Latin America Amateur Championship Offers Players a Chance to Join the Masters Tournament
The Masters Tournament is the ultimate dream for an aspiring amateur golf player, and Latin America is reaching out to bring that dream to its native players.
According to the Golf Channel, the Latin America Amateur Championship (LAAC) is following the footsteps of PGA Tour's Sony Open by offering its athletes a chance to play at the Masters Tournament.
The event tagged the Masters as the "ultimate prize" at the second annual Latin America Amateur Championship. Happening at the Teeth of the Dog course at Casa de Campo resort, players are expected to show up starting Thursday.
Players also realize that besides the ultimate prize of joining the Masters, the Latin America Amateur Championship also exempts its awardees from playing at the qualifying event for the U.S. Open and the Open Championship. Countries in the Latin America region are eligible to enter two participants to the event.
Compared to its U.S. counterpart, the LAAC will be composed of participants who are starting their career on golf as well as those who are under scholarship in the States. Asked how they feel about the upcoming event, 25-yeal-old Matias Simaski said, "The prize at the end of the road is quite appealing. So for me, it became one of the three most important amateur events in the world."
Golf Monthly reports that the LAAC is an event created in participation of The United States Golf Association, The Masters Tournament and the R&A. Despite the ultimate prize of playing for the Masters, the LAAC was primarily created in order to develop and promote the game of golf in the Latin America region.
In January of 2015, the inaugural of the LAAC came to light, hailing Matias Dominguez of Chile as its first champion. His achievement didn't just end with the ultimate prize of participating at the Masters Tournament; instead, it opened more doors for him to join other tournaments.
The tournaments include the already mentioned Masters, a spot at the final qualifying for the Open Championship and another at the U.S. Open Championship. Lastly, Dominguez is also eligible to join The Amateur Championship. Fergus Bisset had the second chance to watch the upcoming LAAC this year, saying that being at the right place and the right time when the invitation came allowed him to raise his hand and "volunteer" to cover the LAAC for the second time. LAAC will begin its tournament on Jan. 14, 2016.
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