The five players representing Paraguay at the 2026 Latin America Amateur Championship at Lima Golf Club, Peru, are part of a young generation of competitors following the tracks and the guidance of their country’s golf legends.
Getting ready for his fifth Latin American Amateur, 19-year-old Erich Fortlage, the son of 1989 South American Amateur Team Champion Juan Carlos Fortlage, is preparing under the wing of DP World Tour veteran and two-time Open Championship participant Fabrizio Zanotti.
“Fabrizio has helped us a lot, we practice with him, and we have seen his level of discipline. I have learned perseverance and discipline from him,” said Fortlage, who finished T-6 at the 2025 Latin America Amateur in Argentina after carding a 66 in his second round.
“Erich is a very calm young man, and I love how he plays golf. We have talked a lot since he was a kid and we have a great relationship,” said 42-year-old Zanotti, gold medalist at the 2019 Panamerican Games played at Lima Golf Club, where he tied the course record of 15 under par.
Coincidentally, the course hosting the 11th Latin America Amateur in Peru has a unique relevance for Paraguayan golfers. Marco Ruiz, who played The Open in 2003 at Royal St George’s Golf Club and in 2006 at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, is a golf professional and coach at Lima Golf Club.
He is also the uncle of 17-year-old Marcelo Ruiz, who is making his debut at the Latin America Amateur Championship. “He used to teach me when I was younger,” said Ruiz, who also plans to follow his uncle’s steps and learn from the experience of his teammates, like the Fernandez brothers, playing their third Latin America Amateur.
“I feel we have a good chance to do well both I and my brother Benjamin,” said 18-year-old Franco Fernandez, the youngest of the two brothers. They both will be benefitting from the advice and support of their older sister, Giovana, the only woman who has competed in every edition of the Women’s Amateur Latin America and its precursor, the ANNIKA Invitational Latin America.
“My family teaches me how to have the best attitude all the time. We try to do our best every day and to still try when it gets harder,” said Giovana Fernandez, who will be caddying for her youngest brother.
The fifth Paraguayan at Lima Golf Club, 18-year-old Ezequiel Cabrera Franco, comes from a remarkable golf lineage. He is the nephew of golf professionals Ramon, Angel and Carlos Franco, the latter of which played five Open Championships, five U.S. Opens, and five Masters, where he recorded top seven finishes in 1999 and 2000.
“My uncle Carlos has always been an inspiration to me. And I spend a lot of time with my uncle Angel, who helps me with my game,” said Ezequiel Cabrera, playing his fifth Latin America Amateur after starting as a caddie at Asuncion Golf Club, like his uncles did more than four decades earlier.
“Never in my life I imagined I would accomplish what I did in my golf career,” said Paraguayan golf legend Carlos Franco. “My advice to the young Paraguayans at the Latin America Amateur is discipline to deal with the pressure and the attention, and to focus on their golf game.”
