JAMAICA'S HOPES of taking home silverware and titles from this year's Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships (CAGC) at Tobago's Plantation Golf and Country Club were all but extinguished after yesterday's second round.
At the halfway mark of the tournament which signals regional amateur golf dominance, Jamaica are struggling in all five categories.
In the prestigious men's Hoerman Cup, hosts Trinidad and Tobago lead the division over Puerto Rico by five strokes and Barbados by seven.
In the women's George Teale Trophy section, the island is in sixth with a gross score of 164 after back-to-back rounds of 82 by veteran campaigner Maggie Lyn, with a revamped format which sees only one score count in that section this year, Bahamian Jameica Duncombe (72-74-146) leads the way by a six strokes over Barbados' Muffin Johnson (76-76-152).
The men's Senior team, chasing the Francis Steele-Perkins Trophy, fell in a huge hole after being joint leaders with a score of 71 after day one.
Hamar Dayes and Dennis Atkinson carded an 11-over 83 yesterday to drop way off the pace in the better-ball format. They are a more than challenging 13 strokes adrift of leaders Barbados.
The SuperSenior Higgs and Higgs Trophy duo of Cleo Taylor and Herman McDonald, winners of the section two years ago, are alive but barely kicking.
They sit fifth (76-71-147) behind pacesetters Puerto Rico with seven strokes to make up in the final two rounds of better-ball competition.
In the newly-created Ramon Baez Trophy for Mid-Amateurs (over 35), Jamaica appear to have their best chance of a title. In a two-man team competition in which the best round counts each day, Mike Gleichman (77-74-151) has guided the duo into second position, however he will have his work cut out chasing down Puerto Rico's Mike Santin (75-71) and Frank Thomas (71-76) who have shared sub-par scoring rounds on the first two days of the event.
Overall, defending champions Puerto Rico have a comfortable 12 point lead over Trinidad and Tobago in the Arthur Ziadie Trophy with Bahamas in third place.
