Nicolas Echavarria Shines at LAAC

(Newswire.net — January 26, 2016) Huntington Beach, California — Competing against some of the rising stars of amateur golf competition, Nicolas Echavarria recently represented his home country of Colombia at the Latin American Amateur Championship, held January 14th through the 17th at Casa De Campo in the Dominican Republic. The tournament was sponsored by corporate powerhouses like Samsung, IBM, and Rolex, and Nicolas performed at a very high level, placing 12th on the leaderboard at the conclusion of competition.  After the second round, he took a three-stroke lead by shooting a 7-under 65. “To be able to play at this tournament was a dream come true,” says Nicolas. “I think I did my country and my college team proud with my performance.” To learn more about the tournament and his performance there, visit http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/14578096/colombia-nicolas-echavarria-lead-latin-american-amateur-championship.  

Nicolas is no stranger to tough golf tournaments.  After attending high school at the IMG Academy and playing golf in his home country of Colombia.  During his high school career, he was added as a member of the Colombian National Team and named by Golfweek as the number 6 boys player in his 2012 class. After graduation, he entered the University of Arkansas to pursue a degree in International Relations, performing for the Razorbacks golf team at a level heretofore unknown by the college. In his freshman year at the school, he was named on the 2012-2013 SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll.  The next year, Nicolas won the Mexican Amateur and earned himself a spot on the SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll in the process. He has many impressive golfing achievements to his credit, holding the distinction of being in a tie for program-history 3rd best 54-hole score at the Southeastern Conference Championship.  These achievements show that Nic strives to be the best at whatever he does and demonstrates the effort he puts into his game on the greens.

At the Latin American Amateur Championship, the winner was awarded a spot on the Master’s Tournament.  That award went to Paul Chaplet of Costa Rica, but Nicolas Echavarria wasn’t disappointed in the slightest.  “Throughout the tournament, competition was fierce,” he added.  “Even though I led after the second round and was on my way towards victory, there were so many other great golfers there.  I can be happy with my play and my final standings.”  To learn more about Nic and his golfing achievements at the tournament, visit http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/01/15/sports/golf/ap-glf-latin-american-amateur.html.