ROCCO Lopez trumped all the golfers on the Caympans Golf Course on Sunday’s final day of the three-day national junior trials to select Jamaica’s team to the 32nd Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf championship to be played in the Dominican Republic later this year.

Lopez ended the three days on 224 or eight over par on the back of scores of 73, 74, and 77, respectively.

He was the only golfer to post scores in the seventies for all three days. His score is 10 strokes better than the automatic qualifying score of 234 for the 15 and under age group.

Lopez thought that he could have played better.

“Well, I am not too happy about it cause I knew I could do a lot better but in the end with everything and the hard conditions I guess I can say I am satisfied with it. Today was especially hard because there was no sun and it was extremely windy so it made it a lot harder than the previous days,” he said.

He said that when he was 13 he trained every day for three months straight leading up to the regional championship. That year, 2018, he won the Bob Slatter Trophy (held in Jamaica), in the 13 and under category.

Matthew Grant (80,76, 81) posted 237 or 13 strokes behind Lopez to place second ahead of Aman Dhiman (80, 84, 81) for a three-day total of 245.

The top three golfers in the 18 and under category were Kristian Chin (81, 80, 78) 239, Tristan Brown (78, 77, 86) 241, and Tequan Goodwill (83,85, 87) 255.

Michael Lowe, who captained Campion College to their third-straight win in the recently held JGA inter-school competition and was in second place at the end of day two, was disqualified and will not compete in the regional competition this year.

Boys 13 and under player Ryan Lue, who was on his second attempt to represent Jamaica in the championship, scored 253 (77, 84, 92) to top the group ahead of Aaron Ghosh 297 (90, 104, 103) and Jordyn-Rhys Davis (106, 97, 95) 298.

“The tournament was good and the conditions today was very windy compared to yesterday and I am happy because I made the team, he said.

“Yes I am looking forward [to the championship preparation] and I am very happy to represent Jamaica,” noted Lue.

The lone competitor Winni Lau in the 15 and under age group posted scores of 85, 90, and 93 for a combined total of 268.

Winner of the 13 and under category Mattea Issa earned an automatic qualifying spot on the team after posting 82, 87, and 89 for a total score of 258 or three strokes better than the stipulated score of 261.

“I feel very good, I feel very happy. No matter what I shot I will always be very proud of myself because of how hard sometime the conditions can be and especially pushing your own cart and especially because I am very tiny, it’s very hard but thankfully I was able to push through the three days and shoot very well,” she said.

Issa said that she was well prepared for the harsh, windy conditions on the final day.

“You’re supposed to know that beforehand, because the coaches are not allowed to communicate with you when you are playing, so thankfully I knew what I should do and how to prepare for that,” she explained.

The team will then go into intense preparation for the Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championship.