Article by David Harris

Barbadian golfer Emily Odwin will create history today, Thursday when she tees off in the US Women’s Open at Erin Hills Golf Course in Washington County, Wisconsin. 

Odwin, 21, a junior at Southern Methodist University (SMU) will become the first Barbadian to play in a US Open golf tournament. 

Odwin will play at the tournament as an amateur, she qualifies for the tournament after an outstanding performance at the prestigious Olympic Club Lake Course in San Franciso earlier this month; after delivering a composed and consistent showing across two 18-hole rounds to finish at three-under-par tying for first place with American Sarah Lim. 

 Spaniard Paula Martin Sampedro who finished one behind Odwin and Lim also qualified for the Open.     

Odwin, a former student of St Winfred’s School and Queen’s College grew up on the West Coast in St James, she loved to swim at the age of four. Odwin enjoyed all kind of sports and even got a brown belt in karate. 

She became interested in golf after watching Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth on television with her father. 

At the age of 11 Odwin began to focus her attention on golf, the competitive scene for sport was limited with few official tournaments, and even fewer competitions for girls to participate in. Odwin needed to find alternatives to push herself:  

“As I got older and as I got better, it was tougher for me to find competition and I had to travel outwards. I started to come to the United States, or I had to go to Europe. When I was at home, I started having to play with boys a lot. I would have to play in their division off their tees. There are not a lot of girls playing golf in Barbados and there weren’t a lot of competitive opportunities back home”, Odwin told journalists in the United States. 

Odwin is proud of her culture and plans to wear an embroidered flag of Barbados on her polo shirt at the US Open. 

“I just want to inspire kids back home that golf is possible. You never know how far you can go until you try”, Odwin said.    

National Senior Games 2025 Road Races this Sunday beginning at 6 am, Mighty Grynner Highway.

By David Harris

An outstanding performance with the bat and ball by captain Hayley Matthews was not enough to prevent the West Indies Women from losing the third T20I in the International series against England by 17 runs at the County Ground, Chelmsford on Monday; and being whitewashed in the series. 

Chasing 145 runs to win the match, the West Indies were restricted to 127 runs for eight wickets. Matthews scored 71 runs including 11 fours and a six while Realeanna Grimmond and Shabika Gajnabi contributed 15 and 14 runs respectively. 

Fast bowler Laureen Bell picked up two wickets for 11 runs from four parsimonious overs, medium pacer Emily Arlott, off-spinner Charlottle Dean and left-arm spinner Linsey Smith also took two wickets. 

England scored 144 for five wickets after the West Indies won the toss and decided to field, Heather Knight made 67 not out and newly appointed captain Nat Sciver-Brunt contributed 37. Matthew captured three wickets for 32 runs with her off-spin. 

The West Indies badly beaten by their host in the three-match series, they slumped to eight-and nine -wickets losses in the first two T20Is. The regional team appear to be a one –woman team at the moment, Matthews the player of series scored 177, more than all her teammates put together. 

In the first T20I Matthews scored an unbeaten century out of the West Indies score of 146, in addition to her outstanding batting, Matthew captured four wickets in the series. 

The two teams will now play a three-match One Day International series which will begin on May 30^th.