Justin Burrowes held off the challenge of 15 other golfers including to win the Men & Men Senior 0-6 category by 11 strokes at the Caymanas Golf Classic on Sunday.
Burrowes posted seven-under-par 209 for the tournament after opening with a 75 but then carded back-to-back 67s to take the victory.
Zandre Roye shot scores of 69, 77, 74 for an overall score of 220 that saw him finish in second place. Meanwhile, 15-year old Ryan Lue 226 (79, 71, 76) and William Knibbs 226 (71, 76, 79) were tied for third and Sean Morris 230 (75, 79, 76) finished fourth.
The winner said afterwards that he enjoyed getting the victory but it was not easy.
“It was good. It was definitely a very long two days. It didn't really feel like two days, it felt like a whole week but it’s golf and I love playing golf so it’s not that bad,” Burrowes said afterwards.
“It definitely is tough walking 27 holes in one day but I just tried to enjoy it as best as possible. The first 18 holes, I did not play as well as I wanted to. I hit a lot of good shots but I didn't quite just get it done and after the first 18, I kind of just got it together."
Orville Christie emerged the winner among the professionals. He shot an overall score of 230 to finish ahead of Sean Green and Alan Graham, respectively. Christie shot 72 in his opening round and followed up with 79 in each of the final two rounds. Green, meanwhile, shot scores of 82, 78 and 78 for 238 while Graham shot 247 (84, 79, 84).
Like Burrowes, Christie said the tournament was challenging.
“! have not been in any shape recently to be playing on a golf course like this but I should say it was pretty much okay but not very good,” he said.
“It’s really tiring because this golf course is very hilly and also it’s very humid and hot so I had to keep rehydrating myself, not happy with the score but I am happy with the win," he said.
Jodi Munn Barrow won the Ladies’ 36-hole tournament carding 75 and 80 for a total score of 11 over par 155.
“Saturday was very good. I was very pleased with Saturday. Today was a little bit scrappy. I think maybe with everything going on I got a little bit distracted today but its a work in progress so I will keep working at it and look forward to the next event," she said.
As president of the golf association, Munn-Barrow said she was pleased with the turnout.
“Our first tournament for the year, we had a very good turnout for the two days, over 70 participants so we are very pleased with that,” he said.
“The twist is that we now have our 0-6 category, which is our elite amateur golfers playing for world amateur ranking points so we have gotten all of our tournaments approved by the body and so when our amateurs play they can get world amateur points and this augurs well because we can then possibly field a team to the world amateur team championships which you can't do if you don't have people who are ranked in the system, so all events for the 0-6 will now play over 54 holes, either three days or over 27 holes each day on a weekend depending on whether the golf course will accommodate us.
"We are actually in discussion with the Jamaica professional golf association to include the professionals when we have our events so that they too can get more practice and that will help then to augur well going into the Jamaica Open at the end of the year."
The top players in the other categories were Men 0-6 Blue tees - Narada Black 151 (72, 79) and William Lee 159 (83, 76).
Men & Men Senior 7-12 - Quentin Hugh Sam 165 (84, 81); William Mahfood (166 (82, 84) and Philip Gooden 167 (85, 82).
Men & Men Senior 13-24 - Courtney Cephas 195 (95, 100), Delroy Anderson 196 (103, 93), Aubyn Ferguson 198 (102, 96).
Men Super Senior - 151 (74, 77), Wayne Chai Chong 153 (75, 78) and Mike Boyd 158 (83, 76). Ladies 13-24 - Diane Hudson 186 (94, 92), Deborah Newnham 197 (103, 94) and Krystal Chung (214 (109, 105).
Junior Boys 14-15 - Lek Drummond 181 (91, 90); Junior Boys 11-13 - Shasa Redlefsen 185 (93, 92), Kemari Morris 186 (95, 91) and Cameron Coe 204 (103, 101).
