The Argentinian Lucca Gallingani and the Colombian María José Cardona They won the titles of the Nico Open 2024 presented by Itaú, the most important youth competition in the region of the season and which culminated in a high level on the Llano Grande course of the Medellín Country Club.
Gallingani and Cardona thus became the new exempt players of the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA), the youth golf organization par excellence in the United States, beating a large field of players from 19 countries.
The Nico Open presented by Itaú once again left a high point in the season, allowing us to see a superlative level of play and testing the talent of our best players. For the third consecutive day, fog opened the day in the municipality of Rionegro, postponing the start of the game by an hour. From there, the sun continued drying the field, making it even more complicated as the hours passed.
Gallingani, a player who started in the shadow of the leaders, had a day with ups and downs, taking the lead at the start with a great eagle on the par 5 of the 2nd hole, returning the way with some errors on the 6th, 8th and 11 and regaining the lead with two successes in a row in the most demanding section of the Antioquia layout (holes 13 and 14).
With the game in his favor, the Pilar Golf golfer withstood the pressure, passing with a bogey that was par on the 17th and finishing in regulation on the 18th to achieve victory, with a total of 216 strokes (par court), finishing with two scores in a row of 71 (-1).
The Brazilian Guilherme Ziccardi, at 219 (+3), stayed in second position alone, fighting from the beginning with his swing and with an initial return at 39 that he was unable to balance on the return. Minutes before, in a spectacular finish on this sunny Saturday, local Samuel González starred in the best round of the day, a solid 67 (-5) that placed him in third place, with 220 (+4).
The same number, dividing the places from 4 to 6, was delivered by the Colombian Tomás Restrepo (73), the Mexican Eduardo Derbez (74) and the also local Pablo Mejía, the latter the first leader in the week and to whom a triple bogey On the 53rd hole of the championship it prevented him from achieving the feat of celebrating in front of his team.
With less drama, but with foolproof solidity, the Colombian Cardona continued with the tradition of the local golfers in the competition, resolving a round of pressure with precise golf and without major frills, after starting ahead for the final round.
The golfer from Manizales in Colombia had three bogeys in the first leg, a result that did not clash with the rigors of the Antioquia course, recovering with two hits between 10 and 11 and a very clear 13. In the end, her round of 73 (+1 ) was enough to put the 219 (+3) with which she took the victory, beating the also Colombian Vanessa Ramírez, second by 2 strokes.
The local player closed with three birdies in her last five holes to place herself on the podium, while the Colombian Daniela Páez (75) took third place with 223 (+7). The Mexican María García, with a total of 226 (+10) was fourth in the order, followed by the Colombian Catalina Monroy (+12), closing the Top-5.
With this panorama, this second edition of the Nico Open 2024 presented by Itaú ended, a contest part of the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) International Pathway Series and that will continue next year at the Medellín Country Club, increasing the benefits for youth golfers in Latin America.
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