Johnson begins Beacon Open defence
By Hallam Hope
Defending champion James Johnson shot an average round of 72 at the start of his bid for an eighth Beacon Insurance Barbados Open golf title at Royal Westmoreland Friday.
His 36 on either side of the 18 holes included birdies on holes one, three, six and 12.
He said his plan was to shoot under par Sunday, the second of the three days. Marcus Clarke, another Barbados Hoerman Cup representative, had one stroke more at 73.
Former Trinidad and Tobago Hoerman Cup player Deryck Gonsalves finished with a round of 81.
Antiguan Kimesha Anthony began her quest for a hat-trick of wins with a tussle between herself and the challenging Royal Westmoreland course.
She started with two under on the front nine but then dropped a couple shots on the back and had two over for an overall even par on the 18 holes.
She was 11 shots better than Barbadian Helen Foster, which gives her a commanding lead with two days to go. But for Anthony, who was leading in the Antigua and Barbuda Open last week and lost out by one shot to winner , teenager Omorry James, it could have been a better score.
“Overall I'm striking the ball real well and I can't complain about it. My aim for the weekend is to be under par. All I need to do is stay focused and play one shot at a time and by doing that I can surely retain my title,” Anthony said
There was a string of golfers with 82, including Bajans Lynn de Cambra-McCleod and Mary Ince.
Rivals in the Seniors flight Ricky Skeete and Robert Piggott, shot 74 and 77 respectively.
Simon Reyes led in the Men’s first flight with 83 (43, 40) with Trevor Tasker, Annan Rajpaulsingh and John Phillips all returning scores of 84.
Trinidadian veteran Monty Chapman made a fine start in the Super Seniors with 77 (35, 42) while Lennox Mirjah returned a score of 80 to be in close contention.
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