SPORTS SECTION E
THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018
OPEN
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Georgette Rolle tees off today in LPGA Classic THOMPSON: By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net GEORGETTE Rolle, playing as the Bahamas’ exempted player for the fifth time, will tee off at 12:53pm today in the first round of the 2018 Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic at the Ocean Golf Club on Paradise Island. Rolle, 32, will play in the last of 35 threesomes that include PK Kongkraphan of KhonKaen, Thailand, and Katelyn Dambaugh of Charleston, South Carolina, from the 10th hole.
Rolle’s group will follow the No. 33 threesome that features American Cheyenne Woods, the niece of legendary PGA golfer Tiger Woods. Also in Woods’ group are Belen Mozo of Cadiz, Spain and Robynn Haiyuny Ree of Redondo Beach, California. A total of 35 groups each will tee off from 7:10am to 12:53pm on tee one and 10. In the second round on Friday, Rolle and her threesome will tee off from the first hole in group 17 at 8:38am. They will follow Woods and her threesome in group 15 and just
ahead of the No. 19 threesome of Jackie Stoelting of Vero Beach, Florida, Thidapa Suwannapura of Bangkok, Thailand and Amy Olson of Oxbow, North Dakota. Rolle is hoping that at the end of the two days of competition, she will make the final cut to play in the final two days of competition on Saturday and Sunday to earn a portion of the $1.4 million cash purse where the winner will pocket $210.000. Last year, Brittany Lincicome earned the hefty prize when she beat out Lexi Thompson on the first hole of a sudden death playoff.
The annual Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic is just one of four professional golf events to be played in the Bahamas in a twomonth period. It follows the Hero World Challenge, hosted by Tiger Woods in November at the Albany Golf Club and the two Web.com Tour tournaments - the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic that was held at Sandals Emerald Bay-Emerald Reef Course in Exuma January 13-16 and Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at the Abaco Club in Winding Bay, Abaco, from January 21-24.
CARIFTA mascot ‘Iggy’ a delight for students By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
M
eet Iggy, the mascot for the 2018 Flow CARIFTA Games. The Local Organising Committee, headed by its chairman Rosamunde Carey and IAAF Councilwoman Pauline Davis, presented Iggy to the Yellow Elder Primary School during a special assembly yesterday. It was the first public appearance of the iguana, a rare species found in the lesser populated islands of the Bahamas mainly in Andros, San Salvador, Inagua and Exuma. Draped in the Bahamian uniform, Iggy made a grand entrance with eight members of Yellow Elder’s track and field team, headed by coach Cedricka Rolle, as they performed to the tune of the “Theme for Rocky.” Before he descended the podium and interacted with some of the students, Iggy performed “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae).” Introducing Iggy, Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ public relations officer Philip Gray said he is a “calm, cool, consistent performer, always hitting the mark at the right time. He is fun to watch as he manoeuvres to outwit his opponents. He is a fierce decathlete that is good at every event on and off the track. “Confident in his movement, he is amusing and witty, outclassing opponents and overcoming any challenge. Iggy can be seen all over the stadium wooing the crowd with his presence and feats. Iggy is not only a phenomenal athlete, but has light feet and takes charge on any dance floor.” Gray further noted that Iggy has a “hearty appetite” and stays in shape by feasting on healthy Bahamian cuisine and enjoys “native plants and fruits.” While the visit to Yellow Elder was the first in a series leading up to the CARIFTA Games, scheduled for March 30 to April 2 at Thomas A Robinson National Stadium, Iggy’s Bahamian personality, who will remain anonymous,
‘LAST YEAR WAS MY BEST YEAR YET’ AFTER winning the Race to the CME Globe to cap one of her best years on tour, Lexi Thompson put her golf clubs away for a month this offseason to rest a strained left hand. Not that she wanted to do that. “It was needed time off,” Thompson said Wednesday at the Ocean Club Golf Course on the eve of the $1.4 million Pure SilkBahamas LPGA Classic. “Trust me, it about killed me. I was like, what do I do with myself. I still worked out and I had to be careful with my hand, but, yeah, it was tough – but it was needed. I just needed to shut down because I worked extremely hard last year.” That hard work paid off as Thompson won twice and became the third winner of the crystal trophy and the accompanying $1 million prize that goes to the Race to the CME Globe winner, joining Ariya Jutanugarn in 2016 and Lydia Ko in ‘15. The Florida native won the Kingsmill Championship and the Indy Women in Tech Championship Presented by Guggenheim (the second despite battling the onset of her hand troubles) as part of a campaign in which she posted 10 top-10 finishes and won $1.87 million. Thompson also claimed the Vare Trophy with a 69.114 scoring average, the fourth lowest in LPGA history.
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CLUB MONICA’S 15TH ANNUAL MEET THIS WEEKEND
IGGY - the CARIFTA mascot - was welcomed by students at Yellow Elder Primary School as the countdown continues to this year’s games. Photo: Terrel W Carey/Tribune Staff said he was thankful to Gray and the team that has allowed him to bask in his glory. “Iggy is also a world-class athlete and a medallist,” was how the unidentified Bahamian projected himself. “I also did CARIFTA in 2000.”
With the games returning here for the eighth time, Iggy said NACAC could not have found a better place to stage the region’s biggest junior international track and field meet. “The Bahamas is definitely the best place to host any international track
and field championships or games,” he said. Davis, who was identified by third grader Ryannique Smith in a contest by Gray, asked the students to invite all of their family members to come out and cheer on Team Bahamas and to ensure that they bring their
junkanoo music to show their support as they chant “Bahamas, Pride Run Deep in the 242.” Smith, one of the students who received a ticket for the games from Gray, said she was delighted to
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THE Club Monica Athletics Track and Field Club will host its 15th annual Club Monica Athletics Track and Field Classic at the Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium on Friday and Saturday. Club president Dianne Woodside-Johnson said the club is again honoured to host one of the largest and most competitive track and field competitions of the athletic season as they attract the best young track and field talent. “Over the past 14 years we have had much success as a club and as host of an event that athletes in our country look forward to,” Johnson-Woodside said. “We have approximately 1,000 athletes registered to compete and the competition will be fierce.” The meet will be used as a qualifier for the CARIFTA Games to be held in The Bahamas over the Easter holiday weekend and other international competitions being held this year. “We are expecting teams from Nassau, Freeport (Grand Bahama) and Andros and the Atlanta Spartans Track Club out of Atlanta. They will be promoting the Atlanta Georgia Relays to be held May 26th and 27th 2018,” WoodsideJohnson said. “We expect key match-ups to take place leading into the CARIFTA trials. Heats and finals in the 100m, 200m and 400m is on the schedule and this will let each of the participating athletes know exactly where they are matched up to the best athlete in each age category. “We ask the public to come out and support this very competitive event.”