The fourth place ranking for Vernon Wells and Oswald Moore would be the highest slating by any Bahamian pair competing in the 55th Annual Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships (CAGC), sponsored by the Royal Bank of Canada.

After four rounds of play Wells and Moore combined for a total 301 to finish fourth in the Higgs and Higgs division, which was won by Puerto Rico. The Bahamas' 11-member team came in seventh overall at the tournament, which was held at the Millennium Lakes Golf Club in Trinidad and Tobago. The hosts swung their way to their second consecutive title edging Puerto Rico by four points. Finishing third in the hunt for the Arthur Ziade Trophy was Turks and Caicos Islands with 138, Dominican Republic followed with 102 and Jamaica rounded out the top five with 100. Trinidad and Tobago captured three divisional wins while The Bahamas picked up a fourth, fifth and two sixth place finishes.

The fifth place ranking came in the Francis and Steele-Perkins Cup, in the senior division. Bahamian golfers George Swan and Paul Bowe's best round was the opener which saw them close with 74. They shot 75 in the second round, 79 and 78 in the third and fourth, respectively. Representing The Bahamas in the Ramon Baez division, for mid amateur were Chris Harris and Peter McIntosh. This was one of the three divisions captured by Trinidad and Tobago. The Dominican Republic and Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) were second and third with Puerto Rico and Jamaica both tied for fourth.

The Bahamian five-member team playing in the Hoerman Cup placed sixth overall with a total of 1,257 points, after four rounds of play. The lowest score in that division was posted by Puerto Rico, 1,170. Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago trailed with scores of 1,198 and 1,203, respectively. Playing in the Hoerman Cup for The Bahamas were Ivan Butler, DeVaughn Robinson, Ben Davis, Oren Butler and Richard Gibson. Individually, the highest ranked Bahamian in that class was Robinson who was tied for 21 with Jamaica's Jonathan Newham, both closing with a total of 311. Slated 23rd was Davis, who had a tournament total of 313. The score of 318 put Oren Butler and Gibson in a three-way tie for 27 with Warren Bynoe of Barbados while Ivan Butler shot 336.

The Bahamas did not compete for the George Teale Memorial Trophy, the women's division which was won by Trinidad and Tobago. President of the Bahamas Golf Federation (BGF) James Gomez did not go into detail on why the executives opted not send a female's team, but noted that much more was expected from the 11-member male squad.
"Better results especially in two of the divisions we competed in were expected," said Gomez. "The super seniors, even though they finished the highest out of any other team play and the mid amateur division where we had Peter McIntosh replace Shane Gibson, we thought we would do well in.
"We just felt that team (the mid amateur division) would have been the one to generate a little more birdies. They started well, initiately, but I am not sure what went wrong. Over the three-day period they scored well however, in those divisions you have to score a number of birdies. You just can't play even par, you have to go at least seven to 11 under in those divisions. This is why The Bahamas, even though they are playing and are very competitive, we look or seem weak. We need to work a little harder, this is according to the manager. He said we didn't do as well on the greens and we could have done a lot better there.

"But our major concern is the Hoerman Cup where we have our collegiate players. Again they didn't play as well as they or we had anticipated. We need to see how we can bring more focus at that level. Those young men compete on the international level on a consistent basis and we are kind of puzzled why when they compete at the Caribbean Championships they always seem to have a difficulty."

The CAGC is the last regional tournament for The Bahamas this year. However, golfers will still be in the swing of things with the upcoming Johnny Walker Black Tournament. A date and venue will be announced at a later time.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian