Jamaican amateur Knibbs revels in JGA Open win
TRYALL, Hanover — Jamaica’s top amateur golfer William Knibbs ended the season on a high after he won the amateur section of the 53rd Jamaica Golf Association (JGA) Open presented by Aqua Bay that ended at the Tryall Golf Club on Tuesday, to go along with the National Amateur title he won at Half Moon earlier in the year.
Knibbs shot a one under par 215 for the five-hole tournament that was played on a challenging and tough course with the gem of the week being a five under 67 on Monday’s second day as he cruised to a big 15-stroke win with American Robert Owen placing second with 13 over par 229 and two-time winner Justin Burrowes in fourth place on 18 over par 234.
It was an overwhelming feeling for the Elon University graduate, who told the Jamaica Observer that he and his coach had sat down at the start of the year and had targeted both the National Amateur Championships and the JGA Open as the ones that he needed to win.
“I thought it was a really good week...it was very challenging and I love a good challenge, love a good test, and this is the ultimate one playing against some good professionals and seeing how my game stacks up against theirs,” said Knibbs.
Knibbs, who led the amateur section all three days, started the tournament with a four over par 76, but rebounded on Monday with a sparkling 67 with six birdies, and shared the day’s honours with professionals Michael Herrera and David Lawrence as the low scorers.
On Tuesday’s final round, he played in the second to last group, and despite being two under with an eagle on the par five 11th hole, have gave back both strokes with backto-back bogeys on the 12th and 13th holes.
“Ultimately, I was able to get the job done this week and I was very happy with that,” he said. “This is one of the two big tournaments that I wanted to win this yea.”
Despite his big day on Monday, Knibbs said he did not allow it to get to his head.
“I slept like a rock [as] I can’t be worrying about leads and all that... Monday was a good round and I just had to focus on today [Tuesday] instead of dwelling on what I did yesterday,” he noted.
There was a little show of nerves right at the end of the gruelling tournament as he used all of his skills to preserve an even par four score despite playing the ball off the green with his second and third shots.
“The third shot, I just wanted to just barely carry it on the green, but also I did not want to leave it short as it would [have] been kinda embarrassing and I hit it a bit too hard but luckily made it coming back,” knibbs shared.
He is already looking ahead to next year.
“[I will] enjoy the win for a little then we will look at the things that I did well and see how I can build on them...look at the things that I didn’t do as great and see ho we can improve on them,” Knibbs ended.