Baxter Travel Golf Tourney a win-win, says Barnes-Smith
NO matter who comes out on top of the annual Baxter Travel Golf Tournament at the Sandals Golf and Country Club, Maureen Barnes-Smith, director of sales and marketing, Unique Vacations Canada, believes all the stakeholders are victorious.
“It’s a win-win for us and it’s also a win-win for the island of Jamaica because the people love Jamaica and they look forward to coming every year,” said Barnes-Smith.
This is the 21st staging of the two-day event sponsored by Canadian firm Baxter Travel Media with over 80 travel agents participating in the golf tournament for bragging rights, but more importantly to sell Jamaica to potential travellers.
“It means a lot not just to us at Sandals for bringing a lot of these people here, but what it means is that we are bringing forever the spirit of Jamaica from Canada. Jamaica has always been a very important part in the lives of the Canadians and we continue to see that through the commitment of Baxter Travel Media first of all in sponsoring this for over 20 years,” noted Barnes-Smith.
She continued: “Also in the travel partners we have, big partners like Air Canada Vacations, WestJet Vacations, Travel Brands, Transat Holidays, all of the big companies are here. Every single year they come down for a nice weekend. They are also contributing to the economy of Jamaica, they are reinforcing their support for Jamaica and their support for Sandals,” she added.
The day started at Sandals Ocho Rios with breakfast at 7:00 am before the players were shuttled for 10 minutes to the Sandals Golf Course in the hills of Upton, where they were greeted by the neatly attired cabbies in their yellow polo shirts and khaki pants.
Action began on day one of the two-day tournament at approximately 8:30 am and at the end of the day’s play, Team 14 and Team Seven grabbed the early lead with a score of 61.
Team 14 comprised the WestJet Vacations quartet of Lyell Farquharson, Sherry Scott, Frank Demarinis and Don McWilliams, while Team Seven had Kevin Percy, Jacques Gilbert, Bob Wakeford and Daniel Murray.
Defending champions, Team 15 (Red Tag) with Joe Demarinis, Enzo Demarinis and Leo Sgovio are joint third on 63 with Teams 16 (Soft Voyage, consisting of J C Gerrard, John Kirk, Dan Lagedin, and Doug Paterson).
The tournament will conclude today after which there will be the awards dinner at 7:30 pm.
