Perico In Lead After Rd1 at South America Amateur

Quito, Ecuador – Razorback and Peru native Julian Perico fired a bogey-free, 5-under-par 67 to sit atop the leaderboard after day one of the 2023 South America Amateur Championship, played at the Quito Tennis and Golf Club for the second straight year.

Perico, who finished tied for seventh at last year’s championship, is tied with Chile’s Javier Santolaya, who also carded a bogey-free, 5-under 67. Fellow Razorbacks and Argentina natives Manuel Lozada and Segundo Oliva Pinto are also in the field. Lozada is tied for fourth after shooting a 2-under 70 while Oliva Pinto is tied for 31st at +4.

Perico opened the championship with a birdie on the par-4 1st hole. After a string of pars, the fifth-year senior closed the front nine with a birdie on the par-4 9th. Perico got to 3-under with a birdie on 11 and ended his round with birdies on holes 17 and 18 for his 5-under-par 67.

Lozada also had five birdies in the opening round, including four on the back nine. However, he dropped shots on holes 9, 13 and 14 to settle for his 2-under-par 70 and is in a seven-way tie for fourth place. Oliva Pinto had two bogeys, two doubles and two birdies to card a 76.

Razorback Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira (Argentina) is the defending champion but is not playing this week to concentrate on next week’s Latin America Amateur Championship. Oliva Pinto was the 2022 South America Amateur runner-up.

Round two of four is set for Friday with the event wrapping up Sunday.

Razorbacks at the South America Amateur

T1 Julian Perico 67 (-5)
T4 Manuel Lozada 70 (-2)
T31 Segundo Oliva Pinto 76 (+4)

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