Second Annual pro-am golf tournament in Cuba is a resounding success<br />
<br />
<br />
See a slideshow of the event <br />
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49446034@N02/sets/72157623865161725/show/<br />
<br />
Download press release in English<br />
http://www.themontecristocup.com/pdf/MC_2010_pressrelease_english.pdf<br />
<br />
Download press release in Spanish <br />
http://www.themontecristocup.com/pdf/MC_2010_pressrelease_spanish.pdf<br />
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<br />
Varadero  Cuba - April 2010<br />
<br />
On April 23rd and 24th, Palmares SA, the organization responsible for golf <br />
development in Cuba, hosted the second annual Montecristo Cup at the Varadero <br />
Golf Club in Cuba. <br />
<br />
Open to amateurs and professionals, this second annual tournament once again<br />
was fully subscribed with 120 players competing for the Montecristo and<br />
Esencia Cups. Graham Cooke, award-winning golf course architect and 2010<br />
inductee into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame, competed alongside players<br />
from Europe, Canada, Japan, Monaco, Kazakhstan and of course Cuba.<br />
<br />
Players  enjoyed  three  days  of  golf under clear blue skies at this<br />
spectacular seaside course located 75 miles east of Havana. The competition<br />
included  The Esencia Cup, a two-person team challenge on Friday April<br />
23rd,  followed  by  The  Montecristo  Cup,  an individual stroke play<br />
competition, on Saturday April 24th.<br />
<br />
Esencia Hotels and Resorts, who are partnered with Palmares to develop a<br />
number  of  golf resorts in Cuba, presented Cuba’s Helwis Gonzalez and<br />
David Villafana with the Esencia Cup and the first prize which included a<br />
pair of Air Europa business class return tickets to London.<br />
<br />
Villafania also won the Montecristo Cup and received a Cuervo y Sobrinos<br />
watch and a monogrammed set of Zodia Golf irons presented by Habanos SA,<br />
the world’s leading premium Cigar Company and owner of the world famous<br />
Montecristo  brand. The  runner  up, Vincent McComber won a handmade<br />
monogrammed Elie Bleu Rosewood humidor.<br />
<br />
The awards were presented at the exclusive Du Pont mansion, Xanadu, where<br />
all the players enjoyed mojitos, music and dancing as well as a gala dinner<br />
on the oceanside terrace courtesy of Palmares. Throughout the weekend, there<br />
was  a  generous supply of Montecristo Open cigars, an exclusive range<br />
created by Habanos to complement the alfresco weekend event.<br />
<br />
The prizes were presented by Alvaro Quiros, currently ranked 35th in the<br />
world of professional golf, who also treated the players to a driving clinic<br />
where, in spectacular and charismatic style, he lived up to his reputation<br />
as one of the longest hitting players in the world today.  Quiros, on his<br />
first trip to Cuba, commented:  _'There is an incredible opportunity for<br />
golf development here in Cuba especially with the magnificent climatic<br />
conditions and the natural talent Cubans have for sports.<br />
<br />
The event built on the success of 2009 and was covered by a host of local<br />
and international press agencies including Associated Press, Reuters EFE as<br />
well as specialist golf, travel leisure and cigar publications.<br />
<br />
Palmares, Esencia and Habanos thank both sponsors and participants and<br />
especially Varadero Golf club and will soon be confirming a new and exciting<br />
format for the Montecristo Cup in 2011 set to take place at the same venue<br />
from April 14 to 17, 2011.<br />
<br />
&quot;Commitment to the development of golf (in Cuba) is strong; it’s now a<br />
question  of  when.  As  it’s  an important innovative strategy in the<br />
development of tourism in Cuba it is crucial to get it right and this takes<br />
time....&quot; said Andrew Macdonald, CEO of Esencia Hotels and Resorts.<br />
<br />
A representative of Palmares commented, &quot;Another successful event! We are<br />
already looking forward to a bigger and equally as exciting tournament for<br />
2011 and we plan to announce more details about next year’s event at the<br />
tourism fair in May.&quot;<br />
<br />
<br />
Editor’s Notes:<br />
<br />
The Varadero Golf Course is a par-72 course running 6,856 yards (6,269<br />
meters) and features several salt water lakes that connect directly with the<br />
sea, a rare feature in golf course design. This is the first and (currently)<br />
only 18-hole Cuban golf course, designed by Canadian golf architect Les<br />
Furber (once an associate with Robert Trent Jones), which offers luxurious<br />
surroundings and an entertaining round of golf, both for beginners and<br />
experts.<br />
<br />
The course hosted two European Challenge Tour Grand Finals in 1999 and 2000.<br />
Varadero is Cuba’s primary tourist destination, 120 kilometres (75 miles)<br />
from downtown Havana with a series of all-inclusive hotels stretching along<br />
the  beachfront of the peninsula. The Varadero Golf Club caters almost<br />
exclusively to the hotels located along a 3.5 km resort strip along Varadero<br />
Beach. For more information visit www.varaderogolfclub.com<br />
<br />
The main sponsor of The Montecristo Cup is _Habanos SA_, the worlds leading<br />
premium Cigar Company and purveyor of the famous Montecristo brand. Other<br />
sponsors included Cuervo y Sobrinos watches, Air Europa, Zodia Golf Clubs,<br />
Elie Bleu humidors and Floridita Travel. [7]www.floriditatravel.com The<br />
event  was  co-managed by _Palmares_ and _Esencia Hotels and Resorts_, the<br />
leading supporter and developer of golf in Cuba. For more information and to<br />
see the images please visit: <br />
<br />
http://www.themontecristocup.com<br />
http://www.floriditatravel.com<br />
<br />
<br />
Media Contact<br />
info@esenciahotelsandresorts.com<br />
     <br />
<br />
Palmares S.A.<br />
<br />
Palmares S.A. is a Cuban business group that has developed more than 1000 <br />
non-hotel projects in Cuba, including Cabaret Tropicana, the restaurants <br />
Bar la Bodeguita del Medio and El Floridita, as well as the Varadero Golf <br />
Club. Palmares is the company responsible for the development of golf in Cuba.<br />
<br />
Esencia Hotels &amp; Resorts<br />
<br />
Esencia Hotels &amp; Resorts was created to develop tourism projects in Cuba <br />
and have signed agreements to create a chain of boutique Hotels throughout <br />
the country in cooperation with Gran Caribe Hotel Group. Also in partnership <br />
with Palmares, they are working on the preparation of investment for the <br />
development of Golf in Cuba. For more information, contact<br />
www.esenciahotelsandresorts.com<br />
<br />
<br />
See a slideshow of the event  <br />
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49446034@N02/sets/72157623865161725/show/<br />
<br />
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