Early exit for Roye, Haye at 11th Latin America Amateur Golf Champs
ZANDRE Roye and Oshae Haye exited the 11th Latin America Amateur Golf Championship (LAAC), at the Lima Golf Club in Peru, after failing to make the cut at the end of the second round.
The four-day championship ended on Sunday with a dramatic victory for Argentina’s Mateo Pulcini who posted rounds of 69, 68, 70 and 68 for a five-under-par total of 275. Pulcini finished tied for first with Venezuela’s Virgilio Paz Valdes (70, 73, 64, 68) whose matching score was two shots better than the next-best player.
The duo was forced into a play-off to decide the champion but could not be separated after the first hole. Pulcini eventually edged Paz Valdes on the second play-off hole to be crowned the 2026 champion in front of a strong crowd.
Argentina’s Andy Schonbaum, the second-round leader, finished seventh, tied with Mexico’s Eduardo Derbez. Both golfers shot even-par 280 over the four days. Schonbaum’s final position came on the same day the Jamaicans were eliminated from the championship.
The cut was made at position 56, with a score of eight over par at the halfway stage.
Roye and Haye found the conditions challenging throughout the championship and were on the back foot from the opening round, sitting in 80th and 101st positions, respectively. Despite efforts to improve in the second round, both were further hampered by cold weather and narrow fairways on the par-70 course.
Roye closed with rounds of seven-over-par 79 and 10-over-par 80 for a combined score of 19 over par 159, placing 96th overall. Haye posted scores of 13-over-par 83 and 10-over-par 80 for a total of 23 over par 163, finishing 103rd.
Despite the early exit Roye was pleased to represent Jamaica and remains optimistic about future performances.
“Coming into the championship, I was doing pretty well [but] I just came here and didn’t execute as well as I wanted to,” he said. “The conditions were unfavourable, to say the least, but all in all it was a great championship. I learned a lot. It was a great feeling representing the country once again. [I’ve] just got to go back home and work on a few things and we’ll be back again next year, hopefully stronger and better.”
This year’s championship featured 107 golfers from 28 countries.
The champion earns an invitation to compete in the Masters Tournament, along with exemptions into The Open Championship and the US Open.
