It’s been a tumultuous few years for men’s professional golf. Division rather than development has been the main talking point in pro press conferences on all the main tours since LIV Golf came onto the scene. Whatever your views on the breakaway circuit and on the response from the established tours, there can be no argument that the schism has been damaging to our sport.
It is then, refreshing and encouraging to consider the unity and positivity surrounding the Latin America Amateur Championship (LAAC). Now in its 10th year and back to Pilar Golf Club in Buenos Aires this week, the venue for the inaugural LAAC in 2015, the tournament represents everything that should be, and clearly still can be good about elite level golf.
Co-founded and co-run by The Masters Tournament, The R&A and the USGA, there is one singular purpose behind the LAAC – to grow the game of golf by creating champions and inspiring aspiring golfers.
This is a small but perfectly formed golf tournament, supported by independent bodies for whom profit is not an objective. Their objective is to use their experience and the opportunities they can offer to drive golf forwards. The winner of this event will play in The Masters, the US Open and The Open Championship.
That in summary, is what makes the LAAC so great. But there are more specific reasons why it’s the perfect golf tournament.
The Organisation
It’s hardly surprising that this tournament runs like a well-oiled machine. When The Masters, The R&A and the USGA put their heads together to consider how best to use their collective experiences to put on an event, the results are really rather impressive. And now, with nine previous LAACs in the bank, the championship is planned and run so smoothly that nobody would break sweat, were it not for the near 40 degree temperatures here in Buenos Aires this week.
The players are looked after superbly well. They are given a glimpse of the world they are striving towards as top-level golfers. But it’s not just them who are treated like VIPs. The media, the sponsors, the parents of players, all are considered, and all requirements are met, if not exceeded. As a member of the media and having been to plenty of events where the media are not considered so generously, I can tell you – this tournament is something special.
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