Latin America Amateur Championship

Last updated

Latin America Amateur Championship
Tournament information
LocationRotates through Latin America
Argentina (2025)
Established2015
Course(s)Pilar Golf Club (2025)
Par72
Length7,308 yards (6,682 m)
Format Stroke play
Month playedJanuary
Tournament record score
Aggregate265 Mateo Fernández de Oliveira (2023)
To par−23 as above
Current champion
Flag of the Cayman Islands.svg Justin Hastings

The Latin America Amateur Championship (LAAC) [1] is an annual amateur golf tournament, organized in conjunction with the Augusta National Golf Club, organizer of the Masters Tournament; The R&A, organizers of The Open Championship; and the United States Golf Association (USGA). It is played at various locations throughout Latin America and was first played in 2015.

Contents

The championship is played in January and consists of 72 holes of stroke-play, with a cut for the leading 50 players and ties after 36 holes. The winner receives an invitation to the Masters Tournament, The Open Championship (from 2020), The Amateur Championship, the U.S. Amateur and any other USGA event for which they are otherwise qualified apart from the U.S. Open. The winner and runner-up gain entry to final stage qualifying for the U.S. Open. [2]

The field is restricted to players from the Latin American region (IOC-recognized countries and territories who are current members of the International Golf Federation) who have a handicap of 5.4 or less. The 29 countries are: Argentina, The Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uruguay, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Venezuela. Each country is allocated two spots in the field based on the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR). The remainder of the field is filled from the WAGR with a limit of six entries per country (10 for the host country). [3] [4]

Winners

YearPlayerScoreMargin
of victory
Runner(s)-upVenueLocation
2025 Flag of the Cayman Islands.svg Justin Hastings 272 (−16)1 stroke Flag of Peru.svg Patrick Sparks Pilar Golf Club Pilar, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
2024 Flag of Mexico.svg Santiago de la Fuente 270 (−10)2 strokes Flag of Mexico.svg Omar Morales Santa Maria Golf Club Panama City, Panama
2023 Flag of Argentina.svg Mateo Fernández de Oliveira 265 (−23)4 strokes Flag of Mexico.svg Luis Carrera Grand Reserve Golf Club Río Grande, Puerto Rico
2022 Flag of the Cayman Islands.svg Aaron Jarvis 281 (−7)1 stroke Flag of Brazil.svg Fred Biondi
Flag of Mexico.svg Santiago de la Fuente
Flag of Argentina.svg Vicente Marzilio
Flag of Argentina.svg Mateo Fernández de Oliveira
Casa de Campo La Romana, Dominican Republic
2021Cancelled [5] Lima Golf Club Lima, Peru
2020 Flag of Argentina.svg Abel Gallegos 281 (−4)4 strokes Flag of Mexico.svg Aaron Terrazas El Camaleón Golf Club Playa del Carmen, Mexico
2019 Flag of Mexico.svg Álvaro Ortiz 274 (−14)2 strokes Flag of Costa Rica.svg Luis Gagne Casa de Campo La Romana, Dominican Republic
2018 Flag of Chile.svg Joaquín Niemann 273 (−11)5 strokes Flag of Mexico.svg Álvaro Ortiz Prince of Wales Country Club Santiago, Chile
2017 Flag of Chile.svg Toto Gana 279 (−1)Playoff Flag of Chile.svg Joaquín Niemann
Flag of Mexico.svg Álvaro Ortiz
Club de Golf de Panamá Panama City, Panama
2016 Flag of Costa Rica.svg Paul Chaplet 285 (−3)1 stroke Flag of Venezuela.svg Jorge García Casa de Campo La Romana, Dominican Republic
2015 Flag of Chile.svg Matías Domínguez 277 (−11)1 stroke Flag of Argentina.svg Alejandro Tosti Pilar Golf Club Pilar, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina

References

  1. "A perfect pairing: Chi Chi Rodriguez and the Latin America Amateur Championship". Golf Digest. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  2. Harig, Bob (22 January 2014). "Masters, Latin America team up". ESPN.
  3. "Qualifying Standards". Latin America Amateur Championship. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  4. "Entries". Latin America Amateur Championship. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  5. "Masters, R&A, USGA Cancel 2021 Latin America Amateur Due To COVID-19". Latin America Amateur Championship. 6 October 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2023.