The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Benjamin Knowles, producing the most impressive score over the four days of the qualifying round, will lead the way into today’s final of the Ministry of Education’s 2021 National High Schools Golf Championships.

Knowles, a 16-year-old 11th grade student at the Lyford Cay International School, was even par going into the ninth and final hole. But he double bogeyed it to finish with a gross of 29 yesterday in the senior boys’ private division. “It was really good. I played better than I practiced, so I was really pleased,” said Knowles, who played in the threesome with arch-rivals Zion Taylor and Jaden Ward.

As he prepares for today’s finals, Knowles said he will go for pretty much the same shots and just try to improve on the last hole.

“The ninth hole is where I had my problems,” said Knowles, who missed out on the opportunity to produce an even lower score on the ninth hole.

Knowles, who has been playing the sport for the past 12 years, said it was good to be a part of the tournament, even though they played under some pretty dry conditions.

While Knowles topped the list of senior boys, Ward followed closely behind with 33 and Taylor was not too far off with 36.

Ward, a ninth grader at AESA Prep International, has also played golf for the past 12 years, but he liked what he saw in the tournament.

“It was good to have so many schools come in and participate,” he said. “It was sort of rivalry competing against so many of your team-mates and friends.

“The course was different what I’m used too with the par threes a little different around the greens. But it was organized well and fun to play in.”

Encountering some swing problems on the course, Worth said he hope to rectify that and turn things around in the final and put together a much better showing.

“I played against the guys who are at the top, so it’s a friendly rivalry,” he pointed out. “So we will see what happens when we meet again in the final.”

Taylor, a 16-year-old student at Windsor School, said it was a good experience.

“Today, it was a bit windy and conditions were kind of tough out there, but I managed to play semi-decent, but it was okay,” he said.

“I was struggling a bit out there for the first half of the nine, but in the last two and three holes, I managed to pull it all together.”

Looking at the competition, Taylor admitted that the only thing that saved him was his short game. He realized that he will have to chose the correct club and make sure he get the distance down pack if he wants to success.

“It’s a good tournament. It’s good to see that they finally get it off the ground,” he stressed.

Tournament director Georgette Rolle of Fourteen Clubs Golf Academy said the scores were an indication of what to expect in tomorrow’s finals.

“The conditions today were a bit windy, but the pace of play was very good. We saw thed lowest score for the four divisional qualifying days in Benjamin Knowles,” So we are looking for a nice tight competition tomorrow (today),” Rolle said,.

“There were also a lot of scores in the 30s, which is what expected. There were some nice close scores in the team competition and we saw a lot of sportsmanship with a lot of new people to golf making some new friends.”

Rolle said she was also impressed with Anton McDonald of Aquinas College, who started training, but didn’t have any team-mates.

He asked for permission to get his team entered in the tournament if he could get a few more golfers and after he encouraged Aaron Simmons and Shiloh Smith to join him, they advanced to the final as a team.

Mark Ott, the head of Windsor School, said he’s been impressed with the tournament and the way the golfers have all performed.

“We’re just excited to have the kids out here competing in the same conditions as everyone else,” he said. “The kids are enjoying themselves and the game of golf, which is good.”

He noted that to have the whole island here with kids performing together is tremendous and it has made it an exciting event for all to enjoy.

Three junior girls expressed their delight in being a part of the tournament.

Olivia Ott, who attends Windsor School where she is in the sixth grade, said she had some highs and lows, but she was pleased with her performance.

“It was not great at the beginning, but I managed to get it together at the end,” said the 11-year-old. “Hopefully I can get into the final. I just need to do more practice and to take my times on my shots.”

Chemari Pratt, an 11-year-old sixth grader, who has been playing golf for the past six years, said it’s the first time playing against so many competitors from the different schools, but it’s just like playing in any other tournament.

“I felt like I did pretty good, but I could do better because I got some unnecessary scores,” Pratt said. “I got two fives, which I could have made threes because of my putting, but no I know what I need to work on.”

And Jaidyn Roye, an eighth grader at St. John’s College, said after playing golf for the pat two years, it was good to be able to participate in a quality tournament as the nationals.

“My performance was good. It was what I expected,” said the 13-year-old Roye. “I’m looking for the finals, which I made it. If I do, I hope to improve my performance today.”

Gina Rolle, the chairman of the BGF’s Junior Programme, said the participation and performances over the four days of competition far exceeded their expectations.

She noted that today’s finals will be keenly contested.

“The competition is going to be really tight. It’s going to be interesting to see who will take the trophies,” Rolle said. “We’ve got all categories, including the individual players.

“So it will be interesting to see who will win because those who thought they would make it, were not on top of thed leaderboard.”

Rolle said the golfers have out-performed themselves, including some of the newcomers, who only started practicing this year, which adds to the excitement for today’s final.