On Sunday 17 January, golf’s 2016 Latin America Amateur Championship came to a close at Casa de Campo, the Teeth Of The Dog Golf Course in the Dominican Republic, with players from 29 territories, ranging from Argentina to the Cayman Islands to Haiti to Venezuela.

Paul Chaplet of Costa Rica, aged just 16, became the second champion in the brief history of the event, with a winning score of three-under-par 285 over the four days. He won the trophy, but along with it, an invitation to the prestigious 2016 US Masters Tournament, the US Amateur Championship and the final qualifying stages to the US Open and British Open Championship.

In a field of 107 players from 26 countries, Saint Lucia’s Ben Gillmor and Cliff Alcide failed to make the halfway cutoff point after two days of play. The top 50 players and ties moved on over the weekend to finish the tournament.

Ben and Cliff finished 95th and 104th. Ben put in a valiant effort with scores of 82 & 82 for a total of 164, finishing +20. Cliff came a few paces behind with scores of 83 & 90 totaling 173, +29.

Golfers from Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the US Virgin Islands made the top 50.

The tournament moves to Panama for the 2017 edition of the event.