2020 Results

17-Year-Old Gallegos Captures Argentina’s First LAAC Victory

Date	January 16-19, 2020
Venue	Mayakoba’s El Camaleón, Playa Del Carmen, Mexico
Par	36-35–71
Length	7,003 yards
Opened	2006

Argentina’s Abel Gallegos used a combination of power and panache to claim his country’s first victory at the Latin America Amateur Championship, shooting a dazzling four-under-par 67 on Sunday to win by four strokes at Mayakoba’s El Camaleón Golf Club. Mexico’s Aaron Terrazas inspired the home fans with a thrilling late charge and a 67 to finish runner-up, while Colombia’s Jose Vega shot 74 to take third place.

With the victory, the 17-year-old Gallegos became the second-youngest LAAC champion and earned exemptions into a pair of especially coveted tournaments: the 2020 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club and The 149th Open at Royal St George’s in July. He can also play in The Amateur Championship, the U.S. Amateur and any other USGA amateur event for which he is eligible, including the final stage of qualifying for the 120th U.S. Open at Winged Foot.

Gallegos, who hails from the small town of 25 de Mayo, about two hours outside of Buenos Aires, learned the game on a modest nine-hole course named Las Mulitas, or Little Mules, but will be the 14th Argentine and just the third amateur from Argentina to compete in the Masters Tournament.

Vega made a surge in the middle of the championship, shooting 65 in the second round on Friday to seize the lead and held it after a 72 on Saturday. After three days of high winds on the Riviera Maya, the conditions for the final round were more conducive to scoring. The field produced just 10 rounds under par in the first three days combined, but 12 players broke par on the last day including Terrazas, who played one group in front of the leaders and birdied three of his last six holes to apply some pressure.

Gallegos, however, couldn’t be caught. Starting the day two shots behind Vega, Gallegos made a slick par on the opening hole when he snaked an approach shot from out of the jungle up to the green while Vega bogeyed. Gallegos pulled level with a birdie on No. 3, then zoomed away from Vega and the rest of the field with masterful closing kick. Gallegos made just one double bogey all week and played his final 20 holes in six under par. He birdied the last hole to finish in style.

Venue Information

Opened in 2006, El Camaleón was designed by two-time Open Champion and World Golf Hall of Fame member Greg Norman. In 2007, the course became the home of the Mayakoba Golf Classic, the first official PGA TOUR event to be contested outside the U.S. and Canada. El Camaleón plays along a stretch of crystal-clear freshwater canals surrounded by mangrove and limestone walls. The 18-hole layout features paspalum grass, two holes along the Mexican Caribbean Sea and distinctive hazards, including cenotes (sink holes) and extensive bunkers.

