By WALTER ALIBEY Saturday, August 9 2008

RETIRED West Indies batting superstar Brian Lara is among 100 local amateur golfers that will vie for a spot at the BMW World Golf Championship at the Jockey Club in Buenos Aires, Argentina from December 1 to 7.

And in doing so he will be among the history makers as the first group of TT golfers to contest both the qualifiers and the World Championship tournaments.

At a launch at Bavarian Motors on Philip Street, Port-of-Spain on Thursday it was revealed that one of the qualifying tournaments will be held in Trinidad and Tobago on August 22 at the St Andrew’s Golf Club course at Moka in Maraval.

The tournament will be called the BMW Golf Cup International 2008 and is costing a whopping $763,000 to stage.

The top golfer from three categories will earn the right to make the trip to the South American nation with their spouses, to compete at the competition. The three categories are; The Men’s “A” which is for golfers with a handicap or less; Men’s “B” which is for golfers with a handicap of between 13-28 and Women golfers with a handicap of between 12-28.

According to Lily Granger, Executive Secretary at Bavarian Motors, the golfers and their spouses will earn a comfortable Business Class trip to Argentina.

The golfers will also have an opportunity to drive away with a spanking new, luxurious BMW 3 Series for a Hole In One.

Among the list of golfers will also be Lara’s brother Richard Lara and a number of top golfers and businessmen such as Neil Guiseppi who recently won a tournament in Barbados; Fitz Neptune, who is captain of the Tobago Golf Club, Stephen Spoon, Monti Chapman, Anthony Hosang, brothers Derek and Daniel Soopaya, Christopher Camacho, Hayden Imam, Jeffrey Farrell, Bernard Pantin, Gillian Quesnel and Synthia Nelson among many others.