Among our summer events, on 22 July, the annual ABLV Invitational Golf Tournament was held at Ozo Golf Club.
Tournament Participants
Each year our tournaments attracts more and more players — this time the number of applicants went far beyond the number of places available. The list of the participants included Latvian and foreign clients, business partners, ABLV employees, as well as a few members of the Ozo Golf Club, who are potential bank clients. Our colleagues from the subsidiary bank in Luxembourg brought a whole team of players from the Cote d'-Azur for the first time.
Tournament and Winners
The tournament was held according to the rules approved by The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, separately for men and women. The points were counted according to the Stableford scoring system.
Winners of 2017:
- men (HCP 0 – 9.4) — Andrejs Siļčenko
- men (HCP 9.5 – 18.4) — Dāvis Kannenieks
- men (HCP 18.5 – 36) — Taras Shidlikh
- women (HCP 0 – 36) — Vineta Ruka
Additional Awards:
- the longest shot — Artūrs Skadats
- the closest shot — Jurijs Gorbovs. 84 cm lacked to Juris to conquer 13th hole and get Hole in One prize — an ABLV Visa Infinite premium payment card with EUR 100,000 on it. The distance to the hole is impressing — women make the shot from 90 metres, whereas men tackle the hole from 120 metres.
Our tournament trophy, the Flying Ball bronze sculpture, is made by Aleksandrs Makarenko, a Latvian sculptor. The ball with the wing symbolises the commitment to win, the fighting spirit and enhances the feeling of flight, while the combination of various materials (the smooth, polished surface and the rough, “live” moulding, shaded with light patina) stands for different circumstances on the road to victory. The main trophy with winners’ names is usually displayed in the meeting room area at the headquarters of ABLV Bank at 23 Elizabetes Street, Riga; the winners in the each group of the tournament get small replicas, while the ones who take the second and third place receive a bronze disk with the 3D silhouette of the flying ball.
The winners of the tournament also received Henriot Brut Souverain, an exclusive champagne. Henriot house was founded in 1808. The champagne is aged in the renowned Gallo-Roman chalk pit cellars.
Atmosphere
Apart from playing golf, the participants and guests of the tournament enjoyed a wonderful weather, as if specially ordered for the event — sunny and breezy; appetizers were served at the entry as well as during the tournament — there were two pit stations with appetizers on the field; at the end of the tournament all the participants and guests were invited to enjoy the dinner. The atmosphere was maintained by jazz played live and a performance with tap-dance elements.
In addition to the three-ball set labelled ABLV, each participant received a photo of their team (flight) as a tournament souvenir.
The closed-event format when the bank sends invitations, as well as the high level of its organization, have provided a positive image to the event — our tournament is considered prestigious and popular among golf players indeed.
Watch a video from the ABLV Invitational Golf Tournament 2017 on our page in Facebook.
