Round 1 Recap - Casa de Campo, DR – Without any doubt, there was no fear at all in the game of Morales while playing the inaugural round of the Latin America Amateur Championship ( www.laacgolf.com) being contested this week Jan. 14-17, at the Dominican Republic’s novel Casa de Campo.
Erick J. Morales, a leader in the optical busines in Puerto Rico managed himself to play for the last two days with a somehow disturbing eye irritation that could-off being a reason to worry but that he handled pretty well in order to finish with a 3-under par 69 today an a tie for 3rd place at the LAAC2016. Alvaro Ortiz and Jose A. Miranda are tied on 1st.
“No matter what happens this week, I will enjoy every single second of this experience because nothing compares to playing at this level and under the unbelievable conditions that The R&A, the USGA and The Masters along with the Casa de Campo staff have managed to host this magnificent event for all the latinamerican amateurs invited”, - commented Erick once he was back at the clubhouse to enjoy and relax. His quote is an echo of what all the players and guests have to say of the look & feel of probably one if not the best, “Amateur’s Major #creatingheroes”.
Morales recorded a total of seven (7) birdies in his scorecard to earn a Top5 finish, but he also registered a bogey on the third hole he played today (Par 4 /No.12) as he began playing on the back nine and a triple-bogey on No.1 when he went out-bounds as his driver slipped from his hands due to the light rain shower that for few moments became part of the round. Other than incident, Morales was on “cruise control” mode throughout the run, enjoying every single shot and developing a great bonding with his newest friend and caddie.
Puerto Rico’s Amateur Champion, Robert “Robi” Calvesbert earned the second best score for a local player on the field as he signed his scorecard with a 73 (+1). He was -2 under par throughout most of his round. Along with his caddie and girlfriend Michelle Ortega, they teed-off at 8:10AM on Thursday morning to enjoy from the “perfect” golf course conditions set-up by the tournament committee and grounds maintenance crew. “Three great birdies unfortunately got cancelled out by four bogeys that pushed me few spots down the leaderboard. Perhaps my spirit and upbeat attitude will be there ag ain at the course during the second round to “fight” my way back to the top”, -he shared upon being approached about his first round.
During various speeches at the Opening Ceremony hosted by Casa de Campo’s owners, the Fanjul family, representatives of the host organizations of the LAAC, USGA ( www.usga.org) , R&A ( www.randa.org) and The Masters ( www.masters.com), publicly renewed their commitment with regards the their partnership on behalf of the championship being played in Panamá in 2017.
LAAC’s second round is scheduled to tee-off on Friday at 7:15AM with a reverse order of the groups paired for today. Stay tuned to www.prga.org for more information about the event. Also follow PRGA on its various Social Media outlets. Read More...