2020 Results

POS	PLAYER	COUNTRY	R1	R2	R3	R4	TOTAL	SCORE
1	Abel Gallegos	ARG	73	70	70	67	280	-4
2	Aaron Terrazas	MEX	72	74	71	67	284	E
3	Jose Vega	COL	74	65	72	74	285	1
4	Ivan Camilo Ramirez	COL	68	76	72	72	288	4
5	Gabriel Morgan Birke	CHI	70	73	73	73	289	5
T6	Benjamin Saiz-Wenz	CHI	74	70	75	71	290	6
T6	Julian Perico	PER	76	73	72	69	290	6
8	Segundo Oliva Pinto	ARG	74	72	76	69	291	7
T9	Lukas Roessler	CHI	70	72	76	74	292	8
T9	Emilio Gonzalez	MEX	74	78	69	71	292	8
T11	Matias Dominguez	CHI	77	74	73	69	293	9
T11	Andy Schonbaum	ARG	77	69	78	69	293	9
T13	Andrey Xavier Borges	BRA	77	69	78	70	294	10
T13	Chris Nido	PUR	77	77	72	68	294	10
T13	Guilherme Nunes Grinberg	BRA	73	74	74	73	294	10
16	Agustin Errazuriz	CHI	80	74	71	71	296	12
T17	Horacio Carbonetti	ARG	74	72	74	77	297	13
T17	Toto Gana	CHI	77	78	72	70	297	13
T19	Carlos Bustos	CHI	78	73	73	74	298	14
T19	Mateo Fernandez De Oliveira	ARG	73	77	78	70	298	14
T19	Andres Caballero	MEX	77	75	76	70	298	14
T19	Camilo Avila	BOL	77	73	75	73	298	14
T19	Jesus Montenegro	ARG	78	71	76	73	298	14
T24	Jose Miguel Ramirez	VEN	76	75	72	76	299	15
T24	Juan Cayro Delgado	DOM	74	77	74	74	299	15
T24	Omar Morales Nacif	MEX	78	74	77	70	299	15
T24	Rodrigo Sol	ESA	76	75	77	71	299	15
T28	Santiago Quintero	VEN	75	76	77	74	302	18
T28	Alvaro Ortiz	CRC	78	71	77	76	302	18
T28	Jarryd Dillas	BER	81	72	75	74	302	18
T28	Justin Hastings	CAY	76	78	75	73	302	18
32	Enrique Valverde	DOM	73	76	79	75	303	19
T33	Santiago de la Fuente del Valle	MEX	77	75	79	73	304	20
T33	Nicolas Escobar	ECU	74	80	77	73	304	20
T33	Lucas JH Park	BRA	76	77	77	74	304	20
T36	Fred Biondi	BRA	81	72	80	72	305	21
T36	Daniel Gurtner	GUA	77	78	76	74	305	21
T36	Gabriel Ruiz Trevino	MEX	74	78	76	77	305	21
T39	Eduardo Carrete	MEX	76	76	81	74	307	23
T39	Renato Naula	ECU	75	76	81	75	307	23
41	Juan Francisco Mejia	COL	72	80	81	75	308	24
T42	Justin Burrowes	JAM	78	75	83	73	309	25
T42	Pablo Castellanos	GUA	76	77	82	74	309	25
T42	Lucas Rosso	CHI	78	74	80	77	309	25
T42	Miguel Ordonez	PAN	78	74	76	81	309	25
T46	Daniel Faccini	COL	77	78	83	74	312	28
T46	Paul Chaplet	CRC	76	76	80	80	312	28
T46	Pedro Baek Bang	PAR	75	77	83	77	312	28
49	Eduardo Galdos	PER	77	77	80	80	314	30
50	Patricio Freundt-Thurne	PER	76	76	79	85	316	32
51	Ricardo Davila	GUA	81	74	82	81	318	34
52	Kevin Ferris	ISV	78	76	81	86	321	37
T53	Alejandro Madariaga	MEX	73	83			156	14
T53	Jan Hellema	CHI	81	75			156	14
T53	Max Alverio	PUR	80	76			156	14
T53	Miguel Reyes	URU	77	79			156	14
T53	Patrick Sparks	PER	77	79			156	14
T58	Nicolas Cimadevilla	ECU	82	75			157	15
T58	Devaughn Robinson	BAH	81	76			157	15
T58	William Knibbs	JAM	76	81			157	15
T58	Konrad Brauckmeyer	VEN	78	79			157	15
T58	Santiago Bustamante	COL	79	78			157	15
T58	Santiago Chamorro	COL	83	74			157	15
T58	Andrew Jarvis	CAY	79	78			157	15
T65	Ezequiel Prieto	VEN	80	78			158	16
T65	Simon Correa	COL	78	80			158	16
T65	Luis Ruiz	MEX	75	83			158	16
T65	Jorge Luciano Melendez	GUA	79	79			158	16
T69	Cristian Terceros	BOL	82	77			159	17
T69	Jorge Villar	MEX	78	81			159	17
T69	Erick Morales	PUR	78	81			159	17
T69	Andres Aranguren	PUR	83	76			159	17
T69	Daniel Cano	PAR	82	77			159	17
T69	Ernesto Marin	NCA	79	80			159	17
T75	Matheus Park	BRA	83	77			160	18
T75	Sachin Kumar	TTO	81	79			160	18
T75	Esteban Missura	ECU	85	75			160	18
T75	German Tagle	ARG	83	77			160	18
79	Gabriel Vanososte	TTO	85	76			161	19
T80	Luis Gerardo Garza	MEX	84	78			162	20
T80	Luis Cargiulo	PAN	82	80			162	20
T80	Felix Dominguez Olaizola	VEN	81	81			162	20
T83	Rhadames Pena	DOM	79	84			163	21
T83	Juan Ignacio De Giacomi	ARG	87	76			163	21
T83	Jeronimo Esteve	PUR	77	86			163	21
T86	Daniel Kenji Ishii	BRA	86	78			164	22
T86	Anders Axelsson	PAN	79	85			164	22
T86	Juan Camilo Vesga	COL	84	80			164	22
T86	Kevin Donegan O’Connell	ISV	81	83			164	22
T90	Juan Pablo Diaz Munoz	ECU	86	79			165	23
T90	Ian Aldarondo	PUR	88	77			165	23
T90	Smith Galvez Chavez	PER	87	78			165	23
T90	Alejandro Restrepo	VEN	82	83			165	23
T94	Felipe Garces Garzon	ECU	86	80			166	24
T94	Walker Campbell	BER	87	79			166	24
T94	Felipe Darquea	ECU	82	84			166	24
T97	Ricardo Mendez	VEN	84	83			167	25
T97	Paul Tsavoussis	BAH	83	84			167	25
T97	Pablo Lacayo	NCA	81	86			167	25
T100	James Johnson	BAR	84	86			170	28
T100	Iz Hustler	BAR	92	78			170	28
T102	Facundo Alvarez	URU	87	86			173	31
T102	Tino Flores	ESA	86	87			173	31
104	Yadhu Urs	LCA	95	93			188	46
105	Victor Charles	LCA	102	99			201	59
106	Desinor Pierre	HAI	95	112			207	65
107	Geoffry Schacher	HON	99	WD			WD	WD
108	Alejandro Villavicencio	GUA	WD				WD	WD