lyn (better back 9) taking home first, second and third places, respectively, with scores of 34, 29 and 26.

For the Men 0-9 category Easton Williams was first with 37 points (better back 9), Gifford Wilmot second with 37 points and Sean Morris followed in third with 36 points. The Men 10-18 category saw Carlyle Hudson walking away with first place, Brett Hosten second and Justin Murray third with 36, 35, and 34 (better back 9), respectively.

For the Men 19-27 category John Kaczynski was first followed by Dennis Jones in second and Ziad Nahan in third with points of 33, 30, and 30, respectively.

The corporate team category winners were as follows with Tryall securing first place, Powerful Women in second and Dream Team in third with 83, 82 and 75 points, respectively.

“The Johnnie Walker Learning for Life Golf Classic provides an opportunity for lovers of golf and our Johnnie Walker whiskies to network for a great cause as we raise funds for our programme,” added Cedric Blair, managing director at Red Stripe.

At the Johnnie Walker cocktail reception and awards ceremony, Blair selected the raffle winner of an all-expense paid trip to attend the Formula One Grand Prix in Austin, Texas in October. Brian Pengelley, Jamaica Country Manager at AMECO Caribbean Inc, was more than happy to collect his prize.

“The overall tournament was a huge success and we look forward to 2016 where we will work just as hard to ensure we can give back even more through our Diageo Learning for Life programme. Our aim is to have 20,000 students graduated from our programme by 2020 and with the continued help and support from these initiatives we are certain that we can achieve this goal,” ended Flynn.