Ja cop first CGA Championships

Jamaica Golf Association (JGA) president Peter Chin is delighted that the country has met his expectation of claiming its first Caribbean Golf Association Four-Ball Championships title at the PGA National Resort and Spa at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, yesterday.

Jamaica trailed perennial defending champions Puerto Rico on the first day by one point, and by three points on day two, but turned in a very good final day, with all the two-player teams posting equal or better scores to edge Puerto Rico by seven points.

Jamaica ended with 66 points to Puerto Rico’s 59 to take hold of the Ambrose Gouthro Cup for the first time.

Jamaica won three of the five trophy categories outright, tied for one, and came sixth in the other.

The country’s top performers were the two-man team of national champion Sean Morris and Mark Newnham, who copped the Francis and Steel-Perkins Trophy for men 50 and over. They had another good day on the course, posting their third consecutive under-par score of three under-par 69 for a three-day total of 202, or 14 under par for the three days of competition. They had the best total of all the golfers in the competition and were just one of two teams that shot under-par scores on all three days. A look at their final-day scorecard showed four birdies and one bogey.

Morris was pleased with his team’s performance.

“Scoring was difficult on the final day due to the windy conditions, with winds gusting up to 25mph but we managed to play good team golf and carded 69, or three under par, on the day. I feel a sense of accomplishment to share the Caribbean Championship in the senior division, having been runner-up on several occasions.”

DIFFICULT PLAYING CONDITIONS

The two female teams maintained first place in their age groups and returned better final-day scores under difficult playing conditions. Michelle Gabay and Maggie Lyn copped the Dessie Henry Trophy after scoring 74 and posting a three-day total of 239, ahead of Trinidad and Tobago (79), who were 15 strokes behind on 254.

The other female Jamaica team of Jodi Munn-Barrow and Alison Reid scored 84, or 12 over par, for a combined score of 253. They took the Marie Nunes Trophy for ladies 35 and over. Puerto Rico scored 89 and ended on 10 strokes behind on 263.

Michael Boyd and Bert Tomlinson recovered from sixth place to be tied for first on the final day.

They posted their best score of 75 and ended the championship with a combined score of 236. Though they were joint first on the final day, their overall score placed them in second spot behind Barbados, whose three-day total was 232. Barbados therefore took home the Higgs and Higgs Trophy for men 60 and over.

Competition for the Ramon Baez Romano Trophy (men 35+) featured the Jamaican team of John O’Donoghue and Philip Prendergast, who scored six over par, 78, for a three-day total of 237 to occupy the sixth spot of seven teams in their age group. Puerto Rico ended in the top spot and took home the trophy after posting 68, or four under par (a three-day total of 205). They were the only other team to post under-par scores in all three rounds.