President of the Barbados Golf Association (BGA), Damian Edghill, has hailed the historic performance of Emily Odwin during the recently completed Augusta National Women’s Amateur in the USA.
Odwin, who made history as the first player from Barbados and the Caribbean to compete in and make the cut at the prestigious event, finished joint 27th.
“The Barbados Golf Association is obviously delighted and I think I can speak on behalf of the entire golfing community in Barbados. We’re all extremely proud of Emily’s achievement.
“It really is historic, not only for Barbados, but I believe for the Caribbean. I’m not sure that any other amateur golfer has reached that stage of the highest level of an international amateur competition,” Edghill told Barbados TODAY.
“This is a field that was taken from the very top amateur golfers worldwide, and the final day was played at Augusta National, which is perhaps one of the two most iconic courses in the world. That’s the best field that you can possibly get, and she made the cut. After the first two days I think she was tied for around 15th and she ended up tied 27th, which is extremely commendable in that field.“
Edghill described Odwin’s performance as nothing short of world class at an amateur level.
“We’ve never had a golfer reach that level of amateur play, certainly from Barbados, and I think I can speak from the English-speaking Caribbean as well.
“It’s extremely significant, especially for a female golfer to come from a small country like Barbados, to be able to rise to that level where golf has not traditionally been a big sport like cricket. It is an astounding achievement,” Edghill contended.
The BGA president lauded Denny Foster, who he said coached Odwin from a young age and helped to develop her game and character to a top level.
He said he hopes Odwin’s performances will serve to motivate more young Barbadian golfers.
“We’re definitely hoping that that will be the case. I mean, the publicity that Emily has gotten, not only nationally; we saw our Prime Minister congratulate her, so that has gone far and wide and then internationally as well.
“But I can tell you from my personal interaction with our juniors, this has been a great boon for them and a great motivation for them. We’re hoping at the BGA, that we will be able to take advantage of that momentum so to speak, because Emily really is a pioneer, she’s a trailblazer and a beacon for everybody else to follow,” Edghill said.
Meanwhile, Odwin reflected on her most recent achievement.
“Getting into this tournament is something that I have been working towards. Last year around this time my team mate was out here and I was cheering her on. My year was spent getting my ranking high enough to play this event and to achieve that is really cool,” says Odwin, who also indicated that she will be turning pro in June.
Edghill also revealed that the association was moving to make the sport much more inclusive.
“In fact, we hope to engage businesses for sponsorship as well, as obviously our main aim is to grow the sport with an emphasis on juniors and be more inclusive of ladies and grassroots golf. We have some initiatives lined up with the National Sports Council, the BTMI, and other organizations, and we’re hoping to partner with them to grow the game of golf,” he disclosed.
(KH)
