Jarryd Dillas from Bermuda, Miguel Ordóñez from Panamá, and Álvaro Ortiz from Costa Rica have a privileged perspective on the evolution of the Latin America Amateur Championship (LAAC). They are the only three players in the 2025 field who have competed in all 10 editions of the regional event.
“I had never seen anything like it,” said the 39-year-old Dillas, who finished T-28 in 2020 in Mexico for his best finish in a LAAC. “So just to be a part of the first one and then nine since, it's always a pleasure and privilege to be back.”
“Just being part of this event is a great, great experience; probably the number one highlight was to be close to Paul Chaplet when he won in Casa de Campo, which is probably a lot more exciting than my top-five finish the next year at Panama Golf Club,” said the 56-year-old Ortiz about his young countryman’s victory in 2016.
“For me, being a part of this Championship, seeing it evolve and become what it has become, I'm just fortunate; I'm grateful and I know that now we are heading to the second decade, and it's just going to be much better,” said Ordóñez, whose first daughter was born just days before the first Latin America Amateur in 2015.
A decade later and a with a 10-year-old daughter, Ordóñez looks back at the evolution of the regional event. “I had been following the creation of this event since 2013, I knew it was coming up. It has become a lot more specific and professional about the way it's run [since],” said the 41-year-old Panamanian, who finished T-8 in his home country in 2017, after a 67 in the opening round.
In addition to his “gray hair,” Ortiz, the oldest player in the 2025 field, can attest that the LAAC “has always been an inspirational tournament and has become more inspirational as the time goes by.”
According to Dillas, it’s clear that the strength of the field has increased over the last decade. “You see it in the performances of the winners in the majors. The overall level of play is coming up and that's a great thing to see,” said Dillas, one of two Bermudians in the field this week, along with the 16-year-old rookie Oliver Betschart.
“I think the big thing for me when you come from a small place like Bermuda, is that you can’t take opportunities like these for granted, and I try to just stress the importance of these and how privileged we are to be here,” said Dillas referring to his role as a mentor for younger players.
“I've been very close to Paul, mainly in his younger age, we started traveling to tournaments where teams competed in Latin America and all over the place when he was about 12 or 13-years-old,” said Ortiz about his time with 2017 champion Paul Chaplet. “That's what I try to do nowadays with the kids coming up.”
In Ordóñez’s case, the mentorship role is now part of his functions as Director of the Panamanian Sports Institute (Pandeporte), the government institution in charge of promoting sports.
Miguel Ordóñez’s main advice for the new generations of golfers at the Latin America Amateur Championship: “You can play well or bad on the course, but your behavior, the way you conduct yourself and the way you treat people are a lot more important.”
