Rising stars Justin Burrowes and Emily Mayne have been named among a 12-member team that will represent Jamaica at the Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships, scheduled for August 8-13 in Puerto Rico, where they will compete for the Hoerman Cup and George Teale Trophy, for men and women, respectively.
The team boasts a mixture of experienced and new players and consists of six men and four women as well as two reserve players, who only travel to play if one of the named team members is unable to play.
The six-member men’s team comprises Burrowes, William Knibbs, Mark Newnham, Rocco Lopez, Shamar Wilson and Owen Samuda. Sebert Walker Jr. is the reserve player. The four-member female team is comprised of Mayne, Kai Harris, Tiana Cruz and Hannah Foster. Jodi Munn-Barrow is the reserve player.
Burrowes is coming off a very successful national senior trials in which he shot the lowest one-day score of 68 to end on par 288 over the four days, three strokes ahead of runner-up William Knibbs. He believes the Jamaica Golf Association (JGA) has selected a strong team.
“I think it represents Jamaica's top golfers right now in the country. I feel like we have the talent, we have all the tools it takes. I think we have a great blend of players on the team,” he said.
“I feel like we all get along very well, especially with Dr Newnham on the team; having that team experience and he's done it a couple of times before, definitely more than I have, whether it's Hoerman Cup, or just representing Jamaica.
“I think that he definitely has been doing it for the longest and just carrying that experience and carrying that to the younger players, I feel like that will just inspire confidence in myself and Rocco, who is younger than us, and William, who is a little older. I feel like we just have a good blend and that's definitely one of the key things for performing well - just having a good team blend and a good team spirit.”
Mayne won the female section of the national trials with a combined score of 316 which included the best round of five-over-par 77 on the last day. She is preparing for some tough competition but expects the team to do well.
"I am looking forward to the tough competition at the CAGC and am also excited to play alongside the other three girls,” she said.
“Although I am the youngest on the team, I am just focused on preparing myself to do my absolute best and stay consistent. We have a great team so I believe that with teamwork and determination we can do very well."
DP World Tour 'disappointed' as LIV Golf bans are temporarily quashed for Scottish Open
Players on the LIV Golf roster will be allowed to compete in the DP World Tour's Scottish Open after their bans for featuring in the Saudi-backed league were temporarily stayed as their appeals are considered.
Both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour had refused to grant waivers for players to participate in LIV Golf's lucrative tournaments, with the first two events being held in London and Portland over the past month.
Ian Poulter has been leading the chorus of dissent from the European LIV Golf players, as the biggest names in the sport descended on Ireland's Adare Manor this week for the JP McManus Pro-Am.
He told the media he was going to fight any restrictions that tried to keep him away from a tour he feels he has dedicated a large chunk of his life to.
"My commitment to the European Tour has been there since day one," he said. "And it's still there today.
"I'm proud of playing so often, when it was to the detriment of world ranking points and FedEx Cup points I could have earned playing more in America.
"I feel disappointed and offended that I've been suspended from playing golf on a Tour that I've played for 24 years."
Chief executive of the DP World Tour, Keith Pelley, said the ruling does not mean players from the Saudi-funded tour will be granted full access to the European tour, but the field for the Scottish Open will be expanded to fit the LIV Golf players.
"I will simply say we are disappointed by the outcome of today's hearing, but will abide by the decision," he said.
"It is important to remember, however, this is only a stay of the sanctions imposed, pending the hearing of the players' appeal as to whether those sanctions were appropriate.
"The make-up of the field for the Scottish Open will be advised in due course, but based on this decision the field size will increase beyond 156.
"We will make further comment on this in due course, but not during our time at Adare Manor."
Head coach Lorne Donaldson says Reggae Girlz are ready ahead of final round of CONCACAF Women's Championship
Reggae Girlz head coach Lorne Donaldson says his team is ready to go ahead of their Concacaf Women’s Championship final round opener against Mexico on Monday.
Jamaica and Mexico are in Group A of the final round along with Haiti and the United States while Group B contains Canada, Costa Rica, Panama and Trinidad & Tobago.
The four semi-finalists after the group stage will advance to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
“I think, if we have everybody healthy and ready to go, we will give a good account of ourselves. The girls will come out and be ready to play. The first few minutes may be a little rusty because they haven’t played a game in a while but, when the game settles down, I think we can put some good stuff together,” Donaldson said in a pre-match interview on Sunday.
The match will be played at the University Stadium in Nueva Leon, home of the Liga MX club Tigres UANL, with kick-off scheduled for 9:00pm Jamaica time (10:00pm EST).
The Jamaicans, who spent the last two weeks in training camp in Denver, Colorado, know what to expect in enemy territory according to their head coach.
“Obviously, we play Mexico who’s the home team. They’ll have a lot of fans in the stadium and we know what to expect. Hopefully the preparation we’ve had can nullify some of their strengths,” said Donaldson.
“It’s going to be a difficult game but hopefully we can grind and battle through it so the result can fall in our favor,” he added.
Both teams come into this game on the back of some good form as the Reggae Girlz have scored 24 goals and conceded just two in their last four games while Mexico have scored 25 and conceded just one.
Jamaica beat T&T 55-21 for Netball gold at Caribbean Games
Jamaica’s U-23 Sunshine Girls secured Netball gold at the inaugural Caribbean Games at the Laurel Flessel Complex in Guadeloupe on Saturday.
The Jamaicans capped off an unbeaten campaign with a 55-21 victory over Trinidad & Tobago in the gold medal game.
St. Lucia took home the bronze medal with an 88-4 demolition of hosts Guadeloupe.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
