Latin America Amateur Championship
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Rotates through Latin America Argentina (2025) |
| Established | 2015 |
| Course(s) | Pilar Golf Club (2025) |
| Par | 72 |
| Length | 7,308 yards (6,682 m) |
| Format | Stroke play |
| Month played | January |
| Tournament record score | |
| Aggregate | 265 Mateo Fernández de Oliveira (2023) |
| To par | −23 as above |
| Current champion | |
| 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.
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
| Year | Player | Score | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up | Venue | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Justin Hastings | 272 (−16) | 1 stroke | Patrick Sparks | Pilar Golf Club | Pilar, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina |
| 2024 | Santiago de la Fuente | 270 (−10) | 2 strokes | Omar Morales | Santa Maria Golf Club | Panama City, Panama |
| 2023 | Mateo Fernández de Oliveira | 265 (−23) | 4 strokes | Luis Carrera | Grand Reserve Golf Club | Río Grande, Puerto Rico |
| 2022 | Aaron Jarvis | 281 (−7) | 1 stroke | Fred Biondi Santiago de la Fuente Vicente Marzilio Mateo Fernández de Oliveira |
Casa de Campo | La Romana, Dominican Republic |
| 2021 | Cancelled[5] | Lima Golf Club | Lima, Peru | |||
| 2020 | Abel Gallegos | 281 (−4) | 4 strokes | Aaron Terrazas | El Camaleón Golf Club | Playa del Carmen, Mexico |
| 2019 | Álvaro Ortiz | 274 (−14) | 2 strokes | Luis Gagne | Casa de Campo | La Romana, Dominican Republic |
| 2018 | Joaquín Niemann | 273 (−11) | 5 strokes | Álvaro Ortiz | Prince of Wales Country Club | Santiago, Chile |
| 2017 | Toto Gana | 279 (−1) | Playoff | Joaquín Niemann Álvaro Ortiz |
Club de Golf de Panamá | Panama City, Panama |
| 2016 | Paul Chaplet | 285 (−3) | 1 stroke | Jorge García | Casa de Campo | La Romana, Dominican Republic |
| 2015 | Matías Domínguez | 277 (−11) | 1 stroke | Alejandro Tosti | Pilar Golf Club | Pilar, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina |
References
- ^ "A perfect pairing: Chi Chi Rodriguez and the Latin America Amateur Championship". Golf Digest. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
- ^ Harig, Bob (22 January 2014). "Masters, Latin America team up". ESPN.
- ^ "Qualifying Standards". Latin America Amateur Championship. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
- ^ "Entries". Latin America Amateur Championship. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
- ^ "Masters, R&A, USGA Cancel 2021 Latin America Amateur Due To COVID-19". Latin America Amateur Championship. 6 October 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2023.