COSTA Rica’s top professional and amateurgolfers were at their best last weekend during CopaValle del Sol Real Intercontinental’s third edition at theValle del Sol golf course in Santa Ana. Colombian professionalAlbert Evers and Costa Ricanamateur Giovanni Brenes won the localmid-season classic, which featured 120competitors.Evers, a 46-year-old veteran, had agreat performance over the two daysthis competition lasted at the facilitieslocated west of San José.He shot 71 and 70 for a 3-under partotal of 141, defeating Costa RicaCountry Club’s Juan Marín by fourstrokes.“I had a wonderful weekend,”Evers said ecstatically. “Right now myswing is at its best in many years. Itgave me the opportunity to enjoy asuperb ball striking. I am very satisfiedbecause I was able to play consistently over 36 holes.”The Colombian pro, who works at Cariari CountryClub as an instructor for amateur talents such asGloriana Soto, Antonio Bruna, Daniel Batalla, Manueland Jaime Jiménez, received the best part of a $2,000purse.BRENES, winner of the amateur’s cup, had a netscore of 141 strokes to defeat Dietrich Eppe by onlyone stroke.“It is great to win in an event like this. I have beenpracticing very hard over the last few weeks and it paidoff,” said Brenes, 41, who picked up golf only threeyears ago.The final day of the tournament was far from beinga walk in the park. The players started under heavy rainthat made things very difficult for most of them.Conditions improved over the day, and they were luckyto end up playing under Santa Ana’s hotsun.“Thanks to the good level of competition,every year this event gets better,”said Carlos Rojas, the tournamentdirector. “We see it as an opportunity tothank our clients and golfers for theirsupport throughout the yearFor Valle del Sol, the only publicgolf course that operates in the CentralValley, 2004 has been a great year. TheCosta Rica Open, which gave thecourse international acknowledgment,is atop the list of 11 golf events heldhere during the first half of the year.THE 7,011 yards par-72 coursewas completed eight years ago by theBrazilian consortium Habitasul.“When this project began there were very fewgolfers in Costa Rica,” said Leonardo Pinto, Habitasulgeneral manager, “and some people wondered if wewere taking an unreasonable risk. Now golf is a muchmore popular game here and we are very proud of ourcontribution.”Results of the Copa Valle del Sol Real Intercontinental TournamentProfessionals1. Albert Evers 71-70-141 (-3)2. Juan Marin 71-74-145 (+1)3. Christian Morera 69-84-153 (+5)4. Alejandro Duque 73-81-154 (+6)4. Christ Edholm 73-81-154 (+6)Amateurs (Net Score)1. Giovanni Brenes 1412. Dietrich Eppe 1423. Juan Velez 1444. Alejandro Madriz 1465. Luis Paredes 147Amateur’s CategoriesCampeonato Category1. Giovanni Brenes 1412. Juan Velez 1442. Thimothy Gergen 144A Category1. Dietrich Eppe 1422. Alejandro Madriz 1463. Rolando Salazar 149B Category1. Luis Paredes 1472. José Herrero 1503. Nixon Delgado 150
