When the world’s best golfers line up for the US Masters later this year, a 19-year-old from the Cayman Islands will be among them.
The name of Aaron Jarvis will sit proudly alongside the likes of Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson on the first-day leader board at Augusta, Georgia.
“It means the world to me. I just don’t have the words to describe it,” Jarvis told the Compass following his history-making victory at the Latin America Amateur Championship in the Dominican Republic.
“Now I get to represent Cayman on the biggest stage. It’s going to be a good time. I just can’t wait.”
The agony and ecstasy of high stakes sport is illustrated in one short video clip of the moment Jarvis’s victory was confirmed on Sunday, 23 Jan.
Flanked by friends and family, he faced a tense wait on the edge of the 18th green after posting the clubhouse lead of seven-under-par.
As his closest rival, Argentinian Vicente Marzilio, misses his final putt, the facial expressions of the Cayman contingent turn to shock and then to joy.
Cuando ganas el #LAAC2022
When you win the #LAAC2022 👏 pic.twitter.com/K7q24NwRLu
— Latin America Amateur Championship (@LAAC_Golf) January 23, 2022
Jarvis’s teammate and close friend Justin Hastings turns to him and says in awe, “You’re going to the Masters”. And then he is engulfed.
The pair – both college athletes and two of Cayman’s brightest sporting prospects – started playing together at age 12.
There’s a picture of them in a team photo from back then – the smallest boys in a group of junior golfers at a tournament in Puerto Rico.
Jarvis had barely picked up a club when that photograph was taken.
Journey to the top
Inspired by his elder brother Andrew, who competed in the Caribbean Amateur Championship when it was held in Cayman in 2013, he made the switch from soccer to golf and found a natural affinity for the sport.
“After a year, I realised I was pretty good and started to play more tournaments and kept having fun and enjoying the game,” he said.
It wasn’t long before he was playing against adults – and winning.
Jarvis, who went on to train in Florida at the David Leadbetter Golf Academy and is now a freshman at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, credits his family and Cayman’s golf community for nurturing his talent and his interest in the game.
It was extra special, he says, to have some of those mentors, including his brother – who watched every shot over four days at Casa de Campo – alongside him for his big moment.
“It was great to have all my good buddies there and people who have supported me since I started,” he said.
Quiet confidence
The look of disbelief on his face in that moment of victory is deceptive. Jarvis always believed he could win.
The prize of an invitation to the US Masters and Britain’s Open Championship was something he had set his sights on long before he got on the plane.
“I always knew this was a big opportunity and I had to give it everything,” he said.
Even as he contemplates the awesome challenge of competing for the famous green jacket at the US Masters in April, he remains calm and confident.
His target is to make the cut and be the top performing amateur at the event. Though he is excited to meet multiple major winners, like Woods and Johnson, he is not cowed by the prospect of competing against them.
“It is you against the course. There’s obviously players in the field of the highest quality, but you just have to manage yourself.”
Jarvis is aware that playing Augusta and the Old Course at St. Andrews – two of the most storied venues in golf – is a dream that most amateurs will never realise.
To have achieved that feat so quickly in his short career is astonishing. But he has already set his sights on bigger targets and he believes that both he and Hastings can get to the top.
“The goal is to go professional,” Jarvis said. “I love this sport and I am playing to be one of the best.”
The win qualifies Jarvis for the following tournaments:
- 2022 US Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, April 7-10
- The 150th Open at St Andrews, Scotland, July 14 – 17
- The 127th Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes, UK. 13-18 June
- The U.S. Amateur Championship at Ridgewood Country Club, New Jersey, Aug 15-21
- The US Open final qualifying stage, TBC
What they are saying: Local and global response
Jarvis grew up in a country with 27 holes. Total holes. In the entire country. Now he’s 75 days from playing practice rounds with Phil Mickelson at Augusta National.
Bro, he’s going to the Masters.
– Jamaican golfer Justin Burrowes, quoted on ESPN.
The flag of the Cayman Islands will fly at Augusta National in April.
I’m beyond proud of the golfer and gentleman that Aaron has become.
Brad De Schiffer, Aaron’s junior coach.
I cannot explain how happy I am for this guy. I’ve watched you grow up and cannot wait to see what the future has for you bro. Thank you for making history and making golf in Cayman something special.
Payten Wight, Cayman national golf captain on Facebook.
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