Jamaica’s junior golfers are optimistic of producing stellar performances when they tee off at the Caribbean Junior Golf Championships in Trinidad & Tobago today.

The Jamaican team will see 12 Under-18 representatives travelling to compete, with hopes of retaining or improving on last year’s second place finish at the tournament which climaxes on July 7.

Jamaica will join participants from all over the region, including The Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Barbados in converging at the St Andrew’s Golf Club in Port-of-Spain.

The competition will see all the countries competing with three categories of players — Under-13, Under-15, and Under-18. Jamaica will be present in all three.

According to coach Jason Lopez, the team is one mixed with youth and experience.

“Emily Mayne is our second year player and is a standout U-13, she’s playing very well and we have high hopes for her to finish well in her category. Both boys in U-13 are also strong and should do well and our U-18 boys have all represented the team on many occasions.

“Players Justin Burrowes, Kei Harris, and Luke Chin train regularly in Jamaica and they are benefitting from a two-week programme with Matt de John at the Club Med Golf Academy in Florida. They will be coming back to Jamaica to travel with the team to compete, while Justine McKenzie, will be representing the team for the first time,” Lopez explained.

Last year’s competition, held in Barbados, saw Jamaica finishing second, behind Puerto Rico overall after a close three-day event. But this represented Jamaica’s best finish at the tournament in the past 15 years.

This year, Lopez is confident of another top three finish.

“My expectation is that we’ll finish in the top three; I believe we have a good team. Puerto Rico has won the last several tournaments, but we’re among the strongest teams — Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. However, Trinidad and Tobago has the home advantage, knowing their course well because where the competition is being held is where they train,” he said.

Team: Emily Mayne, Evelyn Lai (U-13 girls); Rocco Lopez, Tristan Brown (U-13 boys); Justine McKenzie (U-15 girls); Luke Chin, Michael Lowe, Tajay Lobban (U-15 boys); Kei Harris, Katarina Lai (U-18 girls); Justin Burrowes, Jack Stein, and Sebert Walker (U-18 boys).