William Knibbs and Emily Mayne are the early leaders after Thursday’s opening day of the Jamaica Golf Association's (JGA) National Senior Trials at the Cinnamon Hill Golf Course in St. James and the Caymanas Golf Club in St. Catherine.
The 54-hole tournament trials will run until Sunday at the two venues.
Knibbs was the only golfer to post an under-par score on the first day. He shot a one-under-par 71, which included four birdies and three bogeys and said he was pleased with his start to the trials.
"Today (Thursday) was a good day. Ultimately, it's always good when you are able to finish under par for the round. I do feel that I had a couple of other opportunities that I left out there but, again, it's always good to shoot a score under par so I have no complaints where that is concerned. So hopefully more of the same for the rest of the wee," he said.
The other golfers in the top five in the Men's category were Owen Samuda and Justin Burrowes, who shot 74s to be three strokes behind while Sean Morris shot 76 for fourth place. Seabert Wlaker Jr. who shot a 77 is fifth.
Meanwhile, Emily Mayne posted shot an eight-over-par of 80 to lead the women. She is followed by many time national champion Jodi Munn-Barrow (82) and Mattea Issa (88), who are second and third, respectively.
“(It) started off rough today on the front nine,” Mayne said.
“I was misjudging a lot of my tee shots on the par threes and my approach shots from the fairways. I was flying the greens on a few of the first holes and having trouble putting downhill because of the pace of the greens and the slope. Then on the back nine, I brought it back. I was more focused, more calm. I was hitting my tee shots a lot better, hitting my approach shots a lot better, hitting more greens (and) getting within 10 feet, eight feet and then making more birdie putts and I finished with a birdie so I am proud of myself. "
The trials are being used to select the team to represent Jamaica in the Caribbean Amateur Golf Championship for Hoerman Cup for the men and the George Teale Trophy for the women.
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Rahm knocked out by Horschel at WGC Match Play as Scheffler and McIlroy progress
Jon Rahm was the major casualty from the WGC Match Play on Friday as Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay all advanced with perfect records.
The Spanish second seed was dumped out after losing 5 and 4 to 2021 WGC Match Play winner Billy Horschel in their final Group 2 match at the Austin Country Club in Texas.
Horschel went 1-up with a par on the second hole and never relinquished the lead, with Rahm failing to register a birdie throughout the day's play.
The 36-year-old American pulled away with birdies on the 10th and 11th holes followed by a 21-foot birdie putt on the 14th to clinch a spot in the round of 16 against Cameron Young.
Horschel progressed in a tight group with a 2-0-1 record ahead of Rickie Fowler (2-1-0), Rahm (1-2-0) and Keith Mitchell (0-2-1).
Top seed and reigning champion Scheffler advanced after beating Tom Kim 3 and 2 to round out a 3-0-0 group stage record.
Kim came out strong with birdies on the first two holes to go 2-up, but Scheffler rallied back immediately winning three of the next four holes.
Third seed McIlroy topped Group 3 unblemished after beating Keegan Bradley 3 and 2, while fourth seed Cantlay beat Brian Harman 2 and 1 to top Group 4 with a 3-0-0 record.
Kurt Kitayama won a three-way sudden death playoff over Tony Finau and Adrian Meronk to progress atop Group 10.
Canadian Mackenzie Hughes produced an upset to advance via Group 12 from Taylor Montgomery who he beat 6 and 4. Jordan Spieth, who beat Hughes on Thursday, missed out after losing to Shane Lowry 2 and 1.
J.J. Spaun also pulled off a surprise by topping Group 11 with a 3-0-0 record, downing Min Woo Lee 2 and 1 to seal his progress.
Max Homa, Xander Schauffele, Andrew Putnam, Matt Kuchar, Sam Burns, Lucas Herbert, J.T. Poston, Jason Day and Young also all progressed into Saturday's last 16 knockout stage.
Wallace holds Corales Puntacana lead as he chases maiden PGA Tour triumph
Englishman Matt Wallace leads the Corales Puntacana Championship by one stroke at the halfway point ahead of American pair Sam Stevens and Wyndham Clark.
Wallace, who was third after the first day, carded a second-round six-under-par 66 on Friday to be 11-under overall at the picturesque Puntacana Resort's Corales Golf Course in the Dominican Republic.
The 32-year-old Englishman has never won a PGA Tour event but has a golden opportunity with most of the world's top-ranked players competing at the WGC Match Play.
Wallace's second round was bogey free, carding birdies in four of his final six holes to claim the lead, with early leaders Brice Garnett and Ben Martin scoring 70 and 72 to slip down the leaderboard.
Stevens and Clark are 10-under overall, with the former managing eight birdies with one bogey in his seven-under round.
Clark also carded a seven-under 65, including an eagle on the par-five fourth hole to help launch his surge up the leaderboard.
Tyler Duncan, Akshay Bhatia, Nicolaj Hojgaard and Garnett, who won the event in 2018, are all tied for fourth at eight-under overall. Bhatia carded the best round of the day, with a nine-under 63.
Garnett and Martin share lead after opening round of Corales Puntacana Championship
With most of the world's top-ranked players at the WGC Match Play, Brice Garnett and Ben Martin lead the way after Thursday's opening round of the Corales Puntacana Championship.
Played in the Dominican Republic at the picturesque Puntacana Resort's Corales Golf Course, Martin and Garnett both shot bogey-free 66s to sit atop the leaderboard at six under.
While neither player has won a PGA Tour event since at least 2018, they both have a strong history at this event. Garnett's sole win on the tour came here in 2018, while Martin – whose only win came in 2014 – finished runner-up in Punta Cana last season.
Alone in third place is England's Matt Wallace at five under, and he is the only non-American in the top nine as Max McGreevy and Dylan Wu highlight the logjam at four under.
France's Martin Trainer and South Africa's Erik van Rooyen are part of the group tied for 10th at three under, with Belgium's Thomas Detry one further back at two under.
South American talents Emiliano Grillo of Argentina and Colombia's Camillo Villegas are at one under, while the Dominican Republic's own Juan Jose Guerra has a chance to make his first cut on the PGA Tour, sitting tied for 58th at one over.
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