Saint Lucia’s two top golfers will be winging their way to Buenos Aires, Argentina in the coming days, for the 2025 Latin America Amateur Championship (LAAC).
Yadhu Urs and Harith Khan will be competing with over 100 of the top emerging golfers from 29 IOC-recognised territories, qualified by way of their placement in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) system.
Urs, 21, is making his fourth championship start. In 2022, he created history as the first Saint Lucian to make the cut at this level, finishing 34th. He improved on that finish in 2023 when he tied for 19th in Puerto Rico. In 2024, he was fourth in the Northern Ohio Amateur and started his season for Ohio Dominican University with four top-10 finishes.
“The expectations are high,” he told St Lucia Times. “I try to push myself as much as I can to set achievable goals – but high goals at the same time – and hopefully I can continue with what I’ve done. I don’t want to put a cap on myself. I just want to go out there represent Saint Lucia the best I can, and play the best I possibly can, and focus on every shot and give it the best.”
A graduate student in computer science, Urs noted that the timing of LAAC is opportune for him, as he is usually at school when tournaments are being played in the Caribbean.
“Given the chance, this is the only tournament I think I’m able to represent,” he pointed out. “So I take it very passionately, and I’m excited to represent the country on an international stage.”
Khan is set to debut at LAAC in January. The 33-year-old won a match play event in Saint Lucia in November 2023 and finished runner-up in the Saint Lucia National Invitational in January 2024 to earn his first WAGR points. Like Urs, he is setting his sights high.
“Julien Alfred did quite well in the Paris Games and brought us the gold and silver medals, something that we have never gotten. And she made that happen,” he told St. Lucia Times. “And, of course, Daren [Sammy] and his team for the CPL. So definitely in the golf sector, both Yadhu and I are going to try our very best to try and get us and the flag up to end the year. On a great note, it’s a lot of hard work. It’s dedication. We’re battling the best of the best, but I do have faith that both of us can prevail.”
The players have been outfitted by Cabot Saint Lucia.
Dwayne King, public relations officer of the Saint Lucia Golf Association, expressed his optimism for the team ahead of their regional outing. He told St Lucia Times that a strong performance would place the local federation on a solid footing to start the new year.
Founded by the Masters Tournament, The R&A, and the US Golf Association in 2014, LAAC was established to further develop amateur golf in South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The event celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2025. The champion receives an invitation to compete in the 2025 Masters Tournament and exemptions into The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush and the 125th US Open at Oakmont.
The field is led by 15 players inside the top 200 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), including Mexico’s Omar Morales (No. 13), the Cayman Islands’ Justin Hastings (43), Bolivia’s Jose Luis Montaño (48), and Brazil’s Andrey Xavier (53) and Herik Machado (54).
Morales, a senior at UCLA who was recently named to the Haskins Award Watch List, finished runner-up last year in Panama. Aaron Jarvis, the 2022 Latin America Amateur champion, will make his fifth start in the Championship.
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