Justin Hastings tees off on Hole 15 at Jamaica’s Caymanas Golf Club.

Aaron Jarvis and Holly Mclean returned as Champions in their respective age divisions when seven of Cayman’s top junior golfers traveled to St. Catherine, Jamaica, for the Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championships from July 3-6.

The five boys and two girls competed in three age divisions, each playing 54 holes over three days on a spectacular par 72 course at the Caymanas Golf Club that challenged competitors with narrow fairways surrounded by rain forest, with numerous elevation changes and fast greens.

In the boys 11-13 division, playing 5,813 yards, Andrew Hastings shot 11 over par 83 in round 1, placing T5 while Todd Purton shot 17 which placed him T17.

In the boys 14-15 division, playing 6,125 yards, Aaron Jarvis was in the lead after the first round with an impressive 2 under par 70, with Justin Hastings shooting 79 to place T7. Tom Dickens battled hard and ended up in 16th place after scoring 85.

Holly Mclean and Lauren Needham ended round one in second and fourth positions respectively in the girls 11-13 division, on a 5,502 yard course. Holly shot 83 while Lauren shot 87.

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At the end of round two, Aaron moved down into second place in his division on a difficult windy day after a 79, with Kevin Rodriguez of the Dominican Republic taking the lead by 2 shots. Justin shot a solid 74 and moved up into fourth place, six shots off the lead. Holly wrapped up round two leading her division following an impressive 81 score.

After the third and final round, Andrew finished in T5 after shooting 84 and Todd finished T10 in the boys 11-13 division.

Aaron shot an even par 72 in the final round, finishing tied in first place with Diego Saavedra of Puerto Rico. He was 4 shots back with 4 holes to play, but shot 2 under through those last 4 holes, to end up as boys 14-15 division co-champion. Justin placed fifth with a solid 76 and Tom finished in 12th place after shooting 81, his best round of the week.

Holly won the girls 11-13 championship, shooting a consistent 82 in her final round and winning by 9 shots. Lauren, playing in her first Caribbean Junior Championships, finished in 5th place after a personal best 87.

CIGA President Paul Woodhouse said: “We are incredibly proud of all our juniors this week. Strong personal accomplishments across the board and Cayman winners in two of three flights where we were represented. We’ve come a long way in only five years since our junior program really got off the ground, and with some very promising juniors still too young to even play in these championships, the future for Cayman junior golf is very exciting.”