Junior Girls 14-15 - Mia Cunningham 191 (88, 103) and Anoushka Katri 192 (98, 94) and the Junior Girls 11-13 - Alessandra Coe 215 (108, 107).
Excelsior headlines finalists for Boys Championships of America 4x100m final at Penn Relays
A host of Jamaican schools will line up in the final of the High School Boys Championships of America 4x100m final, as they successfully navigated the qualifiers on day two of the 128th Penn Relays at the Franklin Field in Philadelphia on Friday.
Leading the qualifiers was the Excelsior quartet of Ryeem Walker, Damor Miller, Malike Nugent and Lennon Green, which clocked a brisk 40.62 seconds to top their heat.
They will be joined by local rivals Kingston College (41.30s), St Jago (41.35s), St George’s College (41.42s), Calabar High (41.70s) and Jamaica College (41.73s), and Wolmer’s Boys (41.84s). The other two lanes in the medal event will be occupied by Washington DC-based Archbishop John Carroll (41.49s) and Virginia-based West Springfield (41.77s).
Meanwhile, the High School Boys International final, also scheduled for Saturday, will see six Jamaican schools going up against those from Trinidad and Tobago, St Vincent and the Grenadines and The Bahamas, respectively.
St Elizabeth Technical (STETHS) headlines that field, after they posted the fastest qualifying time of 42.26s, followed by Cornwall College (42.53s) and the Bahamian school Queens College (42.61s). St Benedict’s, of out the twin island republic, and Munro College, both clocked 42.83s, while St Vincent Grammar (43.11s), Petersfield (43.14s), St Catherine (43.26s) and Vere Technical (43.55s), are the other qualifiers.
Frazsiers Whip to represent Jamaica in inaugural Concacaf Women's Champions Cup
As expected, Frazsiers Whip will be Jamaica’s representative in the inaugural Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup, a new annual tournament that includes the best clubs from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean and crowns the region’s women’s club champion.
The tournament is also the sole path through which clubs in Concacaf can qualify for the new FIFA Women’s Club World Cup, which FIFA has committed to launching in the near future.
By virtue of winning the 2022/23 Jamaica Women’s Premier League, Frazsiers Whip booked their spot for the first edition of the competition, which will feature 11 clubs from seven Member Associations.
The other confirmed participants are Canada’s 2023 League One Women’s Inter-Provincial Championship winners Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Costa Rica’s LD Alajuelense, Mexico’s Tigres UANL Femenil, as well as the United States trio of Gotham FC, San Diego Wave FC and Portland Thorns FC.
El Salvador and Panama are yet to confirm their representatives for their solitary spots, while Mexico’s two other representatives will be known at the conclusion of the Liga MX Clausura.
Interim Reggae Girlz Head coach Xavier Gilbert, who guided Frazsiers Whip to league honours, welcomed the move by Concacaf, which he believes will offer some exposure for local players, despite the gulf in class between other leagues around the region and Jamaica's Women's League.
"It's important for local football, however, I don't think any of our local teams will be able to match up with the teams from Mexico or United States. Those clubs are professional clubs playing in a fully professional leagues, while ours is nowhere close to their standard," Gilbert told SportsMax.TV in a recent interview.
"But it is good, it is more football and more exposure for our local players. At the same time, I think it sends a signal of how important it is for us to look at what we are doing in terms of resources and surfaces for our local teams. So, it is good move by Concacaf, and I think it's for us now here in Jamaica to look at what we are doing and try to improve the quality of our league," he added.
The official draw for the tournament is scheduled for June 6.
Action in the Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup is expected to get underway in August, with a Preliminary Round, followed by Group and Knockout Stage play. The Preliminary Round Play-in will be a single-leg match between two clubs, with the winner advancing to the Group Stage.
The Group Stage will feature 10 clubs divided into two groups of five clubs each. Each club will play every club in its group once, for a total of four matches per club (two at home and two away). At the conclusion of Group Stage play, the group winners and runners-up (four clubs) will progress to the competition’s final four.
