by HALLAM HOPE

MID AMATEURS Orville Alleyne and Michael Haynes carry Barbados' best chances of winning a title at the Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships in St Kitts.

With the Hoerman Cup team fifth in the nine-team event and two days remaining, Alleyne, a former Barbados champion, and Haynes, are third in their championship on

144 shots.

The Bajan pair are four shots behind leaders Puerto Rico and three short of Jamaica.

Newcomer Nick Voss shot 76 in his Hoerman Cup baptism year as defending champions Barbados clung on to fifth position.

Voss and Sean Edey are the babies in a team which depended on captain James Johnson to spearhead their efforts last year in The Bahamas.

While Voss' 76 was the lowest score Thursday, the experienced players in the team did not produce. Johnson followed up his first day 72 with 77, while Carlsen Leacock shot 79 and Billy Tempro 89. Edey shot 77.

With the champions on 611 shots, 18 adrift of leaders Dominican Republic, the performances of Voss and Edey will hold attention as Barbados looks to the future.

The four-day regional amateur championships have been used by former champions Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago to blood their best juniors. For example, Carlos Baynes is the old-stager in a Trinidad and Tobago team of mostly youngsters.

The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, led by hometown champion Trevor Levine, are in hot pursuit of the Dominican Republic with two shots short of the leaders' best two-day gross of 593. The best four scores count.

Robert Piggot, another former Barbados champion, and Ricky Skeete, are fourth in the seniors' championship with 146 shots for the two days.

Trinidad and Tobago are the leaders on 140, which means Barbados is still in the hunt.

The women's team of Claire Jordan, Jamie Hole and Helen Foster are sixth on 340 shots, while Dr Oscar Jordan and Goslin Griffith are uncomfortably located in the cellar position in the Super Seniors event on 159 shots.