BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Four players, including Gaston Bertinotti of host country Argentina, carded 4-under 68s on Thursday to share the lead after the first round of the inaugural Latin America Amateur Championship on the 7,233-yard, par-72 Pilar Golf course.

Bertinotti, 19, who registered six birdies against two bogeys, matched scores with Juan Alvarez, 21, of Uruguay; Alvaro Ortiz, 19, of Mexico; and Ian Facey, 20, of Jamaica. All four played in the afternoon wave and were one stroke better than a group of seven players at 3-under 69, which included three more Argentines: Alejandro Tosti, Joaquin Bonjour and Jaime Lopez Rivarola.

Two players from Colombia, Santiago Gomez and Juan Sebastian Munoz, and one each from Mexico (Jose Narro) and Chile (Lucas Rosso) completed the group at 69. Andre Tourinho, of Brazil, was alone in 12th place at 2-under-par 70.

The winner of the inaugural Latin America Amateur Championship will earn a berth in the 2015 Masters Tournament, as well as spots in the 2015 British and U.S. Amateur championships and entry into final-stage qualifying for the 2015 U.S. Open and The Open 2015.

With four of the top 11 scores coming from Argentine players, local knowledge would seem to have been a factor on Thursday, particularly since wet weather early in the week limited players to one practice round. But it helped only to a point.

"I've played this golf course quite often," said Bonjour, 21, one of 10 players from the host nation. "The only difference I noticed is that we have not played this course so wet in a very long time."

Tosti, 18, the top Argentine in the field in the World Amateur Golf Ranking™ (WAGR) at No. 64, agreed with Bonjour. "We play in a lot of different weather here. I played a professional tournament here three years ago, and it was difficult to stop the ball on the green."

The players with the best standing in the WAGR, Guillermo Pereira (No. 6), of Chile, and Jorge Garcia (No. 38), of Venezuela, were among a group of 10 players who opened with rounds of 1-under 71, in a tie for 13th place.

Benjamin Davis, of the Bahamas, withdrew from the championship after the first round, citing a back injury, leaving 108 players in the field.

The field played to a 75.95 stroke average, nearly four strokes over par, with the inward nine playing slightly more difficult (38.20 to 37.75). The 464-yard, par-4 fifth hole played as the most difficult with a 4.51 stroke average.

Bertinotti recorded a 73.17 stroke average last fall as a sophomore at Campbell University.  He earned his first collegiate career victory Oct. 19-21 at the ODU/OBX Collegiate.

The second round will begin from the first and 10th tees at 7:30 a.m. on Friday.  The field will be cut to the low 60 players and ties after round two of the 72-hole event.

Inaugural Latin America Amateur Championship
Pilar Golf Course / Buenos Aires, Argentina
Par 72, 7233 Yards

Alvaro Ortiz, MEX 34-34--68

Gaston Bertinotti, ARG 33-35--68

Ian Facey, JAM 35-33--68

Juan Alvarez, URU 34-34--68

Alejandro Tosti, ARG 34-35--69

Jaime Lopez Rivarola, ARG 34-35--69

Joaquin Bonjour, ARG 33-36--69

José Narro, MEX 35-34--69

Juan Sebastian Muñoz, COL 37-32--69

Lucas Rosso, CHI 36-33--69

Santiago Gomez, COL 34-35--69