William Knibb’s defied the odds to be crowned the Jamaica Golf Association’s National Amateur Golf Champion on Sunday at the Caymanas Golf Club in St. Catherine.
He entered Sunday’s third and final day three strokes behind Zandre Roye who led the golfers at the end of the first two rounds.
Knibbs posted three solid rounds of two over par 74 on day one, even par 72 on the second day and one over par 73 on the final day for a combined total of three over par 219, to grab the championship from Roye by four strokes.
“I was three strokes back after day one. I saw that there were opportunities throughout both the first two days where had I capitalized a little better I could have had better scores and been closer to the lead, so today I just tried to avoid as many mistakes as possible and let the good golf come to me,” Knibbs said.
He was happy with winning the championship another time. “It feels great. Feel great to join Justin Burrowes as the second multiple winner of this event. I knew I was playing well coming into this week and through the first two days I was really playing well, just didn’t get the most out of my game so today I came a little earlier and put in a little extra practice and try to grind out a good result.”
Roye was the only golfer to post an under par which he did on the first day when he scored one under par 71. He followed that up with a 72 on day two but had an error-filled day three which included four birdies, six bogeys and three double bogeys for a score of 80. His combined score of seven over par 223 put him four strokes behind Knibbs after starting three strokes ahead.
Last year’s champion Oshae Haye, who was in fifth place going into the final day, ended in third place on 22 over par 238 (81, 80, 77).
Three golfers, Dr. Mark Newnham, Sean Morris and William Lee tied for fourth place after posting 241 each over the three days.
Michele McCreath was crowned the female champion for the first time. She was the only entrant in the female category. She spoke about the rough conditions such as the heat on the course, hydration issues and tough greens which were very fast and difficult.
She said that she was “absolutely” happy to win even though “it was a challenge.” She also said “the course was very difficult and the conditions were very tight but it does feel wonderful at this stage of my career in golf to be winning.”
Robert Chin won the Men Super Senior section with scores of 80, 78 and another 78 in the final round for a total score of 236. Mike Gleichman came from behind to grab second place after ending on 239 (84, 80 and 78), while Dorrel Allen was third four strokes back on 240 (88, 75, 77).
