Brown, Barrow head Carib Champs team

Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

Top golfers Wesley Brown and Jodi Barrow will lead a relatively strong Jamaican contingent to this year's Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships, which will be held in Trinidad and Tobago from July 31-August 7.

The pair, who in recent years have demonstrated that they have one of, if not, the best drives and putt in their respective gender category, will head Jamaica's charge as they seek to cop the prestigious Hoerman Cup and George Teale Cup, respectively.

Other members of the Hoerman Cup team include Radcliff Knibbs, Fabian Campbell, Matthew Smith, Jonathan Newnham and Bryan Bailey, who has been listed as a reserve.

"This year's overall team is one of our strongest in years and I'm expecting us to do really well, especially in the Hoerman Cup where, for the first time in years, we have a real shot of winning the event," said Peter Chin, chairman of the national selection committee.

Leiza Blakeley, Michele Gabay and reserve Tiffany Terrier, in the meantime, will join Barrow in the quest for the George Teale Cup.

Jamaica last won the Hoerman Cup in 1996 in the Cayman Islands and the George Teale Cup in 2006, when the championship was played here.

In other categories, Keith Stein, Robert Chin and Dennis Atkinson will lead the country's bid to secure championship honours in the Ramon Baez Trophy, Francis and Steele Perkins Cup and the Higgs and Higgs Trophy.

The Ramon Baez Trophy team will be completed by Sean Morris, with Gifford Wilmot in reserve; and the Francis Steele Perkins Cup team by Gregory Chong, with reserve Wayne Chai Chong.

The Higgs and Higgs Trophy team will see Fred Sutherland partnering Atkinson, with Lincoln Williams listed as the reserve.

"We are expected to be very strong in the Super Seniors and as it relates to the Seniors we are always coming in the top five and this year we are looking forward to improve on that," said Chin.

"The only area or team in which we expected to have some problems is in the female category, where compared to previous years we are a little bit weak."

Jamaica last won the Higgs and Higgs Cup in 2001 in the US Virgin Islands and the Francis Steele Trophy in 1985 at the Caymanas Golf Club.