LAAC: almost a decade of great stories

At the age of 55, Costa Rican Álvaro Ortiz about to play his last Amateur Championship of Latin America. He is one of three veterans, along with Panamanian Miguel Ordoñez (40) and Bermudian Jarryd Dillas (38), who have participated in all previous editions and will compete at the ninth LAAC at Santa María Golf Club in Panama.

“Panama 2024 will be my last LAAC because I have to make room for young Costa Rican golfers. It’s been an amazing process where I’ve had great experiences,” said Ortiz, whose treasured experiences include witnessing the Paul Chaplet, then 16 years old, in Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic, and the participation of a young Costa Rican at the 2016 Masters.

WITNESSES OF TRIUMPH

For almost a decade, Ortiz testified struggles and triumphs of young fans of the region.

“I remember playing with Colombian Nicolás Echavarría in the first LAAC in Argentina (2015). And then we were together again in the penultimate group on Sunday in Panama in 2017,” Ortiz recalled of his third participation in which he posted his best score to finish tied for fourth, one stroke out of the playoffs.

It was the last one Latin American Amateur Championship for Echavarría, winner PGA TOUR Puerto Rico Open 2023who finished tied for eighth place with Argentines Andrés Gallegos and Miguel Ordoñez.

Three players in the last group behind them were Chileans Joaquín Niemann (LAAC 2018 winner in Chile), Mexican Álvaro Ortiz (LAAC 2019 winner in the Dominican Republic) and Chilean Toto Gana, winner of that Latin US Amateur Championship 2017 in Panama.

“I have very good memories of that year. It was the last time my father saw me play golf. My daughter was born the week of the first edition in Argentina,” Ordoñez said of his emotional and personal connection to History of LAAC.

For a self-proclaimed racing fan, participating in the LAAC is a huge reward in itself. In fact, he plans to continue playing in the annual regional competition “as long as the flame lives on.” In the last nine years, Ordoñez has undergone an evolution Amateur Championship of Latin America until he became “the central engine that drives the golfing careers of the best amateurs in the region”.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF PREVIOUS PARTICIPANTS

The achievements of previous LAAC participants in 2023 alone demonstrate the driving force of the tournament.

Except c2023 champion, Mateo Fernández de Oliveira, who has competed in the Masters, US Open and The OpenBrazil’s Fred Biondi (2022 runner-up and 2023 LAAC seventh) won individual and team titles NCAA Championship with the University of Florida, before turning pro.

Among professionals, Niemann, the 2018 LAAC champion, won the Australian Open. Echavarría won his first tournamenthe PGA TOUR in Puerto Rico. And Argentina’s Alejandro Tosti (2015 LAAC runner-up) and Mexico’s Raúl Pereda (2017 LAAC T-6) received tickets from PGA TOUR for the 2024 season.

Since the last edition in Puerto Rico, several amateurs returning to Amateur Championship of Latin America in Panama They won victories and awards.

Mexican José Islas (4th in LAAC 2023) won the National Amateur Championship his country and reached the quarterfinals of the American Amateur Competition. His compatriot Santiago De la Fuente (runner-up in 2022 and T-9 in 2023) was part of the Arnold Palmer Cup international team and was an All-American with the University of Houston, while Omar Morales (T-24 in the LAAC in 2020 ) dealt the inaugural blow to the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club. And Paraguayan Erich Fortlage, The 17-year-old (T-12 in the LAAC in 2023) won the South American Junior Championship.

Fortlage is one of 11 juniors to make the cut in 2023 and is part of a strong contingent of 18-and-under players who will compete in Amateur Championship of Latin America 2024. He completed the quartet of “junior veterans” consisting of 18-year-old Guatemalan Gabriel Palacios, 16-year-old Paraguayan Eze Cabrera and 17-year-old Turks and Caicos Islands player Kurt Rivers.

In it Santa María Golf Club from Panama in January, Palacios, Cabrera, Rivers and Fortlage He will be playing his third LAAC with a bright future ahead of him.