By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

It wasn’t the type of performance that Richard Gibson Jr anticipated in his return to the Latin America Amateur Championships. For Nolan Johnson, he was just thrilled to be playing in the event for the first time in Panama.

The duo are back home after playing in the tournament from January 18-21. Santiago De LaFuenta of Mexico won the title, beating out Omar Morales, who led for the first three rounds.

“My performance for the week overall was okay, but my biggest issue that I had was getting off the tee with my driver,” said Gibson Jr, who is the highest ranked international amateur golfer in the country. “I had some issues getting off the tee with my driver and that caused me to miss the cut. Whenever I was hitting the driver well, the spots that I was, I would have finished in the top 10 if I had gotten those shots off.”

Based on what he and his brother and caddie Rayshard saw, the 32-year-old Gibson Jr said he was right on target for a good showing in his third appearance at the tournament.

“I also had an elbow injury and because of that, I couldn’t swing the club as I would have liked to,” Gibson Jr said. “It looked like a lot more younger guys and collegiate players, so it was a very competitive tournament.”

Overall, Johnson said it was a good debut for him as he tried to soak it all in.

“I didn’t play as well as I wanted to,” he admitted after he finished with his score of 173 with rounds of 88 and 85. “Even though it was my first time, I felt my game was strong enough to make the cut.

“I didn’t simply because I didn’t perform well on the putting green. I made too many mistakes around the putting green, although I was able to drive the ball well off the tee and hit some very good approach shots.”

Not able to find the fairways during his two days of competition forced Johnson to join Gibson Jr in watching the rest of the weeklong competition from the sidelines.

“Other than that, the event was good,” Johnson said. “I met some of the best of the best amateur golfers in the Latin American and Caribbean region and I also got to meet our own Bahamian Fred Perpall, who is the president of the United States Golf Association.

“For me, I took it all in and I sucked it all in. It was probably one of the best experiences that I’ve had in and around the game of golf, despite not being able to make the cut.”

Johnson, a 39-year-old trader by profession and the second highest ranked international golfer in the country, said his caddie Anderson Petino from Colombia gave him a good appreciation of what they go through during the various tournaments they attend.

Gibson Jr and Johnson will participate in the 69th Gasparilla Invitational at the Palma Ceia Golf and Country Club in Florida February 22-24.

The three are also looking forward to representing the Bahamas again at the Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships later this year in Barbados, once they get through the BGF’s trials at the National Championships.