Merry storms into junior golf lead

SIMON MERRY overturned a six-shot deficit to lead the Boys 16-and-18 age group by four shots ahead of today’s final round of the Republic Bank National Junior Golf Trials.

Golfers are bidding for spots on the national team ahead of the Caribbean Junior Championships in the Bahamas from July 6-11. Playing under improved weather conditions at the St Andrew’s Golf Course, Moka, Maraval, the pencil-slim Merry quickly set out to atone for his ten-over-par 82 on the opening round on Friday. He closed the gap between himself and overnight leader Jordan Delaney with a score of 38 after the first nine holes and then, after a phenomenal 34 on the front nine, finished with 72 and a combined tally of 154. Delaney had a terrible round of 82 to lie second on 158 while Shane Costelloe made 78 to enter today’s round on 164. Other golfers in the Boys 16-18 who made the cut were Luke Thompson (166), Jesse Boocock (171), Alderray Downes and Kevin Williams (176), while Kahlil Bowen (181) and Christian Stauble (192) were sidelined due to poor returns on the greens. Diana Torry extended her lead in the Girls 16-18 from 44 shots to 66, carding 83 yesterday for a two-day tally of 161, with Nikesha Trim a distant second on 227 and Nicola Trim third on 235.

Ben Martin surged further ahead of the pack in the Boys 13-15, recording a four-over-par 76 for a score of 148, ten shots ahead of Zinski Baggan with Robert Llanos following on 159, Kyle Knaggs (161), Dahomey Kadera (163) and Stephan Coombs (166). Barring any major upset, Tracey Clarke will claim the Ggirls 13-15 division, as she enters today’s round on 157, with Victoria Seenath thirteen shots back while Deahana Ramnath is third on 181 and Martine De Gannes fourth on 183. Glen Charlett is atop the standings in the Boys Under-12 category with a tally of 160, a 10-stroke advantage over joint overnight leader Joshua Galt, while Timothy Martin (183) and Mikail Roberts (185) also made the cut. And Catherine Clarke maintained her superiority over her challengers in the Girls U-12, with a two-day score of 94, followed by Anneke Ward and Kelsey Lou Hing (101), and Natalya Rahamatula 105.