By Tym Glaser, Associate Editor - Sport
Munn and Lyn
THE JAMAICA Women's and Men's Seniors teams are well within striking distance of those crowns after gritty performances at the Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships (CAGC) at the Westin Rio Mar Ocean course in Puerto Rico yesterday.
At the halfway stage of four-round event, the George Teale Trophy team trails hot favourites Puerto Rico by a mere four shots after gaining a stroke on their rivals yesterday.
Former Caribbean champion Jodi Munn fired a superb three-over 75 and was well supported by veteran campaigner Maggie Lyn's 78 to inch closer to Puerto Rico's gross score of 306.
The next closest team, the Dominican Republic, is 17 more swings back.
Munn (79-75-154) also moved within three strokes of individual leader Janice Olivencia (75-76-151), of Puerto Rico, for individual honours. Munn and Lyn's non-scoring teammate, Ava Lee, improved markedly on her first-round 89 with a heartening 81.
The island's Senior team of Dennis Atkinson and Francis Delgado also had a lovely day out on the course with a better ball par-score of 72 for a two-round gross of 147 but they were unable to make up any ground on leaders the Cayman Islands who also went around in 72 to maintain a two-stroke edge over Jamaica, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands in an extremely tight competition for the Francis-Steele Perkins Cup.
The same can not be said in the blue riband Men's Hoerman Cup section where the hosts (602 gross) have a handy six-stroke edge over closest rivals, the Dominican Republic, and 25 over seventh placed Jamaica (317-310-627).
The Cup scorers for Jamaica yesterday were teenager Xavier Rose with an impressive three-over 75, veteran John Smith (77 and tied with Rose for 16th on the individual list, 13 back the leader, Puerto Rico's Mauricio Muniz, 69-74-143), national champion Michael Scott (78) and Paul Thompson (80). The non-scorers were Philip Prendergast (82) and Jason Garbutt (84).
Puerto Rico also have a firm grip on the Higgs and Higgs Cup for Superseniors after passing first-round leaders the US Virgin Islands and advancing to a five-stroke lead over Trinidad and Tobago. The hosts gross is 139 after a five-under better ball score of 67 yesterday.
Jamaica's team of Herman McDonald (75-79-154) and Sydney Fletcher (82-79-161) are well in arrears with 15 shots to make up on Puerto Rico with two days of play remaining.
