By Bob Harig, for the Cayman Compass
A tiny island nation such as the Cayman Islands just does not produce top-level golfers. Not a place that offers just one 18-hole course, no stand-alone driving ranges, and requires airplane travel to find worthy competition.
Sure, the weather is nice, which certainly is a bonus. But that doesn’t make up for so many of the hurdles that stand in the way of stardom in a sport that requires considerable expense, coaching, training and foils.
And yet, for the second time in four years, a Caymanian is headed to the Masters.
Not only is Justin Hastings going to the year’s first major championship at Augusta National, he’s also qualified for the US Open at Oakmont and the British Open at Royal Portrush. Oh, and the US Amateur and British Amateur, if he so chooses.
Hastings won the Latin America Amateur Championship on Saturday, 18 Jan. at Pilar Golf Club in Buenos Aires to earn the lone spot in those major championships.
That’s quite the accomplishment for Hastings, 21, who plays college golf at San Diego State University but grew up playing the North Sound Golf Club course, where he holds the course record of 57 on the 6,800-yard par-71 layout but would have had no other chances locally to test himself against more than just a handful of players.
And that might be the biggest impediment to success. As a long-time golf writer, now at Sports Illustrated – and a visitor to the Cayman Islands on more than two dozen occasions – I’m keenly aware of just how fierce the competition is in America and around the world.
Young players are schooled at junior camps, academies, via the American Junior Golf Association, which is a travelling circuit of kids who do everything but play for pay. Countries around the world have academies, but also deep numbers – players against whom a game can be sharpened and hardened.
They also have numerous places to play. For me, I’ve typically resisted the urge to play golf in Grand Cayman because I have so many options where I live in Florida, perhaps as many as 20 golf courses to choose from within 30 miles of my home. A kid here has such an advantage.
So it is a tribute to Hastings – and to Aaron Jarvis before him, who won the 2022 Latin American Amateur Championship and played in two majors, making the cut at St. Andrews in Scotland – that he was able to emerge on top of a field of 108 players, many of whom compete at US colleges.
And it is exactly what Augusta National envisioned when it put this grow-the-game initiative in place a decade ago, hoping to create an avenue for players from Latin American and Caribbean countries to dream about wearing a green jacket.
Hastings noted how much he’s improved since arriving in San Diego, where he’s won two collegiate tournaments and gained a ton of experience.
The fact that he’s played in the LAAC since age 14 and finished fourth last year before his recent triumph is both a testament to his early skills but also to the lack of depth in Cayman golf. It’s completely understandable.
Now he has a remarkable few months ahead. Perhaps he can play a practice round at Augusta National with Xander Schauffele, who won two major championships last year and also played at San Diego State – where Hastings broke his school record for low scoring average.
He’ll have to delay his plans to turn pro in order to play in the US Open in June and the Open in July – and if he wants to compete in the US Amateur in August.
It’s a small price to pay for such a rare chance, one that will give Cayman more exposure on golf’s world stage as one of its own has achieved the most unlikely of opportunities.
Related Videos
