On January 12th, 2015, Panamanian Miguel Ordóñez was on his way to the inaugural Latin America Amateur Championship (LAAC) at Pilar Golf Club, Buenos Aires, when he received an urgent call about the emergency delivery of his first baby.
“My most treasured memory is where everything started,” said Ordoñez, one of three players (with Costa Rica Alvaro Ortiz and Bermuda Jarryd Dillas) who have participated in all nine previous editions of the LAAC.
“The fact that we will be playing the tenth Latin America Amateur at Pilar Golf would bring back a lot of good memories,” added 41-year-old Ordoñez, who was able to compete in 2015 two days after the birth of his daughter Aurora, although he missed the cut.
Ordoñez’s experience at the Latin America Amateur Championship, announced in 2014 by the Masters Tournament, The R&A and the USGA to further develop amateur golf throughout South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean, reflects that development.
In its decade of existence, the regional amateur event has fulfilled its purpose of promoting golf promises and creating heroes in the 29 IOC-recognized countries and territories of Latin America represented.
The Latin America Amateur Champion receives invitations to the Masters Tournament and The Open Championship and, since 2023, he is also invited to compete at the U.S. Open. In the last decade, 17 LAAC alumni have played in one or several of the three majors.
The winner of the 2018 Latin America Amateur, Chilean Joaquin Niemann, has competed in five Masters, five U.S. Opens, and four Open Championships. In 2019, Mexican Alvaro Ortiz made history by been the first LAAC Champion to make the cut at The Masters. Three years later, Aaron Jarvis of the Cayman Islands was the first LAAC winner to play on the weekend at The Open in St. Andrews.
The effects can also be seen in the steady increase in the number of young men from Latin America among the highest levels of professional golf and collegiate golf in the region and the United States.
Around 90 Latin American professional golfers compete regularly in the PGA Tour Americas, Korn Ferry Tour, and PGA Tour. And a similar number of amateurs from the region are currently on Division I collegiate teams in the United States, as part of an upward trend that originates at junior level.
In fact, the 2025 field includes 16 players aged 18 and under. And of the 54 players who made the cut at the 2023 Latin America Amateur Championship at Grand Reserve Golf Club in Puerto Rico, 11 were 18 years old or younger and most of them were committed to U.S. colleges, a testament of the level of junior golf in the region and the impact of the tournament.
An increased level of top talent is also noticeable in the evolution of the Latin America Amateur field. In 2015 there were 8 players in the top 200 of the World Amateur World Rankings (WAGR). At least 15 of the competitors in the 2025 edition are 179th or better in the WAGR.
On January 16-19, Miguel Ordóñez will compete again at Pilar Golf as the 238th ranked amateur in the world, and a T-15 finish in 2024 at Santa Maria Golf Club in Panama, where he is practicing for his tenth LAAC.
On January 12, 2025, Aurora Ordoñez will be celebrating her 10th birthday driving a golf cart along with her dad and her 3-year-old brother Miguel Jr..
