It was only fitting that Barbados’ top golfer copped the tournament named after this island’s best cricketer ever.
James Johnson claimed his fifth consecutive Garry Sobers Festival of Golf amateur title in dominant fashion when the competition came to an end at the Barbados Golf Course, Durants, Christ Church yesterday.
Entering the final day with a commanding 16-stroke lead, Johnson, who has called the tournament his own since 2008, extended his advantage by the end of the day’s play to finish 28 strokes better than second-placed Julian Jordan.Jordan edged third-placed teenager Donald Leacock by one stroke.
With the outcome virtually decided entering yesterday’s final day, Johnson attributed his sensational play to his run of good form. His score of two under par yesterday allowed him to become the first player to score under par on each day of the four-day tournament.
“I’ve been playing some really good golf for a while now, so I wasn’t actually surprised that I played how I did throughout this tournament,” Johnson told NATIONSPORT shortly after he was announced the winner.
“My goal was to keep it under par throughout the four days, which I did.
“I would have liked to have been a couple shots better because, to be honest, I was so far ahead that I had my own personal goals of trying to shoot in the 60s . . . and I just felt short of that.“But all in all, I played very solid throughout the whole week and I feel very happy with my performance.”
Johnson, who has dominated the local golf scene for over a decade, said that he would now be setting his sights on the Caribbean Championships which are set to tee off at the beginning of August. He said he was also looking forward to the national trials in June.
Despite Johnson’s obvious dominance over the weeklong competition, Haydn Iman stole the show yesterday with a hole in one on the 12th hole of the Royal Westmoreland course.In the women’s division, Helen Foster endured a horrible final day, but her overnight cushion allowed her to hold on for victory by the slimmest of margins, defeating Rae Stollmeyer by just one stroke.Foster triple bogeyed her final hole to finish on a fourth round score of 82, but it was just enough to edge Stollmeyer, who shot 79. Defending champion Lynn DeCambra Mccleod had to settle for third position.
Charles Cox captured the seniors title while Tony Reid was crowned champion in the super seniors.
