Sat | Nov 16, 2024

Puerto Rico dominate CAJGC, Jamaica fourth overall

Published:Saturday | August 17, 2024 | 12:09 AM
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Jamaica’s Mattea Issa receives the runner-up Peter Hale trophy from Kallan Sooknoor of the Trinidad and Tobago for the Girls’ 18 and Under category at the 36th Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championship which was held at the Caymanas Golf Course.
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Jamaica’s Mattea Issa receives the runner-up Peter Hale trophy from Kallan Sooknoor of the Trinidad and Tobago for the Girls’ 18 and Under category at the 36th Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championship which was held at the Caymanas Golf Course.
Jamaica’s Ryan Lue (left) receives the runner-up James Moss Solomon championship trophy from Dr Carey Wallace, Executive Director of the Tourism Enhancement Fund for the Boys’ 18 and Under category at the 36th Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championsh
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Jamaica’s Ryan Lue (left) receives the runner-up James Moss Solomon championship trophy from Dr Carey Wallace, Executive Director of the Tourism Enhancement Fund for the Boys’ 18 and Under category at the 36th Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championship.
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Puerto Rico won five of the six age group trophies on offer at the 36th Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championship (CAJGC) which concluded at the Caymanas Golf Club recently. The other trophy went to The Bahamas while the Vittoria (Izzy) Marley award for sportsmanship went to Stefaniya Mosyagina of the Dominican Republic.

Host country Jamaica (108 points) came second in two categories and third in one to eventually close the championship in fourth place behind Puerto Rico (154), Dominican Republic (131) and The Bahamas (120).

The top three in the age groups were:

Girls 11-13 – John Fitzgerald Harewood trophy – Anissa Robinson of the Bahamas with a score of 349 over the three days of competition. Isabella Ramdeen of Trinidad & Tobago – 255 was second, while Jamaica’s Alessandra Coe was third.

Boys 11-13 – Bob Slatter trophy – Michael Avila – 230 of Puerto Rico won ahead of Alejandro Balbuena of the Dominican Republic (241) who tied for second with Bayoan Ortiz of Puerto Rico (241). Jamaica’s Shasa Redlefsen – 243 was just two strokes back in fourth place after taking the lead at the end of the first day. The other Jamaica player Jacob Schnoor – 296 was 11th overall.

The top three in the Girls’ 15 and Under category for the Kenneth Francis trophy were Amelia Santiago (243) of Puerto Rico, while Madison Carrol (247) of The Bahamas and Shania Reyes (247) of the Dominican Republic tied for second place. Jamaica did not have any competitor in the category.

In the Boys’ 15 and Under group for the Arturo Pellerano trophy – Tomas Rodriguez (220) of Puerto Rico was first ahead of second place players Fernando Leduc – 227 of Puerto Rico and Arman Newman of Bermuda 227. Jamaica’s two representatives – Kemari Morris – 268 and Jamal Stewart – 269 were 14th and 15th respectively.

The Girls’ 18 and Under category for the Peter Hale trophy went to Camila Negroni – 235 who led from the first round. Jamaica’s Mattea Issa – 239 was second but she was the joint leader with Negroni at the end of the second round after overcoming a five-shot lead. The Dominican Republic’s Stefaniya Mosyagina – 245 was third.

Negroni was pleased with her win.

“I just stuck to my training and I was very confident. I have been working very hard and I have been really looking forward to playing here so I was really in tune with myself and really concentrated with what I wanted which was to win.”

Issa was also pleased with her performance though she thought that she could have played better overall even though she was able to make the five shot deficit from the first round. “It was a very special event to me. This is the venue that I played my first ever CAJGC back when I was 11 years old and to be here when I am 17 still competing, still loving the game really means a lot to me.”

Puerto Rico also grabbed the James Moss Solomon trophy for the Boys’ 18 and Under with Evan Pena six under par 210. Jamaica’s Ryan Lue – 223 and Rodrigo Huerto of the Dominican Republic – 223 were tied for second. Lue was the only Jamaican to post an under par score when he shot five under par 67 to top the leaderboard for the first round. That was also the lowest individual score of the championship.

The other local golfers in the category who completed the championship were Aman Dhiman with 232 for fifth place, Trey Williams 242 for ninth place and Jerone Thomas 256 for 17th place.

Puerto Rico’s coach Eduardo Fidueroa said his team was prepared to win in Jamaica at a course that the players don’t really know. “We went to three different courses that are kind of the same (as Caymanas) to prepare for this one,” the Puerto Rico coach said.

Jamaica’s coach Jonathan Newnham said his team played well especially since the date change due to the passing of Hurricane Beryl meant that they could not field a full team as some players were no longer available.

“It was a good week. Unfortunately with the date changes because of Beryl we weren’t able to field a full team so that reduced our chances of winning the category overall, but we had some good individual performances and I am very proud of the team.”