Junior golfers poised at Caribbean Championships

FREEPORT: Trinidad and Tobago are poised in second place after the first day of the Caribbean Junior Golf Championships in the Bahamas. TT have 47.5 points behind Puerto Rico with 50.3; Bahamas are third with 38.3, followed by Dominican Republic on 34.8 followed by Barbados with 33.

Other teams competing are Jamaica, Cayman Islands, OECS and US Virgin Islands. Diana Torry with 84 got all 10 points in the Girls 18 and under; Tracey Clarke with a brilliant 76 got all 10 in the 15 and Under Girls; and Catherine Clarke got 7.5 points for joint second in the Girls 12 and Under.

In the Boys 12 and Under, 10 year old Joshua Galt was only two shots off the lead with an 86, but three players are tied with 84s for first. Simon Proverbs of Barbados with an 85 was fourth and got five points for his team. Ben Martin, the brilliant 13-year-old TT junior shot a magnificent 74 and Robbie Llanos a very steady 78 to share points with the Dominican Republic team with nine points each. Shane Costelloe and Simon Merry with a 78 and 80 respectively got fourth with six points.

The conditions are very difficult in terms of the excessive heat and, the course is very long in contrast to what our players are accustomed to, in particular the Boys 12 and Under, and the Girls 15 and 18 and Under. Puerto Rico are exceptionally strong and will be hard to peg back, but the TT team spirit is very high and there is hope for better performances in certain divisions to try and make up the slack.