The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

PROFESSIONAL players Jackie Stoelting and Marissa Steen provided some tips to close to 70 government and private junior and senior high school students just before the start of the 2018 Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Golf Tournament.

Stoelting and Steen participated in the Royal Bank of Canada-sponsored junior clinic yesterday at the Ocean Golf Club on Paradise Island.

Sandra Lee Edgar, the assistant manager of marketing at RBC, said they were pleased with the turnout they got from the schools.

“The students were very enthusiastic and we heard some of them say that they would really like to learn more about the sport and practice more, so it was very encouraging,” Edgar said.

Samantha Cartwright, the assistant manager responsible for the Schools Unit at the Ministry of Tourism, noted that as they already had a working relationship with the schools, it was an easy task in getting them to send their students out.

“The response was favourable. We had students ranging in ages from 6-18 years participating,” she stated.

“We even had some students from the primary schools, so it was a good representation across the board. “We wanted them to send their students who had an interest in golf and this is what we got. We got some students who said they didn’t know it was like this, so they are going to ask their parents to see if they can get into a golf programme to continue the sport.”

Stoelting, who is participating in the tournament for the fourth time, said she was delighted when asked by the Pure Silk organizers to participate in the clinic.

“We had a very good group of participants and I really enjoyed it,” Stoelting said.

As for the tournament, Stoelting said she was just delighted to be back in Paradise.

“I always enjoy coming here. It’s such a laid back mentality. I love it,” Stoelting said. “I live in Florida and it’s been cold there, so it’s nice to the warm weather here.”

While she will be playing in the tournament for the fourth time, this will be the third straight year that she didn’t have to play out of the opening qualifying round on Monday. She will be playing directly out of the main draw for the third year.

“I hope to be up there in contention,”projected Stoelting, the 32-year-old 2014 Rookie of the Year. “My game is going well and I will just take it one day at a time, but hopefully I will be in the story line on Sunday.”

Steen, by the way, is a 28-year-old resident of Cincinnati, Ohio. She was the 2015 Rookie of the Year.

For at least three of the youngsters, it was a great opportunity to meet the pros and learn from their expertise.

“This is my first time at the tournament, but I played golf before so it was good to get some tips from the players who know what they are talking about,” said Owen Taylor, a 15-year-old grade nine student at St Andrew’s School where he play baseball.

“They talked a lot about putting and so it’s something that I hope to improve on whenever I get to play again.”

Eliah McKenzie, a 15-year-old 11th grader at Doris Johnson Secondary High, also attended the clinic for the first time and she too was impressed with what she saw.

“I learn how to play golf, ;putt and put the ball in the hole,” stated McKenzie, who run track. “I really like playing it and I hope I can continue. I learn a lot about the history of the sport.”

And Anna Marie Lightbourne, a 26-year-old 11th grader at Doris Johnson as well, said she learn how to putt.

“It was a lot of fun,” she added.

Even after the clinic was done, a lot of the students wanted to work on their game, but they had to stop as the professional players were using the course to practice.

The tournament, which carries a purse of $1.4 million, plus a full allocation of points in the Race to the CME Globe season-long competition, will begin on Thursday and wrap up on Sunday. The winner will receive a paycheck of $210,000 and 500 CME Globe points.

The tournament is open free to the public. However, public parking is allocated at the Hurricane Hole on Paradise Island. The organizers have arranged for shuttle buses to transport the public to and from the Ocean Club Golf Course.