Local golfers look to future Latin America Amateur Golf Championships

National golf champion Zandre Roye and one of the island’s best junior golfer Ryan Lue, were put to the test at the recently concluded Latin America Amateur Championship (LAAC) at the Pilar Golf Club in Buenas Aires, Argentina.

Roye had a good first round scoring three over par 75 and was hoping for a better second round in order to make the cut and play all four round of the championship but had some hiccups in the second round where he scored nine over par 81 for a two-day total of 12 over par 156 and did not make the cut for the second consecutive years.

Lue in his first attempt at the championship had a rough first round score of 14 over par 86 which landed him way down the leaderboard. His second round score of nine over par 81, though better than the first round did note help him to make the cut either. His two-day total was 23 over par 167.

Both golfers were happy for the opportunity to represent the country in the championship, which they think will help them to be better prepared if given the opportunity to compete at the LAAC in the future. This year was the 10^th staging of the LAAC.

Jamaica’s best placement at the championship to date is 24th by Ian Facey back in 2015.

The eventual winner was Justin Hastings of the Cayman Islands. He shot 16 under par 272 for the win. He became the second Cayman golfer to win the championship, behind Aaron Jarvis who won it in 2022.

This year’s championship boasted one hundred and seven golfers from twenty-eight countries. The list included some familiar competitors such as Barbados, Bermuda, Puerto Rico, the Cayman Islands and Trinidad and Tobago who compete in the Caribbean Amateur Golf Championship.