The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

SINCE the age of three in 1985, Jameica Duncombe said golf was all she knew, as her father, the late Jim “Jungle” Duncombe, introduced her to the sport and she went on to become the country’s top female player.

On Sunday, through her profession as a critical care nurse after officially retiring from the sport, the married mother of a son was able to help her National Sports Hall of Fame father to enjoy his final days before he passed away on Sunday at the Cleveland Clinic in Port St Lucia, Florida.

Duncombe, 77, died of prostrate cancer, but his 38-year-old daughter said the memories they shared will linger on forever.

“It was my after school activity,” said Duncombe of her introduction to the sport by her father. “Instead of having a baby sitter, the golf course was my baby sitter. I spent all of my time that I could remember as a child on the golf course. I don’t have any memories of doing anything else other than playing golf.”

As the only child born to Jim and Lolita Ritchie, Jameica was the only one of Duncombe’s 11 other children who participated in the sport, following in the footsteps of her famed father.

“Even though I am not into golf as I used to be, at least tournaments and stuff, I had a good career, especially during my time in high school (at Saddlebrook Academy in Tampa) and in college (at the University of South Florida),” Jameica said.

“Those were my best years. I travelled the most those times and I had better performances during those times, especially because my dad was always there. He was my gold coach and he travelled to a lot of the tournaments like the Hoerman Cup (Caribbean Amateur Golf Championship) because he was the team coach. So if anything happened with my swing, he was able to correct it.”

When she ventured into the professional ranks, Duncombe said she didn’t have her father to rely on as much, but she noted that whenever he came to Florida where she now resides in Tampa, they had some amazing times on and off the golf course.

“Yesterday (Sunday) before he passed, he talked about cadetting for me for the US Open Qualifier and how he was so tired from carrying my bag,” she said. “The playoffs had to be the next day and he said he couldn’t do it anymore.

“He told me that he felt I could have won it, if only I could putt. But I blamed him, I told him that he couldn’t putt either.”

In sharing his reflections, businessman Craig Flowers went back to their days as childhood friends. He said their relationship transcended into the world of sports and golf in particular. He said it was Duncombe who convinced him to carve out the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex about 12 years ago to assist golfers with their game.

Known to those who came in contact with him on the golf course as the ‘Swing Doctor,’ Duncombe was remembered as the “doctor, who was able to rectify any problems golfers had with their swing.”

But for Flowers, if it wasn’t for his insistence, he probably would not have gotten the driving range off the ground.

“I taught him how to operate the backhoe and we completed the driving range together. Then the next thing I knew, we were building the golf course,” Flowers said. “From that day, he was holding lessons and showing people around the course.”

Flowers, the owner of FLM Group of Companies, remembered his last interaction about two weeks ago before he left for Florida on Sunday, December 13 for his surgery. He said that weekend, he exchanged some American money for Duncombe, who also got to play golf at the range before he left.

“We stayed in touch with him every day by phone, leading up to his surgery and after he had the surgery,” Flowers said. “He was expected to start his radiation today (Monday) before he came home. That never happened.”

Flowers remembered Duncombe as “someone who was bigger than life.”

He recalled how when he was growing up in Quakoo Street, Duncombe was living on Fowler Street. He and his brother Dentry were playing cricket and they encouraged him to play. While Duncombe played for St Bernard’s, Flowers played for St Agnes with Dentry.

“Both of us (Jim and Craig) were the two youngest on the field in the 1960s,” he said.

“We became friends as neighbours next door and we were on the first national team that went to Jamaica and the second team that went to the Turks and Caicos.

“So we grew up as athletes playing cricket. But I went off to school and Jim got into entertainment in the music business with the King and Knights. Even when I was away and lived away as a pilot, whenever I came home, King Eric Gibson accepted me into King and Knights as a king when my relationship with Jim continued to grow.”

Eventually, the late King Eric Gibson got both Duncombe and Flowers into golf. The late Fred Higgs got him to assist Roy Bowe, the official golf pro at the Paradise Island Golf Club. When Bowe died, Duncombe became the resident pro.

“He was a great entertainer, who sang everywhere he went and he was an amazing golfer,” Flowers said. “But the thing that really stood out for me was how he was willing to help local golfers.

“When he became a pro, he had a keen interest. He demonstrated that whenever he played in a pro-am tournament. He would always come back and get local players from home to play on his team like Harcourt ‘Coins’ Poitier and Shane Gibson.”

Duncombe’s daughter, Jameica, also became involved in golf and was one of the top female golfers, not just in the Bahamas, but in the region as she competed on the national team at the Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships.

“I don’t know how anyone can describe Jim because he was so well-rounded in every aspect of life,” Flowers stated. “He stood out as an entertainer, as a professional golfer, as a friend, as a father. He was just an amazing person to be around.

“His generosity and his kindness to help so many people is just what made him Jim Duncombe. I can take the next 10 minutes to talk about him. That is just how much he means to me and so many other people.”

Through their relationship as a “father and son,” Flowers said King Eric also got Duncombe to sail with him on his numerous boats in sloop sailing at the various regattas.

Flowers said Duncombe certainly left a rich legacy behind.