By Neto Baptiste
Female golfer, Sabiena Winston, has described the support she continues to receive from other members of the golfing fraternity as fantastic and heartwarming, as she seeks to raise US$13,000.00 to pay for her first semester at the Geneva Christian College, a 55-acre campus in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, Winston revealed that from day one, the fraternity at the Cedar Valley Golf Club has given both tangible and moral support in aid of her mission to pursue a major in chemical engineering with a minor in chemistry.
“The golfing fraternity has always been very supportive and they have been signing up for the tournament and seeing how they can help. I have a few persons who have actually come on board to actually organize the tournament in Patrick Ryan, Denis Roach and Rick Solberg along with my coach and it was actually Patrick’s idea to put on the tournament so he has gone about doing all of the organizing so they have been very supportive,” she said.
The ongoing show of support by the fraternity will manifest in the hosting of a beneficiary golf tournament slated for Saturday at the Cedar Valley Golf Course.
One of the major driving force behind the initiative is golfer and coach, Marlon George, who explained of the event will be formatted.
“The format will be a stableford format and it’s more of a day getting together and celebrating Sabiena’s accomplishment. It’s a points system so the lower your score is the more points you get so if someone like Sir Viv makes a par number one then he will get two points or if he gets a three on number one then he will get two points so the lower the number, the more points you get,” he said.
Meanwhile, former West Indies captain and National Hero Sir Vivian Richards, gave his support to the initiative and what it means for Winston and others like her.
“When you look and you see the numbers and obviously, the opportunities that can be gained through this particular programme and you would have heard Sabiena speak about the college she is expecting to go to and to be part of that team and t is such a magnificent opportunity, I believe, for all of the young individuals,” he said.
“You would have had an opportunity to be part of the golfing fraternity at whatever college you may have attended and in the end, if that doesn’t work and as you heard Sabiena mention what she will major in [Chemical Engineering] and all these are just magnificent opportunities,” he added.
Saturday’s tournament is slated to tee off at 9 am and carries a registration fee of $200 per player.
Winston, who resides in Cooks New Extension, is scheduled to depart the island for the US in August.