By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Golf Federation’s Junior Division will be sending a 12-member team off to compete in the Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championships next month.

The championships are scheduled for July 3-8 in the Cayman Islands.

The Bahamas will be competing against teams from Barbados, the Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Martinique, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos and the US Virgin Islands in their bid to win the prestigious Hank James Trophy.

The Bahamas finished fourth at last year’s championships behind Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica in that order. But junior golf chairman and team manager Gina Gonzalez-Rolle said they have the team to be a force to reckon with again this year.

“We did have some good individual performances last year from Team Bahamas and this year, we have quite a few new players,” Rolle said. “We’re looking for our new players to shine.

“But if not, we know one thing for sure. We are a rising team. A lot of our players are very young, but they will continue to do nothing, but get better as time goes on.

“As you know, we’ve been working real hard on junior golf for the past four-five years and we know that they will come out forcefully and continue to just get better and better.”

Rolle will be travelling along with Fredrick Taylor, the coach of the team. He is a board member of the BGF and the lead coach for the Fourteen Clubs Golf Academy.

There will be six different age groups for competition and the Bahamas will have representation in all of them.

In the 18-and-under boys division, the Bahamas will be represented by three players.

Zion Taylor, an 18-year-old, started playing at the age of 12 and hopes to one day play on the PGA Tour.

Christopher Callender, who will be making his international debut, enjoys the camaraderie of his teammates and is driven by a competitive spirit.

Alex Dupuch, a senior at Windsor High School, has been playing golf since the age of four. He hopes to study economics in college.

The girls’ 18-and-under division will comprise of Miljokjka Gojkovic, a 17-year-old, who has been playing golf for two years despite the fact that she was introduced to the sport at the age of five.

Tyesha Tynes, 17, has been a part of the junior national team for the past six years.

Three players will also represent the Bahamas in the boys’ 15-and-under division.

Jackson MacTaggart, a 15-year-old ninth grader, aspires to play collegiate golf and is an active tennis player. He also loves to go spearfishing.

Kerrington Rolle, another 15-year-old, also attends Albany Golf Academy. He is playing on his third national team, having just got started started playing at the age of 10. He also enjoy soccer, tee ball and swim whenever he get the opportunity.

Camdyn Forbes, another 15-year-old, has been playing competitive for three years, but hope to one day become a professional player.

Two players make up the girls 15-and-under division.

Taylor Sands, a 15-year-old, is representing the Bahamas for the first time, but hopes to take it all the way to the LPGA Tour.

Seannae Norville-Smith started playing at the age of 10..

Two players will participate in the boys 11-13 division.

Patrick MacTaggart, a 13-year0old seventh grade student, aspires to play collegiate golf, but also enjoy tennis and fishing.

De’Nahji Mortimer is a 13-year-old ninth grader at Bishop Michael Eldon High School in Grand Bahama, He follows in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, who both represented the Bahamas in golf, but he also wants to play professional and eventually win a title on the the PGA Tour.

And there will also be two players in the girls 11-13 division.

Haley Hall, 12, is excited sbout her return to the national team after making her debut last year. She has been playing golf for six years and is looking forward to the competitiveness from her rivals around the Caribbean.

Maddison Carroll, a 12-year-old student of Tambearly International School, who has been playing golf for eight years and who hopes to one day become a LPGA player as well.