By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net    

FOLLOWING an unfortunate fifth-place finish at the Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championships (CAJGC) last year in the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas’ junior golfers moved up two positions this time around to finish third overall in Kingston, Jamaica, at the Caymanas Golf & Country Club.

After three rounds of golf, The Bahamas accumulated 120 points for the third podium spot. Puerto Rico repeated as champions with a total of 154 points for the Hank James trophy. The Dominican Republic came second with 131 points.

Team manager Gina Gonzalez-Rolle felt like there was an opportunity for the team to nab second place but it didn’t work out. 

Nonetheless, her along with the coaching staff of Georgette Rolle and Fredrick Taylor were happy with the group’s efforts.

“We were happy with third but felt like we could have placed second. The kids had some bad holes, a couple of them had bad days but we are gonna regroup. Hopefully, when we go back next year they will be prepared for the conditions and the differences of the course,” she said. 

Despite the team not finishing higher, Gonzalez-Rolle acknowledged that it felt great to see The Bahamas improve from the fifth-place spot achieved last year.

“It is amazing. It is a really good feeling to move up because you realise at that point you can get to the top. We just need a couple really good plays. It made us feel good and we were really happy with jumping up so quickly,” she said.

GIRLS

The Bahamas managed to win the 11 to 13 girls’ flight on Friday. Anissa Robinson continued with her consistent performances and shot 81 in round three for a total of 249. 

Trinidad and Tobago’s Isabella Ramdeen followed her with a total gross of 255 and Jamaica’s Alessandra Coe wrapped up third with a total of 262.

Haley Hall also competed in this category for The Bahamas. She was ranked fifth overall with a total gross of 265 after three rounds of competition. 

Madison Carroll-Carlos fared well for The Bahamas in the 15-and-under girls’ flight. She amassed a total gross of 247 for second place. 

First place went to Puerto Rico’s Amelia Santiago, who scored 243 through three rounds. Shania Reyes, of the Dominican Republic, also had a total of 247 to make the top three.

Chemari Pratt had her best performance for The Bahamas on the final day. She shot 85 in round three for a total gross of 267 to settle for the sixth spot.

Mia Underwood had a tough time in the 18-and-under girls’ flight. She was positioned in the ninth spot with a total gross of 285. 

BOYS

The Bahamas had a trio of junior golfers in the boys’ 15-and-under flight. Kerrington Rolle had the best finish of the three with his total of 230. He ended ranked fourth.

Aidan Gorospe and Zakary Joseph concluded the CAJGC with totals of 233 and 236 respectively. 

The former took the seventh  spot and the latter was one position behind at eighth. Puerto Rico’s Tomas Rodriguez went on to win the flight with a score of 220. Bermuda’s Arman Newman was a distant second with 227 tied along with Fernando Leduc of Puerto Rico.

Rashawn Hanna and Juan Wilson represented The Bahamas in the boys’ 11 to 13 flight. 

Hanna settled for seventh place with a total gross of 256 while Wilson came in tenth with 272.

Puerto Rico’s Michael Avila and Ortiz Bayoan claimed the first and second spots with totals of 230 and 241 respectively. 

The Dominican Republic’s Alejandro Balbuena made the top three with a total gross of 241.

Angelino Cooper, Camdyn Forbes and Christopher Callander faced some challenges in the boys’ 18-and-under flight. 

Cooper had the best performance of the three with a total gross of 254 for the 16th spot.

Forbes was ranked 18th with a total of 258 and Callander fell to the 20th spot with 273.

The competition ran from August 5-10.