Jamaica fifth in Hoerman Cup tourney

Tym Glaser, Associate Editor - Sport

Jamaica's young Hoerman Cup team finished a creditable fifth as the Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships (CAGC) came to an end at the North Sound Golf Club in the Cayman Islands on Saturday.

Regional powerhouse Puerto Rico, with a four-day gross score of 1,153, won the prestigious men's team competition by a whopping 20 strokes over runners-up and hosts, the Cayman Islands.

Three strokes back

Trinidad and Tobago (1,176) were three strokes further back, followed by the Dominican Republic (1,179) and the Jamaicans (1,183) in the field of 10 teams.

Jamaica's top Hoerman Cup performer was Xavier Rose, who had rounds of 77-75-71-73 on the par-71 layout for a gross score of 12-over 296. He was closely followed by 13-year-old Jonathan Newnham, who made a fine transition from the junior to senior ranks with a 13-over 297 (74-72-72-77).

Paul Thompson (77-71-71-80-299), Fabian Campbell (81-74-72-73-300) and Delroy Johnson (75-73-83-79-310) also put up useful scores.

BEST RESULT

Jamaica's best result at this year's tournament came in the men's super senior Higgs and Higgs Trophy competition where stalwart Dennis Atkinson and Hamar Dayes carded an eight-under total of 276 to finish runners-up to the Dominican Republic by four strokes.

The women's threesome of evergreen Maggie Lyn, Jodi Munn-Barrow and 15-year-old Vittoria Marley finished third in the race for the George Teale Cup with a gross score of 599. That was well behind winners Puerto Rico (564), but only three back of second-placed Trinidad and Tobago (596).

Not surprisingly, Puerto Rico ran away with the overall team prize, the Arthur Ziadie Cup, with 172 points. The Dominican Republic (145) were second and Jamaica (129) third.