Rocco Lopez and Aman Dhiman are joint leaders in the Boys 18 and Under category of the Jamaica Golf Association' junior trials at the end of the first day at the Caymanas Golf Club in St. Catherine on Friday.
Both golfers posted scores of two over par 74 but in contrasting fashion. Lopez, who is in his final year as a junior player, carded a birdie and two bogeys resulting in one over par 37 on the front and back nine. Dhiman, at 17, has another year as a junior. He shot three birdies and five bogeys and also posted one over par 37 on his front and back nines, respectively.
The next three golfers – Ryan Lue, Tenny Davis and Jerone Thomas -are tied for third on 10 over par 82s, eight shots behind the joint leaders.
Meanwhile, 16-year-old Noah Azan, scored 15 over par 87. Trey Williams, 16, who made the team in 2019, was just one stroke back on 16 over par 88.
Joshua Melville had a rough day on the course, scoring 45 over par 117 and is not likely to recover enough to get one of the four available spots on the team.
Vying to represent Jamaica in the upcoming Caribbean Junior Amateur Golf Championship in the Cayman Islands between July 3-8, the young golfers will tee off on Saturday at 9:00 am for the second of three rounds in the trials in the hot, windy conditions at the Caymanas Golf Course.
This year's junior trials are being conducted in two separate sessions.
The Boys 18 & Under will run from Friday, March 10 to Sunday, March 12 while the other age groups will take to the same course from March 24-26. This is due to the availability of the players as most of them are at school overseas.