Young golf stars shine in Republic Open

FRESH from outstanding performances at the Barbados Junior open on Friday, Joshua Galt, Tracey Clarke and Diana Torry yesterday swept into the lead in their respective divisions on the first day of the Republic Bank Trinidad and Tobago Junior Golf Open.

In testing conditions on the bone hard, and lightning fast greens of the St Andrew’s Golf Club course at Moka, Maraval 10-year-old Galt holds a two-shot lead among the Under-17 Boys; Clarke is a runaway leader by 16 strokes in the Girls 13-15 group; while Torry holds a commanding 22-shot lead in the Girls 16-18 division. In the competitive Boys 13-15 age group, another Trinidad and Tobago player, Simon Merry, who had a level par 72 yesterday topped his compatriot Robert Llanos by three strokes. Barbadian Paige Bailey is one shot off the pace followed by TT’s Nick Voss and Darren Boardley who are tied a further two shots adrift. Rising star Ben Martin is next, one stroke back tied with Dahomey Kadera.

A tense battle for supremacy looms in the Girls 12 and Under category when after the first round there is a four-way tie for first. On a day when high scores were the order of the day, Anneke Ward, Catherine Clarke, Natalya Ramatula and Kelsey Lou Hing, all of TT, returned identical scores of 106. The only overseas entrant to fare well on the opening day of the championship was Denzille Phillip of St Kitts whose three over par 75 saw him take the initial advantage in the Boys 16 to 18 category. Second was promising TT player Shane Costelloe, two shots adrift with Barbadian Adam Farmer and TT’s Jesse Bocock both on 81 for a share of third. The tournament continues today.

Scores
Girls Under-12: 1 Anneke Ward 106;  Catherine Clarke 106; Natalya Ramatula 106; Kelsey Lou Hing 106.
Girls Under-15: 1 Tracy Clarke 74; 2 Victoria Seenath 90; 2. Deahana Ramnath 90.
Girls Under-18: 1. Diana Torry 80; 2 Nikesha Trim (Tobago)102.
Boys Under-15: 1 Simon Merry 72; 2 Robert Llanos 75; 3 Paige Bailey (B’dos) 76; 4 Nick Voss; Daren Boardley 78.
Boys Under-12: 1 Joshua Galt 84; 2 Glen Charlett 86; 3 Talin Rajendranath; Timothy Martin 89
Boys Under-18: 1 Denzille Phillip (St Kitts) 75; 2 Shane Costelloe 77; 3 Adam Farmer (B’dos) 81; Jesse Bocock 81.