JAMAICA Golf Association (JGA) recently launched the 36th Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championship, which is to be hosted at Caymanas Golf Course from July 3-5.

The event was listed among the first order of business by newly re-elected President Jodi Munn-Barrow.

“It was not Jamaica’s time to host in the rotation but the member state of Barbados was unable to host and so the Caribbean Golf Association reached out to the JGA and asked us to host it this year,” Munn-Barrow explained during the launch at Jamaica Pegaus hotel.

“It was kind of unexpected, but knowing the benefits of bringing the tournament to Jamaica for our junior golf programme we thought it was the best thing to do,” she added.

Munn-Barrow was a member of Jamaica’s team at the first staging 36 years ago.

Alison Reid, who has been at the helm of the JGA’s junior programme for the past decade, detailed the Jamaica team for the championship while saying that much is expected from them, if they play to their potential.

“We have 13 players on our team. We have three girls who are new; they are from overseas. There is Kingston Burke, Melania Williams and Kiera Williams. All the other children are local.”

“In our Boys 18 and Under, we have a really strong Boys 18 and Under cause we have Trey Williams, Aman Dhiman and Ryan Lue.”

According to Team Captain Mattea Issa, “All the kids and myself have been training really hard and putting our best foot forward so that we can get the best result for our country. It’s an honour to represent Jamaica and we want to do [this] as best as possible.”

Coach Jonathan Newnham, who also played in the CAJGC, said the team is ready for competition.

“I believe that we’ve had a few months to prepare for the championship but most of these juniors have been playing for years and they are well ready. My job over the next few weeks is to continue to instill that self-belief in themselves to know that they are ready, but I am very confident in their abilities and I am excited for the weeks ahead,” he said.

Peter Levy, chief executive officer of British Caribbean Insurance Company (BCIC) which was also the main sponsor in 2018 when the event was last held in Jamaica, said his company is biased toward sponsoring junior sports.

“When we make decisions about who to sponsor or what to sponsor we are always kinda biased towards young recipients, and golf in particular. It’s a sport that requires discipline, and it requires a strong sense of sportsmanship and a high degree of skill, and we just think all of those qualities together are [the] perfect crucible for learning life lessons.”

The championship has attracted many other sponsors, including Restaurants of Jamaica (KFC), Sandals Foundation, WATA, CMK, Jamaica Pegasus, Fleetwood Jamaica Limited, R&A, Island Car Rentals & Tours, Digicel Business, Titlest, and several others.

The other countries down to compete are The Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago, and Jamaica.