Junior golfers Mattea Issa and Ryan Lue topped the leaderboard for the Jamaica Golf Association’s national senior trials which ended on Sunday at the Half Moon golf course in St James.

Issa led the female section of the trials on all three days and won by four strokes over Emily Mayne, the 2022 winner of the senior trials and 2022 national female golf champion.

Issa’s three-day total of 10 over par 226 resulted from scores of four over par 76, one over par 73 and five over par 77 for the three days, respectively.

Mayne, on the other hand, posted scores of 81, 76 and 73 for 14 over par 230 to take the runner-up spot.

Issa was happy with winning the senior trials for the second time, especially in light of a mishap that she had which resulted in her going to the hospital prior to the start of the final round.

“The conditions on the weekend were very tough. There was a lot of wind and rain and there was even a lightning delay on the second day but despite that I thought I played decent. On the first day I was four over. I was pretty disappointed with how I played. I thought I could have played much better but I did have a five-shot lead, so I had an opportunity going into the second day.

“On the second day I shot one over and I was pretty happy with that given the tough conditions and I was able to get a bigger gap with an eight shot lead. On the third day while I was warming up I had a little incident where I was hit in the face with one of my training aids and I did end up having to go the emergency room before my tee time, and so I was a little shaken up but I still managed to shoot five over, which I am pretty proud of myself given the circumstances,” said Issa.

Several of the men posted their best score on the final day of the trials, with four of them getting impressive under par scores. Topping that list was Ryan Lue, who scored four under par 68 to close the trial on six over par 222 to win by four strokes ahead of Jack Stein who closed on 10 over par 226 after posting one under par 71 in the final round.

Lue was also happy with his performance. “I am very happy about my performance. [I am] very happy to have shot a good score on the last day to win and I am very happy to have won, and I am very excited to represent my country this coming summer in the Dominican Republic.”

Rocco Lopez, the day one leader, scored three under par 69 in the final round to close the trials on 11 over par 227 to share third place with Zandre Roye who scored one under par 71 in the round. Roye is the current national golf champion.

The Caribbean Junior Amateur Golf Championship is to be played in Jamaica in early July. Issa and Lue are expected to feature. They will also be called upon to play in the Caribbean (senior) Amateur Golf Championship which is scheduled for later in July in the Dominican Republic.