The bold idea of ​​a Chilean architect that became the most important golf tournament in the region

There are times when we look at the most important championships on the international calendar and have little or no idea how or when they were born.

Eduardo Costabal Zegers He was born on November 20, 1902 in Santiago, Chile. An architect by profession and owner of a strong personality, he was the one who under 30 faced the most important project of his life: the Basilica of Lourdes. So important was this work for him and for the city that after the 1985 earthquake he was called to direct the restoration work on the temple.

It was not until 1938 that Costabal found golf in his life. He quickly became associated with the Los Leones Golf Club and in 1942 he presented the idea to the club’s board of holding the first South American Amateur Golf Championship for Teams. It did not have much resonance with the people of Los Leones, but they did not give up. A couple of years later, the first edition of the tournament was held in Santiago with only two teams, Argentina and Chile, and five years later Uruguay joined. The idea had already germinated and the South American Championship was a reality.

Costabal also knew that he needed an emblematic trophy for the championship and put people in Chile and Argentina to look for the cup. In 1841 Queen Victoria commissioned the jewelers Mappin & Webb to design a trophy to be donated to the Royal Yacht Squadron. Among the various designs that were presented to him was one that was 53 cm high, not counting the base, and 6 kilograms in weight. The queen chose another model and this one went to the showcase of the Mappin & Webb branch in Buenos Aires. There Costabal discovered it a century after it was conceived. The first offer he made for the trophy was not accepted simply because it was not for sale, but when Costabal told the business manager what the future of the trophy was going to be, he was moved and decided to sell it to him. This is how the bill dated September 16, 1942, issued to the Chilean Ambassador in Argentina, accredits the payment of two thousand seven hundred pesos of legal tender, discriminated in 2000 by the cup and four smaller replicas of 175 each. The name with which she was baptized, Copa Los Andes, arose immediately and it was Costabal himself who explained it in a memorandum. “The Andes mountain range, which, with its infinite ramifications, serves as a common structure for all the countries of America, gave its name to this trophy, forcing them to a permanent understanding of sport.”

That first edition was played at Los Leones in September 1944 and the locals beat the Argentines. The commitment to play the following year in Buenos Aires remained, but the political problems facing the country in October 1945 made it impossible to do so. In 1946 it was played again in Santiago and once again the locals prevailed. It was not until 1947 that the Argentines won when the Los Andes Cup was played in Palermo. Uruguay’s entry took place in 1948 and it was established that each country that joined had to organize the championship the following year, and that is how the Uruguayan Golf Club was the venue in 1949. The 50s marked the consolidation of the contest, the entry of the ladies to the competition and the decade ended with 8 countries participating in the South American Golf Championship. Bolivia joined in the 1960s and it was not until 1974, with the edition played at the Olivos Golf Club, that Paraguay made its official presentation. Thus the championship was complete with the 10 countries of the region represented in the competition.

The Los Andes Cup is unique in the world, not only because of its format, but also because it is the only continental event where women and men compete simultaneously on the same stage. The match play format gives it a special character, and despite the fact that there were several attempts to transform it into a stroke competition, this was never seriously considered. The championship began with teams of 4 players and today there are 5 representatives from each country that make up the teams. Each of them has a captain for men and a female captain for women. The system is all against all in 4 days of competition, where whoever finishes in last place loses the opportunity to compete next year. It’s not what I like the most and I was always a strong advocate that all countries should be represented, but the argument about the length and cost of the championship with 10 participants triumphed. I do not lose hope that one day we will see all the countries playing in the cup again and that none is eliminated.

As there are 9 teams, the competition takes place in 4 days where each day you compete against two countries at the same time. 36 holes are played per day and in the morning two matches of doubles/alternating shots are played, while in the afternoon it is time for the 4 singles. There is always a player who rests each turn. The doubles in the morning are very important because getting ahead of the singles gives you more room to maneuver in the draw. This is another important part of the championship and games can be won or lost there. The captain of each team is the one who, half an hour before the start of each turn, shows up at the championship office to carry out the draw, and there, according to which ball he touches, the order in which the players are placed is decided. Drawing against two teams at the same time has its complications.

Starting next Monday, all the teams will be in Porto Alegre for the 76th edition of the Los Andes Cup. I had the honor of playing for Argentina 10 times between 1985 and 1998, and since 2013 the Argentine Golf Association has appointed me Captain of the men’s team, which is a great honor. It’s hard to explain the feeling this tournament produces because it’s unlike anything an amateur golfer has played, and this is something I try to explain to first-time players. Many do not believe me, but when the first day arrives on the tee of the 1 all without exception have told me: “you were right, I feel something that I had never experienced.” Many of the great players of our region have passed through the Los Andes Cup; Carlos Franco, Raúl Fretes and Fabrizio Zanotti from Paraguay, Colombians Camilo Villegas, Sebastián Muñoz, Venezuelan Johnny Vegas, Joaquín Niemann and Mito Pereira from Chile, Argentines Emiliano Grillo, Tano Goya and the Carbonetti brothers, Jenny Lidback and Alicia Dibos from Peru, Marisa Baena from Colombia, Daniela Darquea from Ecuador and Silvia Bertolaccini from Argentina who won 4 titles on the LPGA circuit.

In 2004, the Los Andes Cup was played at the Cancha Vieja del Mar del Plata Golf Club in Playa Grande, and for the first time, managers from the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews made the trip to witness it. They were so impacted by the championship that they immediately decided to support it in various ways, including financially, which speaks of the hierarchy of the Los Andes Cup.

The bold idea of ​​a Chilean architect more than 80 years ago is today the most important championship in the region and the Los Andes Cup is the most precious trophy.