By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Maddisson Carroll picked up the Kenneth Francis individual trophy and combined with fourth place finisher Haley Hill to capture the girls’ 15-and-under division at the 37th Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championships.

The three-day event at the Grand Reserve Golf Club in Puerto Rico came to a close yesterday with Team Bahamas finishing third in the race for the  Hank James Team Trophy with 124 points, just two points behind second place Dominican Republic, who had 126. Puerto Rico won with 162.

Carroll was beaming with pride as she reflected on her performance. “I’m not going to lie, I feel pretty good about my performance,” she said. “I just kept a steady head and I was able to maintain my composure and to represent my country with pride.”

As she pushed to get the top spot, Carroll said she was just as pleased with teaming up with Hall for the team’s 15-and-under girls’ divisional title. 

“It felt great to win the girls 15U and to represent the country,” she said. “We were able to perform very well, so I am happy with our performances.”

And to add the icing on the cake, Carroll said Team Bahamas’ third-place finish was a testament of the cohesiveness of each member of the team.

“I still feel we have a lot of work to do because we really wanted to win it all,” she said. “We just have to keep focus and when we go back, we will get it.” While the girls won the 15-and-division, the girls 18-and-under was third and the girls 11-12 were fourth. The 18-and-under boys ended up in a two-way tie for third and both the 11-12 and 15-and-under boys were fourth.

Team manager Richard Gibson Sr thankled Lisa Gorospe, who went above and beyond as the team manager; the team captains and the parents who traveled long with the team.

“We did it. As a team, we would have taken this group of young men and women to the promised land,” Gibson Sr said. “We are now in the winning circle.

“After traveling for some 45 years, we took third place, losing out to the Dominican Republic by two points. Congrats to Madison for a stellar performance for a two-under-par to win the girls 15-and-under division.”

Gibson Sr also commended Maximilian Landry and Rashawn Hanna, two rookie members of the team, who both shot a hole-in-one on the eighth hole on the first two consecutive days of the competition.

Here’s a breakdown of how they completed the three-day tournament:

Girls 11-12

Team Bahamas was fourth with a +17 yesterday to complete their three-day total with +48. Trinidad & Tobago clinched the title with +27, Jamaica was second with +30 and Puerto Rico third with +37.

Kayleigh Rolle led the Bahamas in sixth place with +48 264 90 (45-45), 85 (42-43) and 89 (45-44). Ro’Annah Hanna was 10th with +109 325 109 (56-53), 111 (55-56) and 105 (52-53).

Girls 15-and-under

Team Bahamas’ -2 yesterday gave them a one stroke lead over Puerto Rico with +3 to +4. The Dominican Republic came in third with +20.

Madison Carroll shot an even 70 (36-34) yesterday to add to her first two days scores of 73 (35-38) and 76 (37-39) for +3 219. Haley Hall was fourth with 78 (39-39), 78 (38-40) and 77 (40-37) for +17 233.

Puerto Rico’s Amelia Santiago, who led from day one, slipped to second with 73-73-76 +6 222.

Girls 18-and-under

Team Bahamas shot a +5 yesterday and finished with a total of +23 for third place. P{uero Rico and Jamaica ended up in a two-way tie for first place with +15.

Anissa Robinson led the Bahamas with her scores of 88 (43-45), 81 (42-39) and 77 (40-37) +30 246 and Chemari Pratt ended up behind her in eighth place with 82 (42-40), 80 (39-41) and 85 (47-38) +31 247.

Mattea Issa of Jamaica won the title with +15 231 83 (42-41), 73 (34-39) and 75 (37-38).

Boys 11-13

Team Bahamas shot a +7 yesterday to complete their tally with +22 for fourth place. Puerto Rico earned the top spot with +2, followed by the Dominican Republic with +13 and the Cayman Islands in third with +18.

William West led the Bahamas individually with scores of 79 (39-40), 80 (40-40) and 79 (39-40) for a total of 238 +22 for fifth place. Nai Kai Wilson was 12th with 89 (44-45), 82 (41-41) and 85 (43-42) for 256 +40.

Trebor Melende from Puerto Rico held on for the win with 73-71-70-214 -2.

Boys 15-and-under

Team Bahamas was +7 yesterday and they ended up with +53 for fourth place. Puerto Rico won with +12, the Dominican Republic was second with +39 and Trinidad & Tobago came in third with +44.

Maximilian Landry, who shot the Bahamas’ first hole-in-one on the 8th hole on day one of the competition on Tuesday, finished sixth overall with +26 with scores of 81 (40-41), 83 (45-38) and 78 (40-38) for 242. Rashawn Hanna, who followed with the second hole-in-one on the same hole on Wednesday, was 10th with 91 (48-43), 79 (37-42) and 79 (39-40) for his total of 249 +33.

Fernando Leduc of Puerto Rico won the title with 70-77-73 +4 220.

Boys 18-and-under

Team Bahamas shot +17 yesterday, but it was good enough to push their total to +38 for a two-way tie with Trinidad & Tobago. Puerto Rico won with -4 and the Dominican Republic was second with +12.

Aidan Gorospe had the best showing for the Bahamas with +19 235 with rounds of 76 (38-38), 76 (37-39) and 83 (42-41). Kerrington Rolle was 16th with +24 240 80 (41-39), 77 (35-42) and 83 (42-41).

Evan Pena of Puerto Rico was the winner with 74-68-71 -3 213.