Jonathan James may have to pay for extra baggage on his return to Bermuda after picking up a trophy for winning the Caribbean Four-Ball Championships at the weekend.

James, 36, a corrections officer at Westgate, combined with Eric West to win the Mid Am Division at the Magdalena Grand Beach and Golf Resort by 13 shots.

It was James’s first chance to represent Bermuda on an international stage and the two-times club champion at Ocean View Golf Course was thrilled to have represented the island

“I was actually very nervous,” James said.

“Every day, I was trying to relax and tell myself that I was here for a reason and just to try to do my best. If I get the opportunity to do it again, I would love to do it and I need to thank the Bermuda Golf Association for giving me the opportunity to represent my country.”

James had given up the game for a number of years before finding his way back thanks to the advice of those around him.

“I did play golf when I was younger, stopped for a minute and then took it back up again,” James said.

“A few people told me that I had a natural talent and that I shouldn’t waste it, so I took their advice and now it’s paying off. Depending on my work schedule I usually play once or twice a week.”

James played with the more experienced West and the two of them formed a formidable team.

“I played a good game, putted very well and was trying to find the fairways,” he said.

“My partner and I had a game plan, where I was going to play it safer and he was going to be more of the aggressor. We made a good team, we understand each other and we were like peanut butter and jelly, we just went together.”

As for West, he is just weeks away from competing in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship and used this tournament as preparation for the tournament in three weeks’ time.

“I wanted to play in this tournament to keep building, keep getting better and the goal is to try to make the cut in the big tournament,” West said.

“I’ve just been working on a lot of stuff and changing equipment to get myself to a point where I can do that. I don’t play golf for a living, so it’s trying to get my body and my equipment to a place where I can shoot five to ten under par over two days, which isn’t easy for normal people.

“This week was a good step forward, I hit a lot of good shots, a lot of good putts that didn’t go on the first two days, but I shot 68 on the final day, which was pretty decent considering the conditions.

“I made six birdies and a couple of sloppy bogeys. Hopefully I can tighten up my game around the edges and try to shoot 67 or 68 more regularly.”

West has been taking every opportunity he can to play Port Royal and is targeting improvement on the shorter holes off the course.

“Last year, all the par-threes being three feet off the back was just not something that I was used to,” West said.

“I struggled with club selection there last year and I bogeyed all the par-threes and I want to hit better shots this year.

“I’ve been playing the course from the back every time I go out there and just trying to normalise those distances. Port Royal is not a long golf course but when they set it up for the PGA it’s just different enough, like a new course. I’ve been trying to play the course like it’s going to play and play a lot more than I have historically.”