The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

After picking up a second-place finish, Alex Dupuch said he just wanted to make sure he finally won his first Bahamas Golf Federation junior national golf championship title before he made his exit.

Dupuch, winner of the boys’ under-18 flight, was joined by a host of other champions, including Tyesha Tynes, who had to go to a playoff before she repeated as the girls’ under-18 national junior champion on Sunday at the Ocean Club Golf Course on Paradise Island.

At the end of the two-day event, Dupuch had to dig down deep before he emerged with a one-stroke victory with his scores of 80-78 for a 158 total over Aidan Gorospe, who trailed with 83-76 for 159. Adrian Stan-Busuioc was third with 87-77-164.

“I didn’t really strike the ball very well. I knew coming into the tournament, I wasn’t striking that well, so I had to rely on my putting,” Dupuch said. “I didn’t score the way I wanted, but mentally this was the best I felt, just staying in the battle.

“I never gave up, so I’m really proud of myself because Aidan never gave up. There was one point that I was down, and I had to battle back, and I ended up winning by one stroke in the very last hole. He really made it really tough on me.”

The 18-year-old senior at Windsor High School said it’s good to go out of the junior ranks in style, hoisting his first national title in the process.

Tynes, with had identical scores of 97, and Milijojka Gojkovic, with her rounds of 90 and 104, finished tied at 194 at the end of the two days. After going through a playoff on the 12th hole, Tynes emerged the winner by two strokes over Gojkovic.

Mia Underwood was third with 104-99-203.

“I knew that going into the final day I was behind by seven strokes, so I had to really focus and fix the mistakes that I made the day before,” she said. “There were a few holes that I didn’t play that well on, but even though I shot the same score, I was really pleased with it.

“But when they told me that we were tied, I knew I had to go out there and so I knew I had to go out there and break the tie. The hole had some water on it and so when I went out there, I had to take a drop because my ball went into the water.”

The 17-year-old St John’s 12th grader said she was delighted to repeat as champion because she had to focus on herself, but the competition and the conditions forced her to be a little more concerned about her opponents.

Versatile Jackson Mactaggart, just back from a recent trip to represent the Bahamas in tennis, said he didn’t have sufficient time to readjust to golf, but was delighted to still win the boys under-15 flight. He did it with rounds of 80-79 for 159 over Kerrington Rolle, who shot 79-86 for 165. Camdyn Forbes was third with 88-87-175.

“It was a tricky transition because the two sports don’t compare at all,” said Mactaggart, a 15-year-old student who is enrolled in an online school.

“So it was a lot of hard work. I had to practice a lot this week working on my putting, so it’s good to get back into the groove for golf.

“It feels good to win it because my opponents all played well.”

Aryanna Smith had an impressive showing in the girls’ under-10 flight, shooting rounds of 53-57 for her total of 110, well ahead of second place finisher Londyn Strachan with 73-71-144. Taylor Davis was third with 81-76-157.

“I felt good because this was only my second time playing this golf course,” said the 11-year-old Smith, who is in grade six at Eva Hilton Primary School. “I didn’t have any challenges because I saw a lot of improvement since playing on it the first time.”

William Mahelis was the winner of the boys’ under-13 flight. He shot 47-50 for a total of 97. Nicholas Turnquest was the runner-up with 55-59 for 114, the same final score as Dylan Mellor, who had identical rounds of 57.

“I think I played very good, but I got a few bad shots on nine, so I think I could have played better on nine,” said Mahelis, an 11-year-old fifth grader at St Andrew’s School. “The competition was good, but I was glad I won it after I got third last year.”

The winners in the other flights were as follows:

Boys 13-and-under - Denahj Mortimer with 99-93-192; Rashawn Hanna with 89-104-193 and William West 98-100-198.

Girls 13-and-under - Lilly Bisterzo with 87-78-165; Haley Hall with 87-81- 168; Maddisson Carroll 82-87-169.

Girls 15-and-under - Seannae Nrville Smith with 103-105-208; Taylor Santos with 106-116-222; Jolene Stan-Busuioc 124-106-230.

Boys under-8 - Maximilien Demole 38-39-77; Antonio Hernandez 57-51-108; Reef Harvey 64-55-110.

Girls 8-and-under - Sarah Scheidecker 51-52-103; Zara Greaves 52-52-104; Zonalle Smith 64-55-119.

Boys under-10 - Hugo Johnston 50-44-94; Kai Bastian 56-50-106; William Smith 61-46-107.

Boys/Girls 18-and-under - Darrius Thompson 81-77-158.

Girls under-13 - Aiyanna Hernandez 54-54-108; Olivia Ott 60-59-119; Celina Mellor 61-65-125.