Reminder: LAAC And Spot In Masters Underway In Chile

The repositioned (by two days) Latin America Amateur Championship is underway at Prince of Wales Country Club. A papal visit led to the event's original dates being altered by five days.

Even Augusta National, the USGA and R&A stand down for the Pope!

The telecast times:

Live broadcasts of all four rounds will be available across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America. The scheduled times for each round’s live broadcast are listed below, with all times local to Santiago, Chile:

First Round: Saturday, Jan. 20: 3-5 p.m.
Second Round: Sunday, Jan. 21: 3-5 p.m.
Third Round: Monday, Jan. 22: 12-2 p.m.
Final Round: Tuesday, Jan. 23: 12-2 p.m.

Championship highlights will air on Tuesday following the completion of play; viewers can check local listings for specific broadcast times.

ESPN will provide event coverage in this year’s host country, as well as throughout Latin America. Other broadcasters include ESPN and ESPN2 (United States), Eurosport (Europe), Fox Sports Asia, Fox Sports Australia, SuperSport (Southern Africa) and TSN (Canada). All of the coverage will also be streamed live on the official event website, LAACgolf.com.

Masters Chairman Fred Ridley discussed the state of the event with Todd Lewis of Golf Channel, and refreshingly, refused to say in year four if it's fair to know exactly what impact the event has had.

Also, a return to the Dominican Republic for 2019 was announced Saturday.

LATIN AMERICA AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP TO RETURN TO CASA DE CAMPO IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC IN 2019

SANTIAGO, Chile –The Latin America Amateur Championship (LAAC) will return to Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic for its fifth edition, which will be held January 17-20, 2019. Championship organizers made the announcement today during the 2018 LAAC currently underway at Prince of Wales Country Club in Santiago, Chile.

Founded by the Masters Tournament, The R&A and the USGA, the LAAC was established to further develop amateur golf in South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean.
The LAAC champion receives an invitation to compete in the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. In addition, the winner and the runner(s)-up are exempt into the final stages of qualifying for The Open and the U.S. Open Championship. The champion is also awarded full exemptions into The Amateur Championship, the U.S. Amateur Championship and any other USGA amateur championship for which he is eligible.

The 2019 LAAC will mark the championship’s return to Casa de Campo, which hosted the event in 2016. It was then that Costa Rica’s Paul Chaplet claimed the title and went on to become the first player from Central America to compete in the Masters and the second-youngest competitor in Masters history at 16 years old.

“It gives us great pleasure to welcome the Latin America Amateur Championship back to our beautiful resort and country,” said Andres Pichardo Rosenberg, president of Casa de Campo and a native of the Dominican Republic. “This championship is a truly special event that is helping advance the game throughout our region and paving the way for Latin America’s future golf stars. We are honored to play a role in supporting this mission as hosts and look forward to seeing the most talented amateur players once again rise to the challenges our course offers.”