We’re less than a month before the start of the 2022 Women's Amateur Latin America (WALA) championship and the best amateur golfers from South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean are preparing to play their best. Organized by The R&A and the ANNIKA Foundation, the second edition of the championship will take place from November 17-20 at Argentina’s Pilar Golf Club.
Players will compete for exemptions into three women’s majors in 2023: the AIG Women's Open (August 10-13), the Amundi Evian Championship (July 27-30) and the Chevron Championship (April 20-23). The top-3 finishers from the inaugural edition of the WALA automatically qualified for this year’s event, while the rest of the field has been invited according to the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR®).
Fourteen countries will be represented in Buenos Aires next month: Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela.
The number of players per country is Colombia (9), Mexico (8), Argentina (7), Peru (6), Bolivia (5), Paraguay (5), Brazil (4), Venezuela (4), Chile (3), Guatemala (3), Ecuador (2), Uruguay (2), Barbados (1) and Puerto Rico (1).
The strength of the field is evidenced by the fact that many of the competitors play collegiately in the United States. Some of the major universities represented include the University of Arkansas, Michigan State University and the University of California.
Top ranked players in the field include Maria Jose Marin Negrete (Colombia), Michelle Melandri Smith (Chile), Maria Cabanillas (Argentina), Giovanna Fernandez Lopez (Paraguay), Valentina Rossi (Argentina) and Ela Belen Anacona (Argentina).