The Latin America Amateur Championship (LAAC) 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.
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).
Winners YearPlayerScoreMarginof victoryRunner(s)-upVenueLocation2026 Mateo Pulcini 275 (–5) Playoff Virgilio Paz Lima Golf Club Lima, Peru 2025 Justin Hastings 272 (−16) 1 stroke Patrick Sparks Pilar Golf Club Pilar, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina2024 Santiago de la Fuente 270 (−10) 2 strokes Omar Morales Santa Maria Golf Club Panama City, Panama2023 Mateo Fernández de Oliveira 265 (−23) 4 strokes Luis Carrera Grand Reserve Golf Club Río Grande, Puerto Rico2022 Aaron Jarvis 281 (−7) 1 stroke Fred Biondi Santiago de la Fuente Vicente Marzilio Mateo Fernández de Oliveira Casa de Campo La Romana, Dominican Republic2021 Cancelled Lima Golf Club Lima, Peru2020 Abel Gallegos 281 (−4) 4 strokes Aaron Terrazas El Camaleón Golf Club Playa del Carmen, Mexico2019 Álvaro Ortiz 274 (−14) 2 strokes Luis Gagne Casa de Campo La Romana, Dominican Republic2018 Joaquín Niemann 273 (−11) 5 strokes Álvaro Ortiz Prince of Wales Country Club Santiago, Chile2017 Toto Gana 279 (−1) Playoff Joaquín Niemann Álvaro Ortiz Club de Golf de Panamá Panama City, Panama2016 Paul Chaplet 285 (−3) 1 stroke Jorge García Casa de Campo La Romana, Dominican Republic2015 Matías Domínguez 277 (−11) 1 stroke Alejandro Tosti Pilar Golf Club Pilar, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
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