Source: www.guardian.co.tt
By:Nicolas Clarke
T&T claimed the Arthur Zaide (Overall) Trophy for the second time in the 55-year history of the Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships when they edged Puerto Rico by four points on the tournament’s fourth and final day at the Millennium Lakes Golf Club in Trincity yesterday. T&T finished on 151 points, with Puerto Rico (147), Turks & Caicos (138), Dominican Republic (102) and Jamaica (100) rounding out the top five. They last won the title in 2006 in Jamaica. The home team also won the George Teale Memorial Trophy (Ladies’ Open), retained the Francis & Steele Perkins Cup (Men’s Over 50) and Ramon Baez Trophy (Men’s 35-49), placed second in the Higgs & Higgs Trophy and third in the Hoerman Cup (Men’s Open). After beginning the day three strokes ahead of Puerto Rico in the George Teale Memorial Trophy, Monifa Sealy (73) and Martine De Gannes (75) played consistently to cruise to the title by 15 shots. Their final day score of 148 took them to an overall tally of 589 (152+147+142+148), which was comfortably better than Puerto Rico (154+143+147+160 = 604), whose Maria Torress (77) and Paola Robles (83) stumbled at the finish. The Cayman Islands held on to third with 636 (167+160+153+156) while Barbados (660) and OECS (661) were fourth and fifth respectively.
Dave Rajkumar and Wayne Baptiste shot a 67 yesterday to move ahead of overnight leaders Juan Campusano and Roberto Ortiz of the Dominican Republic for the Ramon Baez Trophy. The locals, who began yesterday two strokes behind, had a final score of 271 (72+66+66+67), which was just one clear of the runners up (68+66+68+70). Finishing in third were OECS’s Trevor Lane and Raymond Percival on 275 (68+68+70+69), while Puerto Rico and Jamaica tied for fourth on 280 each. Michael Commissiong and Carlos “Sexy” Baynes held on to their overnight lead to bring home the Francis & Steele Perkins Cup. Their 69 yesterday took them to 276 (70+61+76+69), which easily bettered Puerto Rico’s Mario Carbia and Cesar Serrano (76+73+74+70 = 293). Barbados’s Ricardo Skeete and Robert Piggott placed third with 295 (67+75+75+78).
T&T slipped from second to third in the Hoerman Cup as Puerto Rico, who had been tied with the hosts after two days, continued to distance themselves from the rest of the field. Locals Andrei Collins (75), Talin Rajendranath (76), Alderray Downes (77) and Jessel Mohammed (81) combined for 309 yesterday for a four-day score of 1203 (298+288+308+309). They were eclipsed by the Dominican Republic (313+298+295+292 = 1198), who had begun yesterday 12 shots behind the home team. Puerto Rico scored a competitive 289 to finish on 1170 (293+293+295+289). They were again boosted by Erick Morales, who added 69 to his previous scores of 68, 67 and 76. Also contributing were Robert Calvesbert (72), Andrew Baez (74) and Christian Rivera (74). T&T jumped two spots to finish second in the Higgs & Higgs trophy with Barry Ferdinand and Monty Chapman tallying 296 (77+71+78+70), which was seven strokes behind Puerto Rico’s Carlos Matos and Elvin Gonzalez, Sr. (75+72+71+71 = 289). Jamaica’s Dennis Atkinson and Fred Sutherland were third with 297 (77+71+75+74)