American Ben Martin closed out the first day of the fifth edition of the Corales Puntacana Championship PGA TOUR with an impressive 66 (-6), followed by Adam Schenk with a 67 (-5) and Vaughn Taylor with a solid 68 (-4). Six players managed to close with scores of -4. This is Martin’s third time participating in the event, a tournament that has positioned the Dominican Republic as the leader in Caribbean golf.
For the third time in his PGA TOUR career, Martin, 34, comes out on top in the opening day of a tournament.
Despite starting the first day with a bogey on hole 1, his game took off when he carded six birdies in seven holes. This string of birdies contributed to the lowest score among his peers.
Adam Schenk, with a 67 (-5), has participated five times in the Corales Puntacana Championship. He is one of five players who have made the cut in four tournaments.
Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, winner of the tournament in 2019 and one of the “Kings of Corales,” was in fifth place, finishing the day with a 68 (-4). Likewise, Vaughn Taylor, 46 years old and who has been playing as a professional since 1999, closed with a 68 (-4).
As the players explained, the most difficult holes of the course on the first day of the tournament were the impressive 16th, 17th and 18th holes, which border the Caribbean Sea and are known as the “Devil’s Elbow”. They also assured that the winds that were felt today impacted, in one way or another, the game of many.
Dominican Participation
Dominicans Juan José Guerra, Willy Pumarol and Manuel Relancio are tied in the first round with 74 (+2). Hiram Silfa finished with an 80 (+8).
About Corales Puntacana Championship PGA TOUR
Held March 21-27 at the Corales golf course, the event has a purse of US$3.7 million, the highest in the history of the Dominican sport, and valid for 300 FedExCup points. The winner will win US$666,000.
About the Corales golf course
Corales Puntacana Resort & Club, home of the Dominican Republic’s first and only PGA TOUR Event, was designed by world-renowned architect Tom Fazio. Opened in 2010, it is located next to the cliffs, bays, natural ocean inlets, inland lakes and coral quarries of the Caribbean Sea. It has 18 holes, six of them oceanfront and culminates with its final three holes known as the “Devil’s Elbow”, which ranks among the most spectacular and difficult finishing holes in the world.
Sponsors
The fifth edition of the Corales Puntacana Championship is presented under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism (MITUR), Banreservas, Puntacana Resort & Club, Punta Cana International Airport, The Westin Puntacana Resort & Club, Tortuga Bay Puntacana Resort & Club, Seguros Universal, CDN DEPORTES, Brugal, Aiport Team Solutions, Texaco GB Energy, Consorcio Energético Punta Cana- Macao (CEPM), Grupo Viamar y Pollo Victorina, Autohaus, Runners Adventures, IMCA The Rental Store, BDExperience, Gray Line, Tracks, Pizza Hut, Grupo Dupla, Grupo Raya, Aperol Spritz, Centro Médico Punta Cana, Club Car, Duty Free Americas, Constructora Llodrá, Claro and Coca Cola, Tito’s Vodka, Cigarro Dominicano, Freixenet Cava, Tribe & Folk, Spectro Lights On, Inprotec, Hola Punta Cana by Oscar Cerda, GULF, AVIS, Sarmiento Latam, Canita, Altron Trading Co, LOMO, Runaway Haley, Picky Plants, United Petroleum, IMCA, Tu Boleta, DBI Industrial, Serviport, Café Santo Domingo, Coolekos, Hartemanía, Hartemontajes, KG Constructora, Basking Robbins and Punta Cana Party.
