An upbeat Jamaica senior team of mostly junior golfers departed the island on Sunday for the 66th Caribbean Amateur Golf Championship in the Trinidad & Tobago between July 27 to 29.  

The four female members of the team are Jodi Munn-Barrow, juniors Emily Mayne, Mattea Issa and the only new comer Anoushka Katri, who played in the U15 category this year on the junior team. 

Many-time national representative Jodi Munn-Barrow, president of the Jamaica Golf Association (JGA) and the secretary of the Caribbean Golf Association, expects Jamaica to do well in this year. 

"I expect the team to perform well. They know each other. Most of them played last year together. The camaraderie is high. Everybody really wants go out there and make Jamaica proud and that's all we can ask of them. It's very good to see that six of the ten players are juniors so that's very good for our programme," said Munn-Barrow. 

In terms of her own game she said, "well from my side, I am hoping to bring some experience to help the girls as best as I can, of course to go out there and try my best." 

Mayne who captained the team that carried home George Teale Trophy last year said "I am hoping to play well. I am hoping to bring home a trophy again as last year the women's team won the trophy. So, I am just hoping that we can really build some team spirit and help everyone play well so we can bring home the trophy." 

The male members of the team are Justin Burrowes - captain, Zandre Roye who returns to the team after a number of years; juniors Rocco Lopez, Aman Dhiman and Ryan Lue. The sixth player, William Knibbs is already in Trinidad & Tobago and will participate in the two practice rounds prior to the start of the championship. The male team placed fourth in 2022. 

"I think I am pretty prepared. The last four five months I have not been in Jamaica. I changed my base to the States. I have been playing golf every single day, practicing every single day. I have been really working on my short game which always need a bit of work. I am looking forward to this week. I am always honoured to represent my country," said Burrowes. 

Junior golfer, Lopez, will be following his coach's instruction "to not expect anything, just go out there and try my best and whatever happens, happens but I expect to play well because I have been practicing very hard and I am excited to play." 

Dr. Mark Newnham, the team manager was upbeat about the team's chances to do well this year. 

"This year I think we have the perfect team, perfect of young enthusiastic hungry talent with the right mix of experience. I am not going to call anybody older but let's say wiser, so we have that perfect mix. We are looking forward to building on the success of last year. Our women's division took home the top prize so we are just looking forward this year to representing and doing better than last year." 

He also said that the men are motivated to put on a special performance this year, led by Burrowes who plans to go pro next year and wants to go out with a bang as an amateur. 

The team received sponsorship support from the Jamaica Olympic Association.

 

 

Rocco Lopez and Aman Dhiman are joint leaders in the Boys 18 and Under category of the Jamaica Golf Association' junior trials at the end of the first day at the Caymanas Golf Club in St. Catherine on Friday.

Both golfers posted scores of two over par 74 but in contrasting fashion. Lopez, who is in his final year as a junior player, carded a birdie and two bogeys resulting in one over par 37 on the front and back nine. Dhiman, at 17, has another year as a junior. He shot three birdies and five bogeys and also posted one over par 37 on his front and back nines, respectively.

The next three golfers – Ryan Lue, Tenny Davis and Jerone Thomas -are tied for third on 10 over par 82s, eight shots behind the joint leaders.

Meanwhile, 16-year-old Noah Azan, scored 15 over par 87. Trey Williams, 16, who made the team in 2019, was just one stroke back on 16 over par 88.

Joshua Melville had a rough day on the course, scoring 45 over par 117 and is not likely to recover enough to get one of the four available spots on the team.

Vying to represent Jamaica in the upcoming Caribbean Junior Amateur Golf Championship in the Cayman Islands between July 3-8, the young golfers will tee off on Saturday at 9:00 am for the second of three rounds in the trials in the hot, windy conditions at the Caymanas Golf Course.

This year's junior trials are being conducted in two separate sessions.

The Boys 18 & Under will run from Friday, March 10 to Sunday, March 12 while the other age groups will take to the same course from March 24-26. This is due to the availability of the players as most of them are at school overseas.

Emily Mayne enjoyed an excellent second day at the IMG Academy Junior World Golf Championships in the United States of America on Thursday.

Maybe carded a three-under-par 69 to move from 40th into a tie for eighth place and just two shots off the lead.  The Jamaican teen has an overall score of 141 after shooting a 72 in the opening round.

Kelli Ann Strand of the USA was atop the leaderboard with scores of 71 and 68 for an overall score of 139.

Aman Dhiman is the other Jamaican at the championships.  He is also competing in the 15-18 age group. He scored nine over par 81 and is tied at 158th at the end of the second round with a total score of 160.

Japan’s Taisha Motto leads with an overall score of 10 under par 134 (68, 66) after two rounds.

The championship, held at the Torrey Pines - South Golf Course in California, ends on Friday.

Both golfers have had a busy season. Recently, they competed at the 34th Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championships in Puerto Rico where Mayne topped the Under 18 age group - a first for any Jamaican female golfer.

As soon as they return from the current championships they will head off to the Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships (for seniors) in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

 

Former national champion Sean Morris pulled off a commanding victory during Sunday’s final round of the Constant Spring Golf Classic at the Constant Spring Golf Club while being the only player to record an under-par score on the par 70 course.

Morris shot a three-under-par 67 to win by 11 shots over runner-up William Knibbs. Aman Dhiman was further back in third in the Men & Men Senior 0-6 category.

Morris scored 72 on the opening day for a combined score of 139. Over the two rounds, he carded nine birdies, six bogeys and a double-bogey at the 15th hole on opening day. He was at his best on the front nine on Sunday when he shot three birdies to be three-under.

"I am on my way back with some new equipment so the journey is going to be a hard one,” Morris said afterwards.

“After the tournament I played at Caymanas, I knew there was something in these clubs but I still have some adjustment to do so I am still not as confident as I would like to be with them. The score was 72 on the first day and 67 on the second day which is a total of one-under par. An under par round on any golf course in Jamaica is a commendable score, so I am really happy with it."

He said he was satisfied with the playing conditions.

“The course was in pretty good shape,” he said.

“The greens were a little bit inconsistent but it’s the same course that everybody plays so everybody has to figure it out. I am happy to be the one who came out on top this weekend."

Knibbs, meanwhile, carded a three-over-par 73 one day one and was seven for a 77 on Sunday for a total 150. Dhiman scored 83 and 79 for a combined score of 162.

The top performers in the various categories were as follows:

Men & Men Senior 7-12 - Vikram Dhiman 153 (74, 79), Philip Gooden 164 (80, 84) and Clive Newman 171 (88, 83).

Men and Men Senior 13-24 - Courtney Cephas 175 (81, 94) and Mitchell Watson 215 (108, 107).

Men Super Senior 0-12 - Wayne Chai Chong 156 (73, 83), Radcliff Knibbs 158 (82, 76) and Bert Tomlinson 160 (81, 79).

Men Super Senior 13 -24 - Vivian Monteith 186 (84, 102), Linval Freeman 188 (90, 98) and Howard Lau 192 (97, 95).

Boys 16-17 Noah Azan 165 (84, 81) and Zaniel Knight 178 (93, 85).

Boys 14-15 - Lek Drummond 191 (100, 91).

Girls 14-15 - Samantha Azan (73, 80)

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