WORDS BY HUGO CORNELL

The 2026 showing of the Latin American Amateur Championship culminated over the weekend at Peru’s Lima Golf Club. A course so visually entwined with its urban surroundings, almost Blade Runner-esque, it makes the previous U.S Open venue Los Angeles Country Club seem remote.

Argentina’s Mateo Pulcini claimed the title in the second playoff hole against Virgilio Paz Valdes of Venezuela. Both players shot final rounds of 68 and could hardly be separated all day at the top of the leaderboard. It would take a par putt of some 20 feet on the first playoff hole by Pulcini to extend and then a routine short putt to capitalise on Valdes having missed the green on the second playoff hole.

The overnight leader and fellow Argentine Segundo Olivia Pinto disappointingly failed to back up his 3rd round 64 and quickly stalled, eventually battling to a 3 over par 73 for his final round. A firm reminder of how elusive the middle of the bat and fuzzy the putting lines can suddenly become with heavy pressure.

Mateo Pulcini cuts and incredibly strong and oxlike figure that would look more at home in the lineout on the rugby field for Las Pumas than on a putting surface. Pulcini’s swing consists of a compact laid off back swing like Jon Rahm, slotted at the top, and then a gracefully balanced follow through, akin to Angel Cabrera, absolute Argentinian golfing ballet.

Outside of claiming the physical trophy and title, Pulcini will receive invites into the Masters at Augusta National, U.S Open at Shinnecock and Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. Considering only a few years ago he was battling it out in the second tier of the collegiate golf system at Oklahoma Christian University this is a fine example of hard work and determination paying off.

For Lima Golf Club itself, the whole event is a resounding success. It was an emotional last 8 years battling two large moments of political upheaval in Peru and having the COVID pandemic delay things even further too, pushing back their original 2021 slot.

To host the event Lima G.C undertook a full Mackenzie and Ebert renovation. An obvious starting point was as simple as lengthening the driving range from some 175 yards with a net to a double ended 330-yard facility. They renovated all the bunkers, tees and fairways (entirely changing the grass type to a new strain of Bermuda). Admirably M&E did find time to make sure the practice areas and course were accessible to the junior golfers of Lima. They popped in a St Andrews inspired ‘Limalayas’ putting green and added carefully thought-out forward tees on the course itself to make it fun and practical for the future generations (while also helping some of the older members too).

Now with a previous winner in the form of Joaquín Niemann (2018) there is an obvious blueprint to follow to maximize the original opportunity that comes from winning this event and go on to have a successful career. The phrase ‘growing the game’ has nearly as many road miles to it as Dorian Gray’s portrait at this stage, but it does need to be trotted out once again as the governing bodies continue to do just that with this fantastic amateur event. The profile of Latin American golf and amateur golf in general has never looked stronger.

The community putting course at Lima, Peru. 'The Limalayas'.

American golfer Will Sides has won the Jones Cup Invitational at Ocean Forest Golf Club in Sea Island, Georgia. Sides put the Rees Jones & Greg Muirhead design to the sword with two stoic rounds of 69 in what ultimately became a shortened tournament from the usual 54 holes due to bad weather. He joins a heavyweight list of former winners of the tournament including Ludvig Aberg, Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed and Akshay Bhatia. The Jones Cup is one of the great highlights of the U.S amateur schedule and brilliant way to start each year.

Outside of notably wearing a high crown tour visor Will continues to be “quite the vibe” by swinging right-handed but putting left-handed. Going into a southpaw stance for putting isn’t a lifelong quirk though, he only took it up after he struggled initially in his first year of college golf on the greens. His coaches made what would be quite a garish and almost flippant suggestion to most people and Will quickly started to slot his putts. He has stroke that is weirdly drippy yet exceptionally boxy at the same time.

Will adds his name to a long list of brilliant collegiate golfers to have played at his current collegiate program at S.M.U (Southern Methodist University). They include the late great major champion Payne Stewart, 2011 US Amateur winner Kelly Kraft and Youtuber Bryson DeChambeau. In a Walker Cup year and now rising to number 23 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings he is a name to follow and a sure bet to see some action at Lahinch in September.

Will Sides hoists the Jones Cup.

Richard Teder (Estonia) took home the recent Turkish Amateur Open Championship at Kaya Palazzo Golf Club, Belek, Turkey.

Teder shot an impressive total of -12 under par (204) for three rounds to capture the trophy. The sky cut a moody shade of grey for the week with gusts of 30mph plus frequently asking questions of the competitors and their ball striking.

Given the fact one competitor affectionately described the course as a "bowling alley" and if "TPC Sawgrass and Woburn had fornicated and had a child", anyone who shot in and around par played well.

The Turkish Amateur Open is a unique event on the amateur golfing calendar for several reasons. For example, the handicap indexes of entrants ranged from +5.0 to 9.5 meaning international talent was sharing the stage with devoted/unwell club golfers in the fight for WAGR points. You also had a wide range of international flags being flown as competitors from Malta, Bulgaria and Iraq sent representation.

The winner, Richard Teder will be a familiar name to some Jar followers who may remember him slam dunking an eagle 2 in a play-off at Open Qualifying to make it into last year's Open at Royal Portrush. Richard now rises to 63rd in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and is arguably the best spectacled golfing prodigy since a young Tom Kite came out of Texas. It is going to be fun to see what the young Estonian accomplishes.

Richard Teder after holing out in a playoff at Final Qualifying at West Lancs in 2025.