The ninth edition of the Latin America Amateur Championship begins Thursday at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Santa Maria Golf Club in Panama City, Panama.
Per usual, the champion will receive invites into the 2024 Masters, as well as this year’s U.S. Open and Open Championship.
UCLA’s Omar Morales, who qualified for last year’s U.S. Open via final qualifying, is the top-ranked player in the field. He is one of three players from Mexico teeing it up who are ranked in the top 115 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Bolivia also has three of the top 15 players in the field while Argentina boasts four.
The 72-hole tournament will be broadcast on ESPN (2-5 p.m. ET on Thursday and Friday; 11 a.m.-2 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday).
Here are the top 15 players in the field, according to the World Amateur Golf Ranking:
TOP PLAYERS IN FIELD (PER WAGR)
Omar Morales, Mexico (74)
Santiago de la Fuente, Mexico (89)
Justin Hastings, Cayman Islands (97)
Chris Richards Jr., Trinidad and Tobago (106)
Jose Islas, Mexico (115)
Cristian Terceros, Bolivia (146)
Omar Tejeira Jaen, Panama (150)
Andrey Xavier, Brazil (164)
Flavio Semeja, Bolivia (165)
Alejandro Villavicencio, Argentina (170)
Gabriel Palacios Morataya, Argentina (182)
Alvaro Ortiz, Costa Rica (194)
Vincente Marzilio, Argentina (198)
Camilo Avila, Bolivia (206)
Segundo Oliva Pinto, Argentina (209)