The semifinals, third-place encounter, and final, where the first-ever Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup winners will be crowned, will be centralized in a venue to be announced.
Hughes targets Olympic glory; expects Racers Grand Prix to offer taste of potential Paris test
Winning a first global individual medal at last year’s World Championships whetted Zharnel Hughes’s appetite for more success, and so it comes as no surprise that the Anguillan-born Great Britain sprint sensation is strongly optimistic about clinching a medal at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.
In fact, if Hughes’s confidence to top his performances from last year is anything to go by, then he could very well accomplish the feat, provided he maintains a clean bill of health throughout the season.
During last year’s electrifying campaign, which ended with his World Championships bronze in the men’s 100m final, Hughes broke Olympic champion Linford Christie’s 100m British national record when he clocked a personal best 9.83 seconds at the New York Grand Prix, in June.
A month later, at the UK Athletics Championship, Hughes ran a brisk 19.77s, which is faster than John Regis’s national 200m record, but the time was wind-aided and, as such, was recognised as a record. However, Hughes, with his superb form, inevitably established a new record when he clocked a wind-legal 19.73s at the London Diamond League.
With that in mind, coupled with his relentless work ethic and resolute pursuit of excellence, Hughes is poised to make another significant impact on the world stage this year. Whether or not it will be an Olympic gold medal triumph is left to be seen.
“It's the Olympic year, so obviously you want to better what you did last year. I'm happy with how last year turned out for me, and this year is very much more exciting. I'm preparing myself nicely. I'm feeling fit and ready to go. Obviously as an athlete, you want to lower your personal best every year, but unfortunately, sometimes it doesn't work out like that. But I'm definitely aiming to lower my personal best both in the 100m and 200m,” Hughes declared.
“I'm in good shape and I’m excited. I've definitely counted myself as one of them (athletes) to be reckoned with (for an Olympic gold medal). I'm never going to count myself out now because you've seen what happened last year, and I'm excited to top my performance from last year,” he added.
Though he 48.25s in a 400m run in February, followed by a 20.40s-clocking in March, the 28-year-old pointed out that he is yet to really hit top gear in preparation for the upcoming Olympic Games, but is aiming to do so at the sixth edition of the Racers Grand Prix, on June 1, at Jamaica's National Stadium.
At the Racers Grand Prix, Hughes will line up alongside Racers Track Club teammate Oblique Seville and American World champion Noah Lyles in the 100m, which he considers a good prelude for what could come at the Paris Games.
“I'm looking forward to it, I was listening for who was going to be there; Oblique and I have been training pretty good and I know both of us representing coach Glen Mills, will be bringing it on the day. So, I look forward to who's in the field, especially with Lyles being there,” Hughes said.
“This race is to get you prepared for what's to come later in the summer. So, to have great competition like that at the Racers Grand Prix is just a great indicator to see where we're at, and what we can tweak going into our national trials, because my trials will be the latter part of June. So, for me, I'm looking forward to this race and the following week I'll have the European Championships as well. So, it'll be a great indicator for me,” he shared.
Working tirelessly under the watchful eyes of decorated coach Mills, Hughes, a four-time European Champion, has upped the ante in the gym to improve his strength, as he is leaving no stone unturned in his quest for Olympic glory.
“My training has been going tremendously well. I'm excited to open up properly (at Racers Grand Prix) because my first race wasn't so good because I had a little niggle, but I've overcome that now and I'm very excited to see what's there. I've worked on my strength a lot, physically, I'm a lot stronger and I just want to keep on top of my mental health as well,” Hughes revealed.
“Those things are very crucial going into an Olympic year, so you have to be very focused. You have to ensure that your body is properly fit as well in order to go there to give the best that you're looking for. So, I'm pretty sharp on keeping my mental focus up and ensuring that I'm properly recovered,” he ended.
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