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Sandals Canadian Travel Industry golf tournament a major success

Published:Sunday | December 1, 2019 | 7:05 AM
(From left) Sandals brand manager, Francine Allen, poses with Air Canada Vacations’ vice-president, Hugo Coloumbe, Melina Mastropasgua, Sandals supervisor, and Matthieu Delevoy at the Sandals Canadian Travel Industry Golf Tournament at Sandals Golf and Country Club in Upton, St Ann.
Contributed
(From left) Sandals brand manager, Francine Allen, poses with Air Canada Vacations’ vice-president, Hugo Coloumbe, Melina Mastropasgua, Sandals supervisor, and Matthieu Delevoy at the Sandals Canadian Travel Industry Golf Tournament at Sandals Golf and Country Club in Upton, St Ann.

TEAM 9, representing Flights Centre Travel Group and WestJet, one of the tournament sponsors, yesterday shot six-under, 65, bettering their first-day 69, to run out three-stroke winners over Team 12 to land the Sandals Canadian Travel Industry Golf Tournament at Sandals Golf and Country Club in Upton, St Ann.

The winners, comprising Spencer Sorensen, Ryan Saroli, Stavros Kotsireas and Scott Roseblade, led Friday’s opening day and stepped up the ante yesterday, bettering by one stroke Team 12 and Team 17, J Star Travel and Events, which played as an invitational side in the four-man scramble.

Team 12, represented by Leonard and Lalita Sanicharan, as well as Gord and Lalita Ramkissoon, carded 71 and 66, respectively, to end on 137, securing second, two strokes ahead of Team 5 in the 25th staging of the event promoting Jamaica as a golfing destination to Sandals’ travel-industry partners.

Sorensen, commercial account manager, WestJet, Toronto, said his clients, including his teammate, Kotsireas of Flights Centre Travel Group, were invited for the Jamaica golfing experience and as a reward for being among top-performing WestJet accounts.

Tournament a Thank-you

“This tournament is a ‘thank-you’ for supporting Sandals and WestJet. Let’s go and have some fun, while talking business,” Sorensen pointed out, adding that with two flights per day out of Toronto, to Montego Bay, as well as from Calgary, Winnipeg and Ottawa, once or twice weekly, the Jamaican market remains strong among Canadians.

Meanwhile, Kotsireas described the Upton course as “second to none” and the Jamaican weather as predictable.

“You can always guarantee the clients that they will be out there playing all day,” he said.

Meanwhile, Air Canada Vacations Team 8, represented by Vice-President Hugo Coloumbe, said with 13 flights per week into Jamaica, Canadian travel to the island has rebounded and golf is a major attraction.

“We have direct flights and connections from 64 cities. It’s definitely warmer here in winter than Canada. The layout here at Sandals Golf and Country Club is amazing. A bad day on the golf course is better than a good day in the office,” he added.

-A.W.