JC, Campion top inaugural inter-schools golf
Jamaica College and Campion College were joint winners of the first round of the inaugural JGA Inter School Golf Competition, which was held at the Constant Spring Golf Club in Kingston last month.
Both schools ended on 31 or four under par after completing the nine-hole competition at dusk following a 3:00 pm start in bright sunshine. Campion’s winning team included Matthew Lawson, Sebastian Azan, Brady Homes and Luke Lindo, while Jamaica College’s team included Kristian Chin, Tristan Brown, Luke Wright and Adrian Leslie.
Both JC and Campion College fielded three teams in the competition due to the high number of players in their schools.
Patrick Dawes, coach of JC, was pleased with being at the top of the leader board. He said “winners of anything is always a good feeling. We certainly have worked hard and are very elated to be at the top of the leader board”. According to coach Dawes, the JC players to look out for include all members of the winning team.
Coach Dawes credits the arrival of Tristan Brown at JC two years ago with introducing the sport at the school. He also credits the influence of Brown with being at the forefront of the start of the inter-school competition. Brown is 14 years old.
The five-team competition also included Hillel, AISK and St Andrew High School for Girls. Hillel placed third on 32 and AISK fourth with a score of one over par 36. St Andrew, who were playing in their first-ever competition, did not complete the course as it got too dark to play.
The competition was run using a four-man scramble format. This is where each player hits a tee shot on each hole but everyone plays from the spot of the best shot, subject to certain criteria.
Alison Reid, who is responsible for the junior golf programme in Jamaica, was very pleased to see the competition actually getting under way. This after the first attempt on February 6 had some hiccups and was eventually regarded as a practice round. That round actually helped the organisation to iron some start-up issues that cropped up. According to Reid “this type of competition actually showcases our juniors, because the junior golf programme tends to go unnoticed. There are approximately 80 juniors that play golf across Jamaica and about 60 of them compete monthly, and I think that it is important that we get the word out that the sport is growing and it’s interesting to a lot of people”.
