Puerto Rico once again hosts a major golf tournament

Rio Grande – Although he had the background of staging international golf events such as the Puerto Rico Open -tournament of the professional tour of the PGA-, the celebration this weekend of the Latin America Amateur Championship in Río Grande, it revalidates the island as an important place for this sport and opens the door for a possible return, according to an executive of the contest.

Although it is an event for amateur golfers, all the scaffolding and assembly by three very important professional golf entities make the LAAC a world-class tournament, where the best Latin American talents are exhibited.

The tournament was held at the Grand Reserve Golf Club in Rio Grande.

“The underlying legacy that we have here is the possibility that locals have of being involved in how the specialists of not one, but three majors do the ‘set up’ of a court,” Mark Lawrie told El Nuevo Día. , director of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club (R&A) for Latin America and the Caribbean, and who is also part of the board of directors of the LAAC.

R&A, as well as the United States Golf Association and Augusta National, which are the creators of the prestigious Masters Tournament event, are the three entities that came together to create the LAAC, which in Puerto Rico had its first appearance this weekend, and eighth overall since 2015 (not held in 2021).

“How the rules are handled in a high-performance championship, such as this one, how the course is presented, how it is roped, where the signs are placed… everything is learning, and learning from those who know the most about this business in the world. . So it seems to me that on that side, there is a significant legacy, and the federation’s job is to know how to take advantage of it, ”said Lawrie.

Twenty seven visiting countries

In the tournament participated 108 players from 28 countries, including nine from Puerto Rico, and attracted dozens of journalists from several of these nations. This is without counting the large number of personnel that came for the production of the television broadcasts. The event, Lawrie said, was broadcast to around 190 countries, and featured live three-hour daily coverage each day, plus a 30-minute talk show at the end of each round.

The ESPN telechain was in charge of the transmission for all of Latin America. There were also broadcasts from ESPN2 for the United States, Fox Sports (Australia), SuperSport (South Africa), TSN (Canada), Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (Europe), SpoTV (Asia), SBS Golf (Korea) and Sky Sports (UK). ).

“Assembling an event of this magnitude, for us, starts a long time before. And probably more than a year, and a few visits. And as the date approached, we were more and more confident that we were going to have a great championship,” Lawrie said about the expectation that the organizers had with Puerto Rico. “I think these four days have shown us that our assumptions were all correct.”

The R&A executive for Latin America assured that they leave happy.

“We are leaving Puerto Rico happy, knowing that it is a perfect venue that can happen again, because the conditions are in place for it to return.”

Asked about the conditions or attributes that a venue must have for this event, which rewards the winner by participating in three important professional tournaments endorsed by the three entities that create the LAAC, Lawrie mentioned some and assured that it is not enough for the country to have a good golf course.

“The championship already has a size that is very large, and there are times when there are very good fields in countries that do not really give the space. The ‘TV compound’ only occupies a space that has to be in a certain place with reference to the field. They have to meet certain requirements and sometimes the visits (to potential venues) end there. No matter how good the field is, if it does not meet these minimum conditions…”.

Lawrie said that there are excellent golf courses in the region but that many times they cannot be considered.

“Obviously the hotel industry is a subject. This is a big championship, we move a lot of people. By this I want to say that there are not so many courses in our region that can receive this championship, as it is proposed today”.

Regarding the impact, he expressed that it is unquestionable.

“You are talking about more than 190 countries seeing this. I had friends in completely remote places, and at very strange times, sending me comments about how good the headquarters looked, the field, how fun the championship was. With which, the impact for Puerto Rico as a golf venue, as a golf destination, I think is extremely important. The possibility of showing yourself is not very frequent in our region, which is sometimes better known for its beaches, or its mountains, or for fishing, or whatever depending on the country. The LAAC manages to transcend because of what it offers in terms of golf championships”.

The seven editions prior to the one in Puerto Rico were held in five venues, Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic being the one that has organized it the most times with three (2016, 2019 and 2022). The first edition was in Pilar Golf, in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2015. There was also one in Panama (2017), one in Chile (2018), and one in Mexico (2019).