ST CATHERINE, Jamaica— Zandre Roye and Mattea Issa both had a three-point lead over their nearest competitor at the end of the first round of the Jamaica Golf Association’s National Amateur Golf Championship being played at the Caymanas Golf Club in St Catherine.

Roye scored even par 72 for the round to lead former national champion and clubmate Oshae Haye and Jack Stein by three strokes after they both scored three over par 75. They were being tracked closely by young guns Rocco Lopez and Trey Williams who are just two stroked back on five over par 77.

Roye had a good front nine and was up by two between holes six to eight after copping two birdies on holes two and six but bogeyed number eight to close on one under par 35. He started the back nine by dropping a shot on hole number 10 but recovered on holes 11 and 12 to be up by two shots between 12 to 15 but dropped a shot on 16 and 17, then parred 18 to close the back nine on one over par 37. His four birdies were cancelled out by the four bogeys which he scored in the round, making him the only golfer to go into day two with a clean sheet to build on.

Junior player Mattea Issa scored nine over par 81 to take the lead over many-time national champion Jodi Munn-Barrow who ended the first round on  12 over par 84. Alessandra Coe, another junior player was just two shots behind on 14 over par 86.

Both Roye and Issa were happy with their first round performance under hot and windy conditions on the course, while looking forward to extending their lead at the end of the second round of the three-round championship.

The second round will get under way at 8:30 am on Saturday.

There will be a new male and female champion this year as William Knibbs and Michelle McCreath who are the 2023 champions, did not tee off on Friday and will not feature in the championship this year.