The Jamaican team, as well as the seven other teams in the 35th Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championships, teed off at the North Sound Golf Club in the Cayman Islands on Wednesday in what is expected to be a fiercely competitive championship for country and individual trophies.

Jamaica won two individual trophies in 2022 in the 18 and Under Girls (Emily Mayne) and 15 and Under Girls (Samantha Azan) categories.

At the end of the first round, team captain Emily Mayne scored seven over par 78 for fourth place behind leader Holly McClean of the Cayman Islands with a score of one over par 72.

Mattea Issa (co-captain) is Jamaica’s other representative in the 18 and Under age group. She posted eleven over par 82 for seventh place.

Samantha Azan, who led her 15 and Under age group for a portion of the round, ended on eleven over par 82. Anoushka Katri scored fifteen over par 86 to close the round in seventh place. Katri is the only player on the team from western Jamaica. Maria del Mar Calamari of the Dominican Republic led the group at the end of round one on eight over par 79 which puts her at just three shots ahead of Azan.

Jamaica’s lone representative in the 13 and Under Girls category was Alessandra Coe, who scored twenty-seven over par 98 for her sixth place. Haley Hall of The Bahamas currently leads the group with a score of six over par 77.

On the boys’ side, Kemari Morris was the best placed Jamaica player at the end of the first round. He scored six over par 77 for third place in the 13 & Under age group. He was just four strokes behind leader Leduc Fernando of Puerto Rico who scored two over par 73. Jamaica’s other player in the group was Shasa Redlefsen who ended the round in tenth place on seventeen over par 88.

Two of the three representatives in the 18 and Under Boys are in joint fourth place, while the other was in seventh place. Aman Dhiman who led the group in the early stage of the round posted one over par 72 along with Rocco Lopez. Ryan Lue, on the other hand, was just three strokes behind them on four over par 75. Dhiman and Lopez were four strokes off the lead which was set by Kelvin Hernandez of Puerto Rico after posting three under par 68.

Aaron Ghosh’s seven over par 78 left him in eight place in the 13 and Under age group behind group leader Evan Pena of Puerto Rico who ended the round on even par 71. Newcomer to the Jamaican team, Davin Hogan, scored seventeen over par 88 in his first appearance for Jamaica.

Rocco Lopez will be Jamaica’s first player on the tee box at the start of the second round when he tees off at 8:30 am.