Martín Cancino finishes in the top 20 of the Latin American Amateur Golf Championship in Puerto Rico

The Latin American Amateur Championship (LAAC) ended in Río Grande, Puerto Rico. The course of the Grand Reserve Golf Club saw the victory of Argentinian Mateo Fernández de Oliveira, with 265 shots (-23), which exceeded the record set by Joaquín Niemann, winner of the 2018 edition with 273 impacts. As for the Chileans, Martín Cancino was the best and finished in 17th place, tied with Aaron Jarvis, winner of the last edition, with 284 shots (-4).

The national had an irregular day, as it ended with an over par, product of five birds and six bogies this prevented me from finishing higher. In any case, his analysis is rather positive, despite the difficulties. “Overall, I have a positive assessment. After the first day, unfortunately, I failed to light up like the first day, where I put a lot putter . From then on I couldn’t, and the leaders got so far away that the possibility of doing something special today and getting into the fight was pretty much nil. It was weird to play with that in mind, but it was done to the best of his ability. Finishing 17, not with the best golf, always makes me happy. It’s not what I wanted; I wanted to win the championship, but it’s okay,” he said.

Likewise, his performance motivates him to aim for the top prize next year in Panama. “Golf makes you dream, shows what is possible and challenges you. It’s like ‘shoot, I could win the championship too’. So it makes me want to play it again and prepare to win it one day,” he admitted.

For his part, Clemente Silva was the second best placed Chilean on the Caribbean island after finishing in 37th place (+2), after a last lap a little friendlier than that of Saturday. This time he finished with one over par, following four birds and five bogies. “The results are positive: first LAAC. It’s not easy, I had never played it and I didn’t know what it felt like. I prefer the first two rounds, which were very positive. I am happy for the week, it corresponded to my expectations. Everyone painted me that it was perfect and it was like that. There’s always something to work on, the weekend was a little lazy, but it leaves me more motivated for what’s to come and you can always get something positive,” he pointed out.

The one who had an excellent run is Lukas Roessler. The golfer showed off his best shots and even got a Eaglee at hole 12. In addition, he added four birds and barely a penalty, which leaves him in 41st place (+3). “Today I played much better. The truth is that I left much more relaxed, I came to enjoy and do my best and things happened” , to analyse. And he added: “It wasn’t a very good week, I didn’t play my best golf. I played two very good rounds and two very bad. Today I hit it very well Now I am preparing for college, since several championships are coming, and also I want to prepare to have a rematch and win this championship next year.

Finally, Juan Ignacio Basagoitía concluded his participation with an opaque performance, since he finished with a +6 card, which made him fall to box 48 (+7). “I haven’t found my swing throughout the day. It’s a shame to close the championship like that, it doesn’t take away the good things he had on the first day or yesterday when I played well.” he began by declaring.

The golfer capped off a nearly decade-long career at LAAC representing Chile. “I wish I had said goodbye in a better way. Today I tried to play a normal round and try to get the best result, blocking my mind a bit that this might be the last time I play. Ever since the invite came, my goal was to make the cut and I did. Overall it was a good tournament and I think that’s what I’ll take in a few days,” he said.

As, Fernández de Oliveira ranked three majors: the Augusta Masters, the British Open and the US Open.