Marco Peter swings way to top 1st Crowne Plaza Saipan Golf Tourney

The Inaugural Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan Golf Tournament, which benefited the Mariana Islands Nature Alliance, teed off at the LaoLao Bay Golf Resort West Course, and ended with an awards banquet and Ataari dinner show at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan on Saturday.

Finishing at the top of the Black Jack Double Peoria was Marco Peter with a score of 70.

Second place went to Zhi Yun Li with a score of 71.4, followed closely by Joseph Muna in third place, also scoring 71.4. Rounding out the top four was Peter Mendiola, who claimed fourth place with a score of 72.2. They all received $500 each.

Peter said of the day, “It was great. Das Krishnan actually helped coordinate the whole event, so it was quite a crowd that came out to play today and got a full slate of players.” On his gameplay, he said, “In this kind of tournament when it’s a double peoria, they called out like three of my holes that I did bad on, so that gave me the advantage. I did well on most of the holes but the holes that I actually scored a double, we did the blackjack picking and they actually picked those holes, so that gave me the edge off the other scores.”

As for the first-ever tournament for Crowne, he said, “This is the first one and with all the sponsors, despite the economy, I think the businesses and the community come together for a cause—right now it’s for MINA. And the golfers, I always give thanks to the golfers, because without the golfers, you would not have a tournament, and without the golfers you would not have sponsors.”

From 5th to 8th place for a cash prize of $300 each was Joseph Sasamoto with a score of 72.4, tied closely with Sun Ho Kang in 6th place, who also posted 72.4. 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th places all came in at 72.6, awarded respectively to Ben Duenas, Harry Nakamura, Frank Nakamura, and Nick Sablan. Eleventh place went to JoJo Esteves with a score of 72.8, while Isaac Aguon rounded out the field in 12th place with a score of 73. Ninth to 12th place all received $200.

In the Consolation Prize category for the Black Jack Double Peoria, winners of the $100 cash prize included Jim Arenovski in 119th place with a double peoria score of 81.8, Kyung Ah Park in 99th place with 79.6, Ben Jones Jr. in 39th place with 75.6, and Alfred Aldan in 19th place with a score of 73.

In the Optional Play events, the Closest to the Pin winners were Gus Palacios on hole #3 with a measurement of 128.5 inches, Ned Norita on hole #7 at 121.5 inches, John Terlaje on hole #13 at 204 inches, and Luther Taylor on hole #17 with 48 inches. For the Accurate Drive Line, Ray Dela Cruz claimed the win on hole #14 with a drive measuring just 12 inches from the line.

The Accurate Circle event on hole #9 was awarded to Lydia Tan, which was determined by a raffle at the banquet. A total of seven players successfully landed in the circle, including Paul Kaipat, Freddy Salavaria, Peter Mendiola, Betty Bai, Lydia Tan, and Sixtus Aquino.

Clayton Darlington, general manager of Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan said in his remarks during the banquet, “Thank you all once again for being a part of the first ever Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan Golf Tournament. Our goal is to build on what we have started today, to grow this into a beloved annual event that our community looks forward to, and eventually to welcome more international players to experience the beauty and hospitality of Saipan.”

Roberta Guerrero, executive director of MINA said, “Just to reiterate what Clayton said earlier, our agency is all about empowering our community for conservation... That’s why we’re here, the community support is amazing, thank you so much to Crowne, to the management, all the volunteers, all the sponsors, and most of all, you all who came out to support, to have a great time, and to make our islands a great place for kids, and grandkids, those who come after us.”