Simon Wakefield sounded an early warning to his rivals for the 15th Mauritius Golf Open title by finishing the leading pro, with Martin Gray, in the 36-hole pro-am at Belle Mare Plage.

The 34-year-old from Staffordshire led the amateur team of Tom Boys, Ian Watts and Christophe Luneau into first place on the opening day of the competition with a gross score of 129 in the two-from-four format.

Simon Wakefield/Tom Boys

That was two strokes better than the team led by former Ryder Cup star from Wales, Phillip Price, comprising Alfie Ezekiel, Gavin Wilding and Laurence Green. A further three strokes in arrears was David Park’s team of Moshe Duek, Neil Cloud and Gary Burnstein.

On the second day, Boys, Watts and Luneau were joined by Scottish professional Martin Gray and although they were unable to match the high standard of the opening round, they managed to card a score of 135 that earned them a comfortable eight-stroke winning margin.

Runners-up were amateur trio of Sebastian Fiederow, Laurent Hu Hen Pen and Kimberley Mai Tam, who returned scores of 137 with two French pros, Germain Ruste, on the opening round, and Adrien Mork the following day.

Price’s team from Day 1 was less prolific on Day 2, scoring 143 in the company of Irishman Dennis O’Sullivan and they had to share third place with amateurs Andre Bonieux, Thierry Keonig and Dominique de Froberville, who played with Frenchman Jean-Francois Lucquin and England’s Jeff Inglis.

The handicap competition resulted in a clear-cut success for Billy Narraina’s local team of Jacqueline Bonutto, Valerie Saubry Bobet and Lola Revaud, who played together both days.

They had net scores of 117 and 119 for total of 236 that put them 10 strokes ahead of the rest of the field.
Englishman Shaun Webster and Italian Guiseppe Cali helped amateurs Desmond Rosen, Graham Josset and Mervyn Ossip claim second place, while four teams shared third place on 249.

In addition to the team prizes for both days and overall, there were cheques for the leading professionals of the teams on both days and overall.

Neil Webber

Phillip Price