Stephen’s initiation into golf was during his early teenage years at Pointe a Pierre. He had grown up playing tennis, as well as swimming competitively, but golf was starting to pull his attention more and more. He learnt the game from Victor Alexander, who can still be seen teaching under the shade of the trees on the 17th hole. Stephen’s game rapidly improved in his mid teens and in an effort to play as much as possible in tournaments, at times he would come up to Port of Spain to stay at his aunt’s home in St. Clair on weekends to play here at St. Andrew’s.

It was during this time that he also worked on his game with our own beloved Roy Rudder. Stephen practiced relentlessly and by the time he was 16 he wasn't just the best junior by far in Trinidad, but he was emerging as one of the best national players at the senior level. He caused more than a few jaws to drop when he shot six under par 66 at Sandy Lane in his debut representing Trinidad and Tobago in the Hoerman Cup in 1980. This score broke the course record there at the time. It was a sign of things to come.

Over the next six years after that Stephen had an outstanding career as an amateur, winning the Trinidad and Tobago Open at age 16 and then again when he was 22 just before he became a professional golfer. He had a tremendous record at the Hoerman Cup, helping Trinidad and Tobago to victory on 3 occasions in 1981, 1986 and 1987.

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unique natural beauty which is the hallmark of our course. A golf course is 18 holes; what sets each one apart is the design, and what adds to the distinctiveness of one course as opposed to another is the natural setting on which the design is laid out. We have chosen two of the elements of the environment which surrounds us. Bamboo is one of the striking characteristics of our course, and also there are so many different species of birds to be seen. We therefore have a bird resting on the bamboo as representative of the beauty of nature which is so evident every time you play a round of golf. We also wanted to include the sense of tradition in the club by stating our founding year. This too is something which sets our club apart, something of which we should all be proud.

And so, here is our new logo, one which we hope will be with the club for a long time to come.

2004 started off well for Stephen with a top 10 finish at the season opening SONY open in Hawaii and then his finishes were indifferent by his standards over the next two months until he finished tied for 6th at the Bay Hill at the end of March, the next week he tied for 13th at the Players Championship and then he had a great run starting from the MCI heritage at the end of April when he tied for 7th, the next week he tied for 4th at the Shell Houston Open, the week after that he tied for 7th at the HP Classic of New Orleans, three weeks later he came third at the prestigious Bank of America Colonial, then tied for 6th at the Memorial and two weeks later carded his first top ten in the US Open. He game was on and heating up. Two weeks later in the second oldest tournament on the PGA Tour, the Cialis Western Open, his game arrived. On Sunday July 4th Stephen Ames recorded his first victory on the PGA tour over a field which included Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh. Stephen shot 67, 73, 64, 70.

The footnotes to his season were finishing tied for 9th at the PGA Championship, the last of the four majors, and ending the season with a 4th place finish at the Tour Championship. Speaking of 2004 would be incomplete without mentioning the man on the bag for the year, Stephen’s brother Robert, who by Stephen’s own admission was one of the reason’s why he had such an outstanding year.

At the end of the 2003 season Stephen was ranked 98th in the world and 72nd on the PGA tour. At the end of the 2004 season Stephen is ranked 21st in the world and 8th on the PGA tour. He was the best player of par 3’s for the year, his 11 top 10 finishes placed him 4th among all tour players, his scoring average was the 8th best on tour. In short he has become one of the best golfers in the world. And when you listen to him you know that the best is yet to come.

The brilliance of some shows itself like a shooting star, and for others their light shines steadily, gradually growing in intensity. This is Stephen Ames.

Stephen’s achievements stand as testimony to passion, determination, sheer hard work and belief in yourself. They are also a testimony to the support of his family here at home as well as his family in Canada.

He set an example not just for golfers in Trinidad and Tobago and across the wider Caribbean who claim you as their own as well, but also for anyone aspiring to achieve excellence in sport.

Also by taking the initiative to establish a foundation to actively provide opportunities for junior golfers he has demonstrated a commitment to the young people of this country who hope to one day follow their passion to the highest level of the game in the way that he has.

Well done, Stephen! We will all be supporting you in 2005 and beyond.

· If illness or an accident or some other unforeseen occurrence, such as transfer out of the country due to work reasons, causes you not to renew your membership in any given year, then you must indicate this in writing to the club on or before January 31 of the year in question. Failure to do so will result in your being retained on the membership roll as and “active member” and you will be liable for the payment of all applicable fees.

We continue to gather members' email addresses. If you are not receiving email from the club please send us your email address right away to

golftrinidad@hotmail.com

We thought you’d like to know that our staff are very conscious of preserving the natural environment and that we had done our little part to ensuring the survival of this most beautiful bird.

 St. Andrew’s
 Golf Club
 P.O. Box 3403
 Moka, Maraval
 Trinidad, WI

 Office:
 868-629-0066/
 6187-8
 Fax:
 868-629-0411
 Starter/ After Hours
 868-629-2314