Barbadian pro Sean Edey, along with amateurs Sean Byer, Derek Hamilton and Ravi Deonarine, emerged winners of the inaugural United Insurance Barbados Open Pro-Am Tournament at Apes Hill, St James, on Thursday.
The foursome posted a nett score of 210 and won on the countback system, ahead of Trinidadian pro Chris Richards and amateur players Rodney Phillips, Asraph Ali and Asgar Ali, who also shot a nett 210.
Organizers said the winners played a better back-nine holes, where they shot level par compared to the second-placed team who were one over.
Third were Barbadian pro Roger Beale Jr and the team of Paul Cooper, Patrice LeClaire and Steven Scoone, who registered 211.
Edey, a young heavy-set professional in his 20s, shot 74 while Beale, his fellow Royal Westmoreland pro, shot even par 72 and took an early lead in the professional segment of the Barbados Open.
Under some much welcomed sunshine, after threatening rains earlier in the week, the Pro-Am Tournament got going with a 12:30 p.m. shot-gun start before the champions defied the challenge of the undulating Apes Hill course and highly competitive rival teams.
The Pro-Am was one of the new elements introduced this year to the United Barbados Open to coincide with a special 30th edition of the annual championship.
 Each professional, boasting a zero handicap, was accompanied by three amateur partners and the team competed as a best-ball foursome, with the amateurs using their handicaps.
Professionals from Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, St Kitts, and England took part in the Pro-Am event and they are continuing their rivalry, for cash prizes, over the next three days at Apes Hill.
Among the professionals taking part in the 54-hole pro-competition are Mike Marshall, Edey, Franklyn Stephenson and Beale from Barbados; Jesse Jattan and Chris Richards from Trinidad; Tobago’s Chris Macmillan and Fitzroy Collins, as well as Andrew Linch and Alex Sanderman of England.
Action for the amateurs in the United Barbados Open, where James Johnson is seeking his 12th crown, started yesterday at the Barbados Golf Club, Durants, Christ Church, continues today at The Country Club at Sandy Lane and concludes on tomorrow at Royal Westmoreland. (PR)
