RBL Jnr Open: Collier savours Masters inspiration, while Varin and La Borde set pace

Ethan Collier took inspiration from Rory McIlroy’s win at the Masters to score a tournament-leading 76 at the 2025 Republic Bank Junior Golf Open Championships at Moka, Maraval yesterday.

The 15-year-old International School student watched the Northern Irish golfer claim the coveted Masters title on Sunday in a dramatic play-off with Englishman Justin Rose.

Collier, like McIlroy at Augusta, started with a double bogey on the first hole at St Andrew’s Golf Course and turned to his idol for enlightenment.

“I started off with a six today, because I lost my ball on the first hole, and I decided—Rory had a six yesterday on the last day (of the Masters), and I can push through,” said Collier.

The Ben Martin-coached golfer also carded double bogeys on the 5th, 12th, and 14th holes, as he struggled with distance control and a temperamental driver.

However, with McIlroy’s career Grand Slam achievement still freshly imprinted on his mind, Collier’s assured putting stroke brought him birdies on the 4th, 6th, 9th, and 18th holes to end with a 76.

“I thought I played pretty well. I had a few mistakes that could have been handled better, but I fought in there and I had a good round,” he said.

Collier won the Boys 11-13 title in 2024 and will sleep on a nine-shot lead and a great chance to claim the 14-15 category crown.

His round had chins wagging at Moka on Monday, as had his rapid improvement during the past two seasons.

Collier said small technical changes honed on the driving range made a world of difference on the fairways.

“I find that keeping the ball in play with the driver helps. I am almost every time on the fairway, a few times here and there, and outside,” he said. “My putting—the short game—is why my game has me out there.”

The chasing pack will have their work cut out for them over the next 36 holes if they are to overhaul Moka’s latest golf phenom.

Naparima College student Ross Ramkissoon was three shots off Collier’s opening round as he searched for his maiden 18-hole title in the RBL Junior Golf Championships.

A two-time national junior golfer, Ramkisson has won several titles at the Championship, but the 16-18 crown has eluded him for the past two seasons.

In his final year in the tournament, the Xander Schauffele disciple wants to change that statistic.

“I have been in this tournament since I was six, that’s 12 years. I won the three-hole, six-hole, and nine-hole (tournaments),” Ramkissoon said.

“I haven’t won the 18-hole tournament, and this is my last year, so it would mean a lot. I just want to play three solid days of golf.”

Ramkissoon (79) has a narrow one-shot lead over Adam Green (80) and hopes to correct his mistakes from the opening day.

“I stuck the ball well. Off the tee, I was good. Approach shots, I was decent. It is just that I got some unfortunate breaks in the front nine and the back nine, so I was just scrambling for par all the time,” he said. “When that happens, you put yourself under pressure, so you won’t get the chance to make many birdies to drop your score.”

A budding Dr Bob Rotella in the making, perhaps? Ramkissoon knows that the chasing pack has some serious contenders plotting to reel him in.

One of them is the Florida-based Isaiah Rowley, who carded an 84 on the opening day and is ready to grind out a win on his return to competition in Trinidad.

The 15-year-old moved up to contest the 16-18 category to earn valuable World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) points and says his rivals should not write him off.

“If I just rethink my game plan a little and stick to it, once I am playing consistently enough, I can definitely come back and be in contention,” said Rowley.

The International Junior Golf Academy golfer planned motion and feel drills for Monday night and is working on new strategies for holes where the big stick brought him misery.

“I definitely lost pretty much all my shots off the tee box. On the greens, I feel I don’t have much experience as I haven’t played here as much,” Rowley said. “I feel I missed a few putts I could have made and that would have helped a lot.”

Two-time Girls 16-18 champion, Elise La Borde, also lamented missed putts and other errors on Monday, as she chases a rare hat-trick of titles.

The Holy Faith Convent (Couva) student won the 16-18 crown in 2023 and 2024 and already has a big jump on earning her third win on the trot.

La Borde is a whopping 33 shots ahead of her nearest competitor, but wore an unsatisfied look as she spoke about her opening round.

