By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

HOME schooled Jaden Ward held off a strong challenge from St Andrew’s Alex Dupuch to clinch the senior boys’ title in the Ministry of Education’s inaugural National High School Golf Championships.

The other divisional champions were St John’s Tyesha Tynes, Queen’s College’s duo Rhan Miller and Chenari Pratt, Lyford Cay’s Melissa Beukes and Windsor School at Old Fort’s trio Harry White, Jack Fox and Zara Greaves.

They were all crowned on Friday at the Bahamas Golf Federation’s Driving Range at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex after a week-long qualifying round of competition organised by Georgette Rolle-Harris of the Fourteen Clubs Golf Academy and Gina Rolle, the chairman of the BGF’s junior development programme.

Rolle-Harris, who will assume her new role as the first female golf director in the Caribbean at Baha Mar’s Royal Blue Golf Club today, said the 30-member coaching staff and volunteers from the BGF were more than impressed with what they saw.

“I’m impressed with the amount of players that participated and to see the amount of school pride that the students showed through golf,” Rolle-Harris said.

“Our new players that have joined the programme in February have already played two tournament rounds and are beginning to understand the purpose of the practice and what they need to work on to play better tournament golf,” she said.

Rolle-Harris said she was particularly pleased to see the camaraderie displayed by the golfers. She noted that even though it was competitive, they still respected each other, which is what the game is all about.

Ward one shot better

It came down to the final hole for Jaden Ward to cart off the senior boys’ crown for AESA Prep International with a gross score of 32 to nip Alex Dupuch of St Andrew’s, who fell short with 33.

Patrick Farquharson of the Windsor School at Albany and Christopher Knowles of Queen’s College made it an interesting finish as they were tied for third with 37.

“The performance was good, the conditions were a lot better.

“We had a few hiccups but, at the end, it came down to a really tight battle between Alex and I, which was a good rivalry that we enjoyed right to the end,” said Ward, a ninth grader who has been playing golf for the past 12 years.

Ward, coached by his father PGA professional Glen Ward, was two shots up with one hole left to play. After he messed up on the first hole, the 15-year-old got the putt to fall to seal the deal.

“I will need a minute to get out of this, but it was good,” added Ward as he tried to hold back his emotions.

Had it not been for two or three bad holes earlier in the day, Dupuch said there would have been no need for all the drama at the end of it.

“He won, which stings a little, but there’s always next time,” said Dupuch, a 16-year-old 10th grader who got some consolation as St Andrew’s captured the team title (111) over Windsor School at Albany (115).

“I didn’t hit the shot I wanted to. I missed the green on hole one, which had me down by one. On the last hole, I beat him, but he still had the edge.”

Miller prevailed in junior boys

In what turned out to be a hotly contested match-up, Rhan Miller prevailed with a 36 for the junior boys’ victory for Queen’s College in a playoff to out-score Windsor School at Albany’s Aidan Gorospe and Jackson Mactaggart, who both ended up at 40.

“I think I did very well,” said Miller, who turns 14 on May 20. “I definitely started to do very well on hole two and from there to the end, I did well.”

The ninth grader, however, said they were hoping to pick up the team title as well, but they lost it out to Windsor School at Old Fort on a playoff after they were both tied at 208.

Pratt bests junior girls

As one of the poster girls for the tournament, Chemari Pratt said she had to represent Queen’s College to the best of her ability and she did just that by taking the junior girls’ title.

The 11-year-old emerged as the champion with a 39, holding off Lilly Bisterzo of Windsor School, who shot for 41 for second. Jaidyn Roye of St John’s College got third with 49.

“It feels good. I represented my school and I did very well,” said Pratt, a sixth grader who has been playing for the past six years under the direction of her father Bahamian pro golfer Marcus Pratt and Rolle-Harris.

“I practiced a lot for the tournament and I trained for this for a month. I’m a good golfer and so I knew that I was going to be one of the top golfers.”

She admitted that it was a bit nerve-racking at the beginning of the tournament, trying to live up to her potential.

“I am just happy to be the champion,” said Pratt, who also helped the Comets to cart off the divisional team title over Windsor School at Albany.

Senior Girls’ champion

As expected, Tyesha Tynes pulled off the senior girls’ title for St John’s College with 29. Her nearest rivals were Amaya Meeres of Charles W Saunders (55) and Gabrielle Pratt of Kingsway Academy (57).

Windsor School at Old Fort celebrated as Harry White took Upper Primary Boys’ title with 36 over Lyford Cay International School’s combo of Patrick Mactaggart and Brody Wheaton, both with 40.

But it was Lyford Cay International who took the bragging rights as the team champions with 124, followed by Windsor School at Old Fort with 133 and Garvin Tynes Primary with 159.

Upper Primary Girls’ champion

Melissa Beukes captured the individual upper primary girls’ crown with 37, while Jordan Prince Williams’ Haley Hall ended up second with 42 and Eva Hilton Primary’s pair of Cianna McWilliam and Tatum Adderley were tied for third with 44.

The McWilliam and Adderley performances enabled Eva Primary to add the team title to their collection with 147. The Windsor School at Old Fort was second with 151 and Queen’s College got third with 155.

Lower Primary Boys’ champion

Jack Fox of Windsor School at Old Fort held on for a slim one-shot victory with 43 in the Lower Primary Boys’ keenly contested divisional race.

He watched as team-mate Hugo Johnson, Luis Ortiz Von Bismark of Lyford Cay International and Joshua Louis of Temple Christian all closed in with 44 for a three-way tie for second.

Windsor School at Old Fort also took home the team title.

Upper Primary Girls’ champion

Zara Greaves of Windsor School at Old Fort topped the field in the Upper Primary Girls’ individual category with 52.

She was followed closely by Janae Phillips of Garvin Tynes with 53 nd Alyssa Richards of St Thomas More with 54.

Garvin Tynes, however, captured the team title with 175. Windsor School at Old Fort was second with 179 and Eva Hilton Primary got third with 188.

Looking back at the tournament, Rolle-Harris said if there was anything she could take away, it would have been the growth of the female players.

She noted that their team of passionate and committed coaches and volunteers are proud of the performances turned in and are looking forward to the 2022 National School Golf Championships when they expect the numbers to increase.