Burrowes wins Caymanas Classic but falls in World Amateur rankings

National golfer Justin Burrowes continued his dominant play locally as he secured the 0-6 amateur category to win the Caymanas Classic recently.

For the first time in tournament history, the top amateurs played the 54-hole tournament in two days, which meant that the 12 golfers played 27 holes each day to secure World Amateur Golf ranking points.

Burrowes carded rounds of 75, 67 and 67 for a seven-under-par 209 to beat Zandre Roye who came in second, following his four-over-par total of 220. William Knibbs rounded out the top three following his 10 over par 226.

For Burrowes, playing 27 holes each day was a stretch, but satisfying in the end.

“It was a long two days as it didn’t feel like two days but it felt like a week. It’s golf and I love playing, so I tried to enjoy it as best as possible,” said Burrowes.

“I like the format because it tests you mentally. I felt tired on the last day but I had to push through. It is easy to let it slip when you get tired and it tests you mentally, but I enjoyed the test.”

LONG RUN

President of the Jamaica Golf Association, Jodi Munn-Barrow, welcomed the new format which she says will benefit the island’s top amateur golfers in the long run.

“We have gotten all of our tournaments approved by the world governing body and so, when our amateurs play, they can get World Amateur ranking points and this augurs well for us because we can then field a team to the World Amateur Championships, which you can’t do if you don’t have people who are ranked in the system.”

In the meantime, despite the win, Burrowes fell 18 spots in the latest World Amateur Golf rankings which were last updated on Wednesday. The pint-size Jamaican is now ranked at 614 in the World with a 532.1136 points average, falling from 596th last week.

Compatriot William Knibbs is the only other Jamaican on the ranking table, falling 50 places to 3014 with a point average of 302.1262.

Burrowes is the top-ranked English-speaking Caribbean golfer, with Trinidad & Tobago’s Chris Richards Jr ranked 847 and Cayman Islands’ Aaron Jarvis, who won this year’s Latin America Golf Championship, third with 858.