The winner of the Latin America Amateur Championship receives an invitation to play in The Masters and The Open. A few months later, we will be at Casa de Campo for the 1st edition of the Fourball Américas.

The seventh edition of the Latin America Amateur Championship (LAAC) will take place at Casa de Campo Resort & Villas, Dominican Republic, from January 20 to 23, 2022. The 2021 LAAC, originally scheduled for January 14-17 at the Lima Golf Club in Peru, was canceled due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Founded by the Masters Tournament, The R&A, and the United States Golf Association (USGA), the LAAC was created to further develop amateur golf throughout the region, specifically in South and Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The championship takes place annually at the best courses in Latin America and showcases the region's growing talent, including PGA TOUR winners and 2020 Olympians such as Chile’s Joaquín Niemann (2018 LAAC champion) and Colombia’s Sebastián Muñoz.

The LAAC champion will receive an invitation to the 2022 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club and an invitation to play in The 150th Open at St Andrews. Additionally, the winner will obtain full exemptions to play in The Amateur Championship, the U.S. Amateur Championship, and any other USGA amateur championship for which they are eligible, and will be exempt for the final qualifying stages of the 122nd U.S. Open to be played at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. Furthermore, the runner(s)-up will directly enter the final qualifying phases for The 150th Open and the 122nd U.S. Open Championship.

For the third time, the world-renowned Teeth of the Dog layout at Casa de Campo will host the championship. Designed by Pete Dye and built in the early 1970s, Teeth of the Dog features seven holes along the Atlantic Ocean and is considered one of the best golf courses in Latin America and the number one design in the Caribbean. It is worth noting that Costa Rica’s Paul Chaplet won the 2016 LAAC at Casa de Campo by one stroke, and Mexico’s Álvaro Ortiz dazzled on the back nine to secure that long-awaited victory at Teeth of the Dog in 2019.

“We are incredibly excited to welcome the region's best amateurs back to Casa de Campo and to host the Latin America Amateur Championship once again. Teeth of the Dog is a beautiful yet challenging venue for this championship. Our team enjoys the opportunity to continue our wonderful partnership with the Masters Tournament, The R&A, and the USGA, and this edition will serve to showcase the constantly expanding talent in our region,” commented Andrés Pichardo Rosenberg, President of Casa de Campo.

In 2015, Chile’s Matías Domínguez won the inaugural event by one stroke at Pilar Golf, Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 2016, Costa Rica’s Paul Chaplet triumphed in the second edition of the LAAC at Teeth of the Dog in Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic. Toto Gana’s victory in 2017 at the Panama Golf Club marked the first definition via playoff. The following year, Joaquín Niemann, then the world’s number one amateur, continued Chile’s dominance in the LAAC by winning by five strokes in his hometown of Santiago at the Prince of Wales Country Club. In his fifth and final LAAC appearance in 2019, Mexico’s Álvaro Ortiz secured a two-stroke victory at Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic. In the most recent edition, newcomer Abel Gallegos from Argentina achieved victory in 2020 at El Camaleón at Mayakoba, in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

Four months after the seventh edition of the LAAC, we will be at Casa de Campo for the first Fourball Américas. From May 9 to 14, amateurs from across the continent will have a unique opportunity to compete in pairs at Teeth of the Dog and Dye Fore. For more information about the program, visit FourballAmericas.com.