“The first nine was really good. I was three over. But I kind of crumbled on the back nine. I guess I got a little tired coming down to the end,” she said.

“I left some shots out there. Overall, mixing the really good with the really bad, it was a mediocre round today.”

Her honesty may rule her out of a career in politics, but the Chaguanas native is focused on ending her junior golf career with a bang.

“It would be really reassuring, very satisfying to know that for the entirety of the time that I have been playing 18 holes while playing on the national team, that I am able to maintain my title,” La Borde said.

“It would be a very great feeling to leave the junior division with it.”

Defending champion in the Girls 14-15 category, Madison Davis is also hoping to depart her division with a third straight title but must overcome a six-shot deficit to do so.

Khalan Francis shot 99 on the opening day with Davis carding an error-strewn 105.

“I think my tee shots didn’t go so well today, as well as my putting and my chipping. They could definitely improve,” she said.

The St Joseph’s Convent (San Fernando) student plans to mentally review her plans tonight and create new designs for her run to the title.

“I have won for the past few years, and I would like to continue winning this tournament. So hopefully I can bring it back in the next few days.”

Davis has a unique statistic in local club golf. At a tournament in 2024, she won all four of the “Closest to the Pin” prizes on offer, an unheard-of feat in the annals of local golf.

The leaders of the 11-13 category after the opening day are at different ends of the age spectrum.

Varin Singh, 11, finished third in the flight last year, while 2023 champion Isabella Ramdeen, who was forced to drop out of the 2024 event through illness, is in her last year in the flight.

Singh, who could be the youngest 11-year-old in the world, shot a brilliant 81 and has a commanding 12-shot lead.

“I feel relieved after all the practicing that I have been doing. After shooting the 81, I want to thank my parents for all their support,” the Palmiste resident beamed.

Singh made the national team at the tender age of 10 and wore the national colors in Jamaica at the 2024 Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championships (CAJGC).

Ramdeen, 13, said she had a rough opening day, despite her 91 taking her to a 13-shot lead.

The ASJA Girl’s College student wants to end her sojourn in the 11-13 category with a win and book a place in the national junior team for the CAJGC in Puerto Rico.

“It’s been great playing abroad and on different courses. I have learned a lot from it and definitely, I have stepping stones to further my game from playing abroad,” she said.

The second day of the 2025 RBL Junior Golf Championships is today, while the tournament concludes on Wednesday.

2025 RBL JUNIOR OPEN – DAY 1

Boys 16-18

1. Ross Ramkissoon – 79
2. Adam Green – 80
3. Isaiah Rowley – 84
4. Adam Lum Hee -90
5. Jibraan Lall – 98
6. Jayin St Cyr – 109

Girls 16-18

1. Elise La Borde – 86
2. Charissa Gordon – 119
3. Kryshel Singh – 138

Boys 14-15

1. Ethan Collier – 76
2. Zackery Sahadeo – 85
3. Aba Bally-Roopchand – 94
4. Kevin Rampersad – 95
5. Evan Samir Ali – 101
6. Aman Bansal – 102
7. Matthew Khan – 106
8. Kaidan Baynes – 107
9. Darion Douglas – 112
10. Zahir Sookram – 123

Girls 14-15

1. Khalan Francis – 99
2. Madison Davis – 105
3. Kaiyah Marson – 105
4. Dayna Cooper – 107

Boys 11-13

1. Varin Singh – 81
2. Josh Frankland – 93
3. Logan Cleghorn – 106
4. Cameron Roberts – 111
5. Kyle Spencer – 112

Girls 11-13

1. Isabella Ramdeen – 91
2. Hailey Layne – 104
3. Kazia Demas – 115
4. Niasha Abdool – 116
5. Adallia Lord – 116

RBL Junior Open 2024 – Champions

Boys 16-17 – Jerseem Boodram

Girls 16-17 – Elise La Borde

Boys 14-15 – Enzo Jean-Noel

Girls 14-15 – Madison Davis

Boys 11-13 – Ethan Collier

Girls 11-13 – Alexandra Hill