St Andrews, Scotland: The first Women’s Amateur Latin America championship presented by The R&A and the ANNIKA Foundation will be played at Pilar Golf in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

To be held from September 3-6, the inaugural event will take place over the Blue and White course and will provide the most talented women’s amateur golfers in Latin America with the opportunity to earn an exemption into the AIG Women’s British Open.

Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said: “It is important for us to provide the very best women’s amateur golfers in Latin America with opportunities to compete and excel at the very highest level as part of our drive to grow and develop golf in key regions around the world.

“We have seen how the Latin America Amateur Championship has unearthed talents such as Abel Gallegos, Joaquin Niemann and Alvaro Ortiz and so we look forward to working with the ANNIKA Foundation to replicating this success and identifying the next generation of golfers in the women’s game in the years to come.”

Annika Sörenstam said: “This is an incredibly exciting elevation of the ANNIKA Foundation’s partnership with The R&A and marks a major milestone for our global circuit of girls’ golf championships.

“Not only are we furthering our influence in a region that we feel holds great promise for growth, but offering the winner a place in the AIG Women’s British Open speaks to the great strides we’ve made since our first ANNIKA Invitational Latin America in 2016. This is a big day for golf in Latin America and we’re honoured to be a part of it.”

The format for the championship will be 72 holes of stroke play and 60 players will be invited to participate based on their position in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

The likes of Argentina’s Agustina Zeballos, who won the ANNIKA Invitational Latin America last year, and Paraguay’s Sofia Garcia, a former South American Amateur champion and winner of several events in US college golf, are currently ranked in the top 20 positions of WAGR.   

Mark Lawrie, Director – Latin America and Caribbean at The R&A, said: “It is an exciting time for women’s amateur golf in Latin America and we believe that this event will be very important for elite golfers to develop their skills and gain valuable experience, while also inspiring young golfers to reach the very highest level.”

The Women’s Amateur Latin America presented by The R&A and the ANNIKA Foundation follows the successful introduction of the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific championship by The R&A in 2018.