Rose, Thompson write own script

- Junior Dowie

Paul Thompson (felt) and Xavier Rose shone at the recent Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships in St. Croix.

Tym Glaser, Associate Editor - Sport

IT WASN'T supposed to work out like this.

Teenagers Paul Thompson and Xavier Rose were selected on Jamaica's Hoerman Cup golf team primarily for the 'learning experience'; if they could come up with a good round or two, that would be a bonus.

However, no one handed that script to the 18-year-olds and they stole the show from their more senior teammates at the recent Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships (CAGC) at the gusty Carambola course in St. Croix, the US Virgin Islands.

The best four scores from each six-man team comprise a day's total. At the end of the event, Jamaica had finished a disappointing sixth but through no fault of the youngsters.

Thompson had two rounds which counted towards the team's total and had the lowest gross score among the Jamaican men - 306 (78-73-77-78). Rose had three scores which counted and the second lowest gross - 307 (74-80-76-77).

Their bold inclusion on the team by the Jamaica Golf Association's selection committee, which was criticised in some quarters, was thoroughly vindicated.

The only people not surprised by their rousing senior debuts were ... Thompson and Rose.

"I knew I was going to score for the team," Rose said at the Constant Spring Golf Club last week where he and Thompson caddy. "From the practice rounds I knew I would score because I was playing good, I was hitting the ball well.

"I was a little bit nervous on the first day but I settled down after the first hole," Rose said of his team-best opening round.

"It was a good experience," Thompson said. "I watched all the other guys play and learned from them.

"I was happy with my performance but I think I could have done better ... just need more practice," the youngster, who gives up words about as frequently as he bogeys, said.

They both live within a solid drive of the Constant Spring course, have played together since they were 12 and are like chalk and cheese.

Outgoing Rose wants to play like Ernie Els "because he's a scrambler like me".

Thompson said he models his game on David Duval: "good poise, swings smooth, cool".

Thompson is looking, some way down the track - or fairway, to turning professional.

Rose says he plays for "the enjoyment" of the game.

"I don't want to make a living from golf ... I want to be a construction engineer," he said.

Though their paths seem divergent, for the moment they are intertwined as the future of men's golf in the island.

They've thrown out the script and can now start writing their own stories.

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