Rough start for Burrowes, Knibbs at Latin America Amateur Golf Champs
Jamaican golfers Justin Burrowes and William Knibbs are some distance off the lead at the end of the first day of the 7th Latin America Amateur Championship (LAAC) in the Dominican Republic at the Teeth of the Dog Golf Course.
Burrowes is eight strokes off the lead, while Knibbs is 18 shots behind the leaders.
Segundo Oliva Pinto of Argentina and Roerto Nieves of Puerto Rico are joint leaders on six under par 66. Burrowes is tied with 12 other golfers in 36th position, while Knibbs is in 94th place.
Burrowes, who is playing in his third championship, posted a solid two over par 74 after ending both front nine and back nine on one over par 37 each. He bogeyed holes six, 13, and 18 but got back a stroke when he birdied hole number 14.
“Today was OK… didn’t really get anything going — three bogeys, one birdie. I hit it really well. I don’t think the score really reflects how I played, but that’s golf [as] you have to make puts [and] I didn’t quite do that today,” he said.
Burrowes, who was first up on the tee on day one at 7:36 am, will be first up again at the same time on day two. Knibbs, on the other hand, teed off at 8:32 am on the first day and will tee off at the same time again today.
Knibbs’ scorecard showed him ending the front and back nine at six over par 42 each for a day one score of 12 over par 84, which puts him in 94th place. He bogeyed his first hole then posted a five over on the third hole for 10 on the par five hole. He recovered slightly with a birdie on hole six then bogeyed hole eight for the front nine.
The start of the back nine showed a bogey (hole 10) then a double bogey on hole 12. He got another slight reprieve on hole 14 with a birdie but ended the round with bogeys on hole 17 — triple bogey and a bogey on the final hole of the day.
Their position on the leaderboard at the end of the second day will determine if they continue in the championship as there is a cutline at the 50th position. Burrowes made the cut on his two previous outings, while Knibbs, who is in a precarious position after day one, is trying to do better than he did in 2020 (his first time) by making the cut.
