Jamaica's captain Jonathan Newnham getting ready to make a putt yesterday. - photo by Adrian Frater

Western Bureau:

On a day when the conditions proved most challenging, the Dominican Republic's José Hernandez, who shot a 73, had the best score on yesterday's first day of the three-day 54-hole Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championship at the Cinnamon Hill Golf Course in Rose Hall, St James.

Hosts Jamaica, gunning to improve on last year's fourth-place finish, had a difficult day, which was made even more difficult when captain Jonathan Newnham fell ill at the start of the day and basically had to struggle before regaining his composure towards the end of the day.

"It was a real struggle for me because I was not well at the start," said Newnham, who could only manage a 78 in the boys' 14-15 category. "I knew my team needed me so I just stayed out there and gave my best ... it could have been better and it could have been worse."

Not a great day

While it was not a great day for Jamaica, coach Jason Lopez was nonetheless quite upbeat, expressing confidence that Jamaica would improve on last year's fourth place finish.

"We have as good a chance as any of the teams ... we have put a lot of hard work into our preparation and we are hoping that all the hard work will pay off," said Lopez. "We have some very good young players ... both boys and girls ... I will be very satisfied if we improve on last year's performance."

Hernandez, who is playing in the boys' 14-15 category, was nonetheless quite lucky to finish in the lead as his Trinidad and Tobago counterpart, Jake Delaney, appeared on course to finish on even-par but he bogeyed the last two holes and finished with 74.

"It was a fantastic performance by Jake (Delaney) because the fact that he played his golf in Florida made the windy conditions ideal for him," said Chris Harries, the coach of the Trinidad and Tobago coach.

Puerto Rico on the upswing

Defending champions Puerto Rico had the best day among the eight competing countries as a unit, churning out fairly good performances in all the categories. In the 13 and under boys, they had the best performance, a 75 shot by Frederick Thon. They were also tops in the 13 and under girls, where Yudika Rodriquez had a best score of 80.

In addition to Delaney, Trinidad and Tobago was tops in the 16-17 boys, where Talin Rajendranath had a best score of 78. Trinidad was also top among 16-17 girls with Monifa Sealy matching the 78 registered by Rajendranath.

Second-day action in the tournament, which is featuring some 99 young golfers from Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Cayman Island, Barbados, OECS countries, defending champions Puerto Rico, Domincan Republic and Bahamas, tees off at 8:30 a.m.