Eric West picked up his second victory of the year after a highly successful debut at the Eastern Caribbean Golf Association Championship in Anguilla.

The former Tour de las Americas player competed in the 54-hole World Amateur Golf Ranking event, which he won by a comfortable eight shots after signing off at the prestigious Aurora International Golf Club at seven over.

West held a four-shot advantage heading into the final round and despite producing his worst round of the week he still managed to extend his lead and finish well clear of the chasing pack.

“It’s always nice at this point of my career to win tournaments. It’s kind of fun just to be able to win anything,” he told The Royal Gazette.

The 42-year-old’s conservative approach playing in challenging conditions ultimately paid off.

“It was my first time playing in Anguilla and the golf course was quite tough and very long,” he said. “It was one of those courses where there was a hazard on both sides of the hole every hole and it was quite windy, about two or three club lengths, so I just tried to keep the ball in play.”

Bermuda Golf Association president Craig Brown hailed the player’s latest success.

“Eric’s hard-fought victory in challenging conditions was phenomenal and demonstrates Bermuda’s continued ability to produce top-level amateur golf performances on the regional stage,” he said.

West is grateful for the opportunity to play in tournaments throughout the Caribbean made possible by a partnership between Bermuda Golf Association and the Caribbean Golf Association.

“Because the Bermuda Golf Association is part of the Caribbean Golf Association now I think that it’s cool that we are playing in some of the events within the Caribbean,” he said.

“We played as a team in the Caribbean Championships for the first time, which is a really unique experience and not something that I’ve ever done as a golfer. It’s like competing against people with similar backgrounds to you.

“As an athlete you’re used to playing in a lot of different countries that feel really foreign, whereas playing in the Caribbean feels a lot more like home to me. I just feel a little more comfortable and the course feels more similar than they do different. It feels like you could be at Port Royal playing golf, but you’re in Anguilla, Bahamas or Trinidad.”

West’s latest success follows on the heels of claiming a third Bermuda Amateur Stroke Play Championship title and finishing tied for second at the National Amateur Ranking Tournament in Guatemala this summer.

It also continues an impressive streak of having finished on the podium in every event that he has competed in since May.

West hopes to break into the top 100 in the world amateur golf rankings, which he concedes is no easy feat.

“It’s obviously a long road to do that and you need to play a lot and I only have time to play in ten to 12 events a year, so you’ve got to really play well in the tournaments you do play so that you can improve your world amateur golf ranking,” he said.

“Getting myself back into playing condition has been a lot harder than I thought it would be. I don’t know if it’s age related, but just hitting the ball consistently and putting and chipping for three days in a row is tough to do that at the level where you need to be to get really well ranked.

“You need to put in a lot of tournaments and shoot really low in tournaments with lots of points, so that’s sort of what I am planning.”