Golf: Beck, Fridrich and Ossip grab Rolex titles

By SHMULIK FUTERAN
On Monday at the Ga'ash Golf Club, Laetitia Beck, Yair Fridrich and Mike Ossip emerged as the winners in the final stages of the 2008 Rolex Israel Open Championships. The Super Seniors (+70yrs) and the Juniors (under-18) competed in separate divisions and the Ga'ash-member golfers dominated the Championships, winning their fair share of trophies in each of the divisions. The Women's Junior champion was Laetitia Beck, who attends Golf Academy in Florida. She had an excellent gross-70 on the first day followed by a gross-75 on day two in extremely difficult weather conditions. The Women's Junior runner-up was Hadas Libman. The Men's Junior title was won by 13-year-old Yair Fridrich. Fridrich, the unofficial mascot of the Ga'ash Golf Club, played the first day in 77 strokes and, despite the difficult conditions on the second day, he shot a 76. The runner-up in the Men's Junior division was Asaf Cohen. Veteran golfer Mike Ossip, who has been an active member of the Israel Golf Federation for many years, was the winner of the Super Senior section. In second place was Ian Froman followed by Eddy Hoffman. The gloomy weather held out and although there were stormy and windy periods, all the golfers managed to complete their rounds. The Ga'ash course was in excellent condition thanks to the management and ground-keeping staff. At the awards-ceremony, which included Hanukkah candle lighting, Dr. Cyril Kaufman, chairman of the Israel Golf Federation, welcomed all the participants as well as the many spectators and thanked Gili Peleg, CEO of Golf Ga'ash for hosting the tournament. Kaufman commented on the excellent work done in the junior academies of both the Ga'ash and Caesarea golf clubs and promised to make every effort to promote more and more junior golf in Israel.