As in last year's edition in Puerto Rico, Mateo Fuenmayor was the best Colombian in a very complicated first round of the Latin America Amateur Championship, which began this Thursday at the Santa María Golf Club in Panama City.
Fuenmayor finished the first day in seventh place, with 71 strokes, one over par, and was two behind the trio of leaders, made up of Mexicans Omar Morales and Santiago de la Fuente and Guatemalan José Arzú.
Already in 2023, Fuenmayor was in the spotlight by finishing as the leader on the first day in Puerto Rico. This time he hopes to stay on the lookout to fight for the title.
“It was a very good day, I started very well, I felt like I was in the fairway all day, many greens. The truth is, I missed a lot of putts and I feel like I left a lot of shots inside the course, but it was a good start,” Fuenmayor told EL TIEMPO. So much so, that a missed putt on hole 9, the last of his round, took him out of par.
Difficult field in the LAAC
The big risk for the 108 participants in the Latin America Amateur Championship was the field, and the first day showed it: Under-par cards were scarce (only the top three were signed) and many of the participants had to fight against the rough and the wind, especially in the afternoon.
One of them was the Colombian Carlos Ardila, who was winning the battle on the course and left the tee of hole 9, the last of his round, as partial leader, with one under par, but a bad start and then, a bad choice of club moved him away from the lead: in a single hole, he went from -1 to +3.
José Orlando Ascencio. TIME
“The 9th hole is very complex. When local tournaments are played, this hole defines the competition,” said Panamanian Miguel Ordóñez before the tournament, one of the three players who has participated in all editions of the LAAC.
Even the Mexican Omar Morales, the best card of those who played in the morning and co-leader at the end of the first day, had a big scare when he scored a double bogey on the 7th hole, the penultimate of his round.
“The LAAC champion will be the one who places the ball best on the green and gives himself the most birdie opportunities. Missing greens with the rough around them is going to be criminal,” had warned local Raúl Carbonell, Panama's national amateur champion.
Four Colombians, for now, would be playing this weekend: apart from Fuenmayor and Ardila, Carlos Rodríguez (+5) and Carlos Hernández (+7) are making the cut.
“I think it won't be so windy in the morning. I have to take advantage of those first seven, nine holes, try to attack a little more,” said Fuenmayor.
It should be remembered that the LAAC champion will have a place in three of the four Majors in 2024, the Masters, the US Open and the British Open, and will also be able to participate in the US Amateur and The Amateur Championship, a very large prize for a player. amateur.
Jose Orlando Ascencio
Sports Deputy Editor
@josasc
City of Panama
*Invited by the LAAC
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