Junior golfers shine in Doral

By Cayman Sports Buzz
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Updated: 3 January 2017

Andy Hastings tees off (photo supplied)

Cayman’s junior golfers had a good showing overseas during December. A dozen juniors represented the Cayman Islands at the Doral-Publix Junior Golf Classic in Miami on 18-19 December. They were matched with some of the top golfers from 14 countries across North, South and Central America, Europe and Africa.

Justin Hastings.

Following a strong ninth place finish at the IMG Junior World Championships – Florida Challenge, Justin Hastings placed 11^th in a very competitive field of 66 golfers in the Boy’s 12-13 age group at Doral. Shooting 154 for the two rounds, Justin was pleased to finish ahead of three golfers who had placed ahead of him at the IMG tournament. According to reports, Tom Dickens and Todd Purton also posted solid results in this age group.

Holly McLean and Lauren Needham represented the girls. Holly played two nine-hole rounds in the Girl’s 10-11 category posting a 40-42 for a three-way tie for ninth place in a field of 30 golfers. “Doral was Lauren’s first experience playing in a major tournament outside of Cayman, and she was pleased with her results after two rounds of 18-holes in the Girls 12-13 category,” a spokesperson for the junior golf program noted.

Holly McLean (file photo)

In the 8-9 age group, five boys represented Cayman, each playing two nine-hole rounds over the two-day tournament. Danny Lyne shot 44-38 to take 22nd place in a field of 47 golfers. Zach Brooks, Sam McLean, Luke Dodson and Josh Dickens also played well in the tournament.

James Bould and Andy Hastings played two 18-hole rounds in the Boy’s 10-11 age group. The boys placed well in a competitive field of 46 boys.

Joe Purton played in the Boys 15-17 age group. He shot 97 and 91 in the first two rounds and missed the cut for the final round.

“The junior golf program is grateful to HighWater for their continued support of the annual Cayman Islands Junior Golf Championships – a part of their contribution is directed towards achievement based prizes used to help send our junior champions to compete at high calibre international tournaments like Doral,” a release stated.

Junior golfers will continue their competitive season with the third round of the Digicel Junior Golf series and the third of four rounds of the Junior National Team Qualifiers taking place in January.