The countdown to the second edition of the Women’s Amateur Latin America championship is well underway, with the best women’s amateur golfers from South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean preparing to tackle the challenge of Pilar Golf when it is played from 17-20 November.
Pilar Golf is located north of Buenos Aires, 60 km from the Argentine capital and was designed by The Ronald Fream Plan Design Group, based in the United States of America. The course is divided into three nine-hole layouts - Blue, White, and Red (a total of 27 holes) - with wide fairways, generous and undulating greens, abundant bunkers and water features.
Opened in 1992, is a relatively new course, but has become one of the country’s most important venues having hosted the Argentina Open (2006 and 2011), the Professionals Championship of Argentina (2002, 2003), and the Stroke National Championship (1994, 2000, 2005).
More recognition of its quality was to come in 2015 when The R&A, the Masters Tournament and the USGA chose Pilar Golf to host the first edition of the Latin America Amateur Championship, a pivotal event for men’s amateur golf in the region, which was won by Matias Domínguez of Chile.
Another first for the venue came last year, when it was selected by The R&A and ANNIKA Foundation to stage the inaugural edition of the Women’s Amateur Latin America championship in which Valery Plata of Colombia made history as its first winner.
The quality of the venue, positive player feedback and its excellent facilities meant that it was a natural choice for the event organizers to select Pilar Golf once again to host the Women’s Amateur Latin America championship in 2022.
The offices of the Argentina Golf Association (AAG) are now located there too, next to the organization’s High Performance Centre, which has been there for many years now.
The success of the venue can be attributed to the high levels of investment that have been made in recent years. One of the most important projects was carried out in 2014 when the irrigation system was modernized to allow for easier maintenance and a superior presentation of the course, especially in summer season.
Matias Romoli, Course Superintendent of Pilar Golf, is responsible for maintaining and preparing the course and looking forward to presenting the course layout for the forthcoming Women's Amateur Latin America championship.
“The set-up of the golf course for the championship is done together with The R&A and the Argentina Golf Association. We always seek to set conditions that are fun and challenging for the players and are aiming to replicate the conditions that were in place for the championship last year, weather permitting. The R&A, ANNIKA Foundation and players were very satisfied with the way the course was presented in the first edition and we aim to be at that level,” said Romoli.
“This year we have had a drought and so we have followed The R&A’s sustainability guidelines to give priority to the use of water in the areas that require it and to have the least waste possible so we will have a golf course with firm and fast fairways, which will ensure good distances off the tee”, concluded Romoli.
The winner of the Women’s Amateur Latin America championship will play alongside professional women´s golf stars from around the world in three Majors next year: The Chevron Championship (20-23 April at The Club at Carlton Woods, United States), the Amundi Evian Championship (27-30 July at Evian Resort Golf Club, France), and the AIG Women´s Open (10-13 August at Walton Heath Golf Club, England).