Featured Players
Guatemalan Gabriel Palacios is arriving at his fifth Latin America Amateur Championship in an unfamiliar position, as the top-ranked player among the 108 competitors at No. 23 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR).
“Life changes fast. Of course, my dream was always to be in this position, and I worked hard over the last two years to get here,” said the 20-year-old Palacios, who finished T-3 in the 2025 Latin America Amateur at Pilar Golf Club, Argentina. “Obviously, the level of attention is going to be different this time, but my focus is going to be on ignoring the ranking and concentrate on what I can accomplish.”
Palacios sat at 492nd in the WAGR when he played his first Latin America Amateur in 2022 at Casa de Campo at age 15, where he finished 51st. “My first one in the Dominican Republic was spectacular. My goal was just to make the cut. This year my mindset is to win the Championship,” said Palacios, who has climbed 240 positions in the WAGR since the start of 2025.
He is one of six players in the field representing Guatemala, and also part of an elite group of 10 competitors starting 2026 in the top 100 of the WAGR; along with countryman Sebastián Barnoya (No. 68); Brazilians Andrey Xavier (No. 34) and Herik Machado (No. 63); Bolivians José Luis Montaño (No. 55), Flavio Sameja (No. 69), and Vicente Quiroga (No. 93); Colombian Carlos Ardila (No. 60); Argentine Segundo Oliva Pinto (No. 84); and Mexican Carlos Astiazarán (No. 92).
“Each year the field gets better, and I am very excited to compete with so many good players from the region,” said Palacios, the first Guatemalan to participate in the Arnold Palmer Cup as part of the 2025 winning international team, along with Colombian María José Marín, 2025 champion of the Women’s Amateur Latin America, and Caymanian Justin Hastings, winner of the 2025 Latin America Amateur.
“I felt 2025 took an eternity with so many tournaments, which is in fact something good,” said Palacios, who finished T-1 at The Tindall and a T-6 at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate, as a junior in the University of Utah golf team.
“The best thing for him was to be around the players on the team and realize how good his skill set was and that he was kind of underperforming,” said University of Utah coach Garrett Clegg. “He is such a high-quality golfer, and it is never a surprise when he is at the top of the leaderboard.”
Palacios recognized the importance of the university in his personal life and his golf career. “The academic part is very important for me, and I want to graduate before I turn pro. I have changed a lot since I moved to Utah and become much more independent, which has helped me a lot with my golf,” he said, while attributing most of his success to his family, his girlfriend and his team, among them his lifetime coach Edy Zamora.
“He always had the discipline, and he always liked to challenge himself. Although I know he doesn’t always see it this way, I think his main strength is his mental attitude,” said Zamora, head professional at Club de Golf San Isidro in Guatemala City, who has coached Palacios since 2015 and will be caddying for him at Lima Golf Club.
“He is more than a coach; he is a mentor. I can never forget when I won my first national tournament and the first thing he told me was that it was an opportunity to be humble,” said Palacios about Zamora, who trains Guatemalans Matías Calderón, Hugo Mayorga Mata and Jorge Andrés Reyes, also in the 2026 Latin America Amateur field.
“There is nothing like representing your country,” said Palacios, acknowledging that no golfer representing Guatemala has competed yet in the Masters, the U.S. Open or The Open, the three majors reserving a spot for the Latin America Amateur Championship winner.
“Being from a country that doesn’t have a lot of golfers, it’s awesome to be a person who wants to be a great golfer from a small country,” added Palacios.
