Hi5 Golf withstood a late rally by Lakes Golf and Country Club to claim overall honours during yesterday’s final round of the 60th Bermuda Goodwill Pro-Am Tournament.

Led by former Canadian tour player Dennis Hendershott, Hi5 Golf carded a two-under-par 68 at Riddell’s Bay Golf Club that left them three strokes clear of nearest rivals Lakes, with a four-round total of 23-under-par 259.

Lakes pipped Riverside Country Club for second on retrogression after both teams completed the tournament on 262.

After leading his team to victory, Hendershott, the Hi5 Golf professional and a frequent Bermuda visitor, praised tournament organisers Tee to Green for stepping in at the eleventh hour to save the event after the Bermuda Golf Association (BGA), the regular organisers, ran into difficulty.

“Understanding what transpired over the last few weeks with the Bermuda Golf Association and this event … just to pull it off and keep it going was great,” he said. “For Susie [Susan Marshall] and her team to be able to pull the event off and keep it alive is very important to a lot of us, not only for tourism here in Bermuda, but for all of us that love to come to the Island.

“We always look forward to it, so had it been pulled it would have been so disappointing. Hats off to Susie and Scott Roy and a few others that stepped up. Nick [Mansell] got stuck on the East Coast with all the weather, so they have really run with a skeleton team and pulled the event off and we are just delighted.”

After learning that the BGA had run into trouble, Marshall and Mansell took matters into their own hands to ensure that the tournament went ahead as planned.

“Bermuda Golf Association did not have the resources to run the tournament, so Nick and I stepped up to the plate and formed a company [Tee to Green] and arranged and ran the tournament within a six-week period,” Marshall said. “Six weeks to put together a tournament of this magnitude is a very short time. But a lot of people pitched in to help make it happen.”

Hi5 Golf held a five-stroke lead going in the final round and did just enough to stay ahead of a charging Lakes, who carded yesterday’s lowest round of seven-under 63 at Mid Ocean Club.

“We struggled a little bit and I think we got a bit complacent with such a big lead going into today,” Hendershott said. “It is nice to be competitive, but at the end of the day it is more about the camaraderie and what you take away from the Island and stuff like that.”

As well as claiming the overall title, Hi5 Golf captured the senior division while fellow club member Jen Jaskek won the women’s professional division to cap a memorable week for the Canadian outfit.

“This year I brought down a team of females and a lot of newcomers to the Island, so it was a chance for a few new people to fall in love with the Island,” Hendershott said. “I have been coming to the Island for 13 years and every time I look forward to coming because this is one of my favourite places.”

Lakes, on 262, and Donalda Country Club, with a total of 265, rounded off the top three teams in the senior division.

Riverside won the men’s junior title by three shots over National Golf Club of Canada B, with Rhode Island Country Club finishing third a further two shots adrift on 267.

Georgian Bay Club, on 292, won the women’s division with local teams Mid Ocean Club (295) and Riddell’s Bay Golf and Country Club Ladies (296) finishing second and third respectively.

In the individual competition, Riverside’s Chris Moody won the junior professional division while Bermuda’s Dwayne Pearman won the senior professional title for Port Royal.

Final scores, page 18