Tosti Earns Runner-Up Honors at Latin American Amateur Championship
Monday, January 19, 2015 | Men's Golf
University of Florida men's golf's newest freshman Alejandro Tosti captured runner-up honors at the Latin American Amateur Championship on Sunday with a score of 10-under 278.
Tosti, of Argentina, entered the day trailing Chile's Matias Dominguez by one shot. The pair both recorded a 71 in the final round at the Pilar Golf Club in Buenos Aires, as Dominguez edged out Tosti with a final score of 11-under 277.
Tosti, who began classes at Florida less than two weeks ago, finished the tournament with 17 birdies and an eagle. He was joined on the leaderboard by future Gator teammate Jorge Garcia, who signed a national letter of intent to play for Florida beginning next season. Garcia finished 10th with a score of 2-under 286.
The Latin American Amateur Championship featured 109 golfers from 28 countries and territories invited to participate based on World Amateur Golf Rankings. The winner is awarded an invitational to the Masters Tournament.
As the runner-up, Tosti won exemptions into the U.S. Open (with a chance to qualify for the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay) and the Open Qualifying Series – Final Qualifying (for The Open Championship 2015 at St. Andrews in Scotland.)
Tosti and the Gators open their spring season at the Sea Best Invitational at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach on Feb. 2.
Head Coach JC Deacon:
On Alejandro Tosti's runner-up performance
“Honestly, I cannot even put into words how big of an accomplishment this week is for him. He had all the pressure in the world on him. The tournament was in his home country and the Argentina Golf Federation had done so much for him to get to this point and prepare him for this. He was talking about it and the Masters and what was on the line. For him to still go out and perform with all of that was just a sign of his character.”
On how his participation at the event will contribute to his success at UF
“I was so excited the first day he showed up at UF because of his demeanor. He always greets you with a big smile. His attitude is phenomenal. If he has half an hour or an hour open in his day, he's going to use it to work on his game. He has those championship traits that coaches love. I'm excited that he got to go through this week, and he's heartbroken, but he's going to be better for it.”
On future Gator Jorge Garcia's top-10 finish
“Jorge is just so good at golf. It's another accomplishment on a long list for him. He's so poised at such a young age. He's only going to get better, and that's a tournament that I see him winning down the road for sure.”
| Latin American Amateur Championship –Final Individual Top 10 | ||
| Place | Player (School) | Score |
| 1 | Matias Dominguez | -11 (72-65-69-71-277) |
| 2 | Alejandro Tosti | -10 (69-70-68-71-288) |
| T3 | Alvaro Ortiz | -9 (68-73-71-67-279) |
| T3 | Andre Tourinho | -9 (70-66-75-68-279) |
| T5 | Santiago Gomez | -6 (69-75-70-68-282) |
| T5 | Guillermo Pereira | -6 (71-70-72-69-282) |
| 7 | Joaquin Bonjour | -4 (69-68-73-74-284) |
| T8 | Jose Luis Montano | -3 (71-73-69-72-285) |
| T8 | Juan Sebastian Munoz | -3 (69-70-71-75-285) |
| 10 | Jorge Garcia | -2 (71-75-70-70-286) |
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