Jamaica successfully defended their team trophies from 2019 at the Caribbean Golf Association Four-Ball Championships at the Jacaranda Golf Club in Florida last week.

This marked the first win for new President Jodi Munn-Barrow who is the first female president of the Jamaica Golf Association (JGA).

Jamaica posted some outstanding performances at the championship this year, including leading in the country points on all three competition days, posting the best team score for a single round, the best team score overall as well as defending all the trophies won the last time the championship was held. There was no tournament in 2020 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Team Jamaica won four of the five trophy categories outright and tied for a fifth, while retaining the country trophy — the Ambrose Gouthro Cup.

The country points for the Ambrose Gouthro Cup were: Jamaica 51 (with scores of 19, 15, 17 over the three days), Bahamas 32, Cayman Islands 21, Trinidad & Tobago 10, Puerto Rico 10, and Turks & Caicos Islands 4.

Perennial defending champion and runner-up in 2019 Puerto Rico was the biggest loser this year after placing fifth overall with 10 points.

The Jamaica’s top performer was the two-man team of Owen Samuda and Philip Prendergast, who posted a three-day total of 208 on the back of scores of 70, 68 and 70, respectively. This represents a massive improvement on their 2019 outing when they placed sixth. They copped the Ramon Baez Romano Trophy for Men 35-plus, for the first time. They posted the best total of all golfers in the competition and was the only team to shoot under par scores on all three days.

The other team of Dave Cameron and Metry Seaga, who played in the category, placed fifth after posting 240 overall.

Sean Morris and Dr Mark Newnham retained the Francis & Steel-Perkins Trophy for Men 50 and over. They had three good days on the course posting scores of two under par 70, one under par 71 and one over par 73 for a three-day total of 214 or two under par for the three days of competition.

Greg Chong and Tommy Lee were fifth in the category with a total score of 231.

The female team of President Munn-Barrow and Lisa Gardner scored 234 (79, 79, 76) over the three days to retain the Marie Nunes Trophy for Ladies 35 and over.

Michele McCreath and LeAnn Chong copped the Dessie Henry Trophy after posting three-day total of 246 (84, 84, 78).

The two-man team of Rory Jardine and Wayne Chai Chong tied with Leroy Williamson and Stevie Wallace of The Bahamas for the Higgs & Higgs Trophy. They posted overall score of 212 with Jamaica scoring 73, 67,72 and Bahamas 72, 72, 68 over the three days, respectively.

The other Jamaica team of Michael Boyd and Bert Tomlinson to compete in the category, ended in sixth place with scores of 73, 75 and 76 for a total score of 246.

Munn-Barrow was pleased with the team’s performance, saying: “As president of the Jamaica Golf Association, I am immensely proud of the performance of the Jamaican team at the Caribbean Golf Association’s Four-Ball Championships.

“To come out on top of all five categories is an overwhelming achievement. We were able to send two teams to this tournament in three of the five categories and we were able to win four of five with our Team A which is our national team and then to also have the national team win the overall trophy as well, was spectacular.

“The team spirit was enormous. The camaraderie, the dedication of our coach Jonathan Newnham…I believe his participation and his guidance helped us thoroughly and helped us to pass the post and we thank him for all of the work he has done. “