Junior golfers aim for top three
Published:Tuesday | July 2, 2013 | 12:00 AM
Ryon Jones, Staff Reporter
Jamaica's junior golfers departed the island yesterday for the Caribbean Golf Championships handicapped, as the nine-member team was three short of the ideal 12 players, due to financial constraints facing the association.
The championships, to be staged at the North Sound Golf Club in the Cayman Islands, will run from Wednesday, July 3 to Friday, July 5.
The team's head coach, Jason Lopez, believes the shortage in numbers will see them struggle to break into the top three.
"We have had difficulty in the past to break into the big three," Lopez, who has been head coach for the past eight years, revealed. "Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Trinidad and Tobago over the last 10 years, have been the dominant forces in junior golf in the region. Our goal each year is to try and break into the top three.
"We have been finishing behind them over the last few years, and we are trying to turn around our fortunes. What holds us back in that regard is that we don't have a full team, which would see us having two players in each age group."
Despite not being strong in all three age groups, Lopez would have loved to carry a full team, so as to give some of the youngsters experience to make them stronger for next year.
HOPING FOR IMPROVEMENT
"We had some weakness in some of the age groups, and what we had to do was look at it from a statistical standpoint and see where we would be strongest, and in those age groups, we sent the full team," Lopez shared.
"Ideally, I would have loved to have had a full team, but we couldn't because of the economic reality. Junior golf is development; it is not like senior golf, so I would really have wanted to send a full team," he added.
"We will look to see how strong we are in each age group, how we perform in each age group. Next year, I am hopeful that things can improve and we can send a full complement of players."
Lopez would love to see more corporate sponsors coming on board to support the sport, as well as for the Government, through the Sports Development Foundation (SDF), to renew its support.
"We need sponsors, inevitably, to raise money for the team, as the local association can't bear the whole burden," Lopez reasoned. "Thankfully, we had a sponsor come on late, a company that I partner with called Tropicars, that sells the Ezgo and Cushman golf carts. They came in at the late stage and provided some funding for the team that has been very, very helpful.
"It is a tough environment in which to raise money, and it is expensive to send a full team away. The unfortunate thing this year is that we got no government support and it was one of the big things that held us back. We didn't get any money from the SDF and it is very disappointing, as you would think that is the reason why they are there."
Jamaica's team: Zandre Roye (captain, U-17 boys), Sherice Walker (U-17 girls), Jordan Lowe and Romaine Evans (U-15 boys), Katlin Robertson (U-15 girls), Justin Burrowes and Sebert Walker Jr (U-13 boys), Tiana Cruz and Kei Harris (U-13 girls). Sebert Walker Sr (manager) and Jason Lopez (coach).