JAMAICA’S new professional golfing sensation Wesley Brown, although failing in his bid to qualify for the United States Open Championship, finished a creditable 20 out of 120 golfers at the qualifying event staged at the Forest Oaks Country Club, North Carolina, USA, over the weekend.

Brown, a caddie at Sandals Golf and Country Club, who turned pro a few months ago and is now being sponsored by Sandals Resorts International, carded an even par 72 on the tough course and proclaimed that “although I didn’t play badly, I knew I could have posted a better score”.

With only the top seven players moving on to the next qualifying event, Brown will have to wait until next year to have another crack at qualifying for the major tournament.

Starting on the back end of the course, Brown was like a house on fire, being three under after his first three holes. He was still in the running at -1 after nine, but ran into trouble in the middle rounds before rallying to post a respectable even par.

Brown’s scorecard read five birdies, five bogeys and eight pars.

The golf star described the course as being long and tough, “and not being used to the swirling, windy conditions there accounted for my mid-round struggles”. He was, however, pleased with his overall standard of play.

Brown will leave the island in another two weeks to continue his international development by taking part in the Carolina series of some 12 tournaments in that State.

“The Carolina Series will do wonders for my confidence as it affords me a chance to play top level golf in a number of international tournaments against strong competition,” Brown noted. He further added that “this experience will only strengthen my game, as I seek to make Jamaica and my sponsors Sandals proud”.

The international exposure being afforded the golfing ace, who was arguably the country’s top amateur before turning professional, is geared at eventually earning him a spot on the United States Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour.