Zandre Roye and Mattea Issa were repeat winners at this year’s Jamaica Golf Association (JGA) three-day National Senior Golf Trials, which ended on Sunday at the Half Moon Golf Course in Montego Bay. They battled the heat and had to overcome the high winds, especially on the second day of competition.

Roye saw his fortunes change after each round to eventually top the leaderboard at the end. He shot four over par 76 for second place after round one, then dropped to sixth after scoring nine over par 81 at the close of round two, but recovered after posting the lowest score of one over par 73 in round three to be the repeat winner by just one shot with an overall score of 14 over par 230.

Roye said it was not easy, but he was happy with the result.

“It’s not an easy golf course. It’s one of the hardest golf courses on the island. I knew that if I just go out there, stay patient and shoot a good score, I will be all right at the end of the day. I went out, two over par on the front nine. Wasn’t really happy with that, but I knew I had some gettable holes coming up.

“Got it to one under par on the back nine through 14, so one over par for the day and then the real golf starts on the last four finishing holes, which are probably the four hardest finishing holes on the island. I managed to play those holes even par coming in and secure the victory two years straight. So back to back, that’s a pretty good feeling to say I have won back to back national trials, and I won the national amateur championship just two weeks ago, I think two, three weeks ago, and to back it now with the national trials, it’s a pretty good feeling, and I am happy with the result,” Roye said.

Trey Williams and Owen Samuda moved up from joint fourth place in round two to joint second place at the end after carding 76 each for their combined total of 15 over par 231, which was just one shot behind Roye.

Dr Mark Newnham’s 16 over par 232 was good enough for fourth place after being joint leader at the end of the second round with two other golfers.

Another joint leader after the second round, Oshae Haye shot 79 in the final round to occupy fifth place on 233.

Sean Morris, the day one leader, bagged sixth place with his 78 in the final round for a combined score of 235.

Former female golf champion and many-time national representative Mattea Issa posted two solid rounds of five over par 77 in rounds one and two but had a rough final round of 10 over par 82 to close the trials on 20 over par 236. She was, however, pleased to be the repeat female champion after battling the challenging conditions.

They will now focus on the Bahamas-bound Caribbean Amateur Golf Championship between August 2 and 7.