First day of amateur tourney sees Caribbean golfers tightly bunched, battling the elements
/ Our Today
administrator
The initial round of the 2022 Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships unfolded in the Turks and Caicos Islands with all of the expected competitiveness, and with somewhat unexpected weather conditions, leaving both team and individual leaderboards intriguingly poised.
Players from nine Caribbean Golf Association (CGA) member countries battled both high winds and – during the closing sessions – heavy downpours in an eventful first day (August 2) at the Royal Turks & Caicos Golf Club.
Puerto Rico and Cayman Islands are tied for the lead in the men’s Hoerman Cup team standings, with the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago rounding out the top five.
Ladies’ team competition for the George Teale trophy shows the Jamaicans atop the leaderboard, by a two-stroke margin over Puerto Rico, followed by the Dominican Republic, Barbados and the Bahamas respectively.
Vying for individual honours, Gustavo Rangel from Puerto Rico is the individual leader with 2 under par for 70.
The Cayman Islands’ Justin Hastings and Rhadames Peña of the Dominican Republic carded an identical 71 (1 under) to lead the chasing pack comprising Payten Wight of the Cayman Islands and Puerto Rico’s Kelvin Hernandez.
Caymanian Holly McLean, with 75, was a stroke ahead of Puerto Rico’s Darianys Guzman in a similarly close contest for the women’s individual honours. Also in the mix are the Dominican Republic’s Yae Yun Kim, with 77, and Emily Mayne of Jamaica and Emily Odwin of Barbados, who carded identical 78s.
The Arthur Ziadie trophy for best overall team also remains virtually anyone’s game, with Puerto Rico in the lead at 14 points and Jamaica just two points behind in second followed by the Dominican Republic with 10 points.
There are now undoubtedly high expectations for Thursday’s second day of play.
Comments