William Knibbs, Emily Mayne, the early leaders at Jamaica national golf trials

By June 25, 2021

William Knibbs and Emily Mayne are the early leaders after Thursday’s opening day of the Jamaica Golf Association's (JGA) National Senior Trials at the Cinnamon Hill Golf Course in St. James and the Caymanas Golf Club in St. Catherine.

The 54-hole tournament trials will run until Sunday at the two venues.

Knibbs was the only golfer to post an under-par score on the first day.  He shot a one-under-par 71, which included four birdies and three bogeys and said he was pleased with his start to the trials.

"Today (Thursday) was a good day.  Ultimately, it's always good when you are able to finish under par for the round.  I do feel that I had a couple of other opportunities that I left out there but, again, it's always good to shoot a score under par so I have no complaints where that is concerned. So hopefully more of the same for the rest of the wee," he said.

The other golfers in the top five in the Men's category were Owen Samuda and Justin Burrowes, who shot 74s to be three strokes behind while Sean Morris shot 76 for fourth place. Seabert Wlaker Jr. who shot a 77 is fifth.

Meanwhile, Emily Mayne posted shot an eight-over-par of 80 to lead the women.  She is followed by many time national champion Jodi Munn-Barrow (82) and Mattea Issa (88), who are second and third, respectively.

“(It) started off rough today on the front nine,” Mayne said.

“I was misjudging a lot of my tee shots on the par threes and my approach shots from the fairways.  I was flying the greens on a few of the first holes and having trouble putting downhill because of the pace of the greens and the slope. Then on the back nine, I brought it back. I was more focused, more calm.  I was hitting my tee shots a lot better, hitting my approach shots a lot better, hitting more greens (and) getting within 10 feet, eight feet and then making more birdie putts and I finished with a birdie so I am proud of myself. "

The trials are being used to select the team to represent Jamaica in the Caribbean Amateur Golf Championship for Hoerman Cup for the men and the George Teale Trophy for the women.

Leighton Levy

Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.

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