The inaugural Latin America Amateur Championship will be televised across more than 100 countries and reach millions of homes around the world, the event’s Founding Partners – the Masters Tournament, United States Golf Association and The R&A – announced today.
The Championship will take place January 15-18, 2015, with a maximum 120-player field competing in the 72-hole stroke play event at Pilar Golf, a course opened in 1992 near Argentina’s capital city that has hosted the Argentina Open twice (2006, 2011), among other national championships. In addition to the contributions of the Founding Partners, the event is supported by five Proud Partners – 3M, AT&T, UPS, Mercedes-Benz and Zurich – and two Scoring Partners, Rolex and IBM.
European Tour Productions will produce the high-definition broadcast, including two hours of live coverage on each of the four competition days. The English-speaking commentary team will include Sean McDonough as host, Andy North as analyst, Dottie Pepper as the on-course reporter and John Sutcliffe handling interviews.
The champion will receive an invitation to compete in the 2015 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. In addition, the winner and the runner(s)-up will be exempt into the final stages of qualifying for The Open and U.S. Open Championship. Finally, the champion will receive full exemptions into The Amateur Championship, U.S. Amateur Championship and any other USGA amateur championship for which he is eligible.
With a host of broadcast partners around the globe, golf fans can follow the Latin America Amateur Championship through TV channels covering key markets on four continents. Live first- and second-round coverage will air Jan. 15-16 from 3–5 p.m. (all times local to Buenos Aires). The third round will air 12–2 p.m. on Jan. 17, followed by final-round coverage at 1–3 p.m. on Jan. 18. Live coverage will be available across Africa, North America and South America.
ESPN will provide event coverage throughout this year’s host country, as well as the entirety of Latin America. Other broadcasters include ESPN2 / ESPN News (United States), LeTV (China), TSN (Canada) and SuperSport (Southern Africa). All of the coverage will also be streamed live on the official event website, www.LAACgolf.com.
Spectators are encouraged to attend, and entry into Pilar Golf for the 2015 Latin America Amateur Championship will be free.
For more information, including a full listing of broadcasters and corresponding TV times, please visit www.LAACgolf.com.