Juan Alvarez Captures South American Am, North Carolina's Harvey one back

LIMA, Peru (Jan. 24, 2016) -- Juan Alvarez of Uruguay took home a one stroke victory today over defending champion Scott Harvey (USA), and Matias Simaski (Argentina) today at Lima Golf Club. Alvarez, who looked to be in complete control early in the round after starting with a par, and then reeling off three-straight birdies on Nos. 2-4, had a bit of a nervous finish after a double-bogey on the 17th brought the chasing players back into contention. But a solid par on the 18th, and a 2-under final round provided the regulation victory, at 10-under for 72 holes. As for the defending champion Scott Harvey, he gave it everything he had. He did Alvarez one better and birdied the first four holes and didn't let up, recording three more birdies against just one bogey for a 6-under 66. That was the lowest round of the tournament, and a good sign that Harvey doesn't plan on relinquishing his spot as the world's top-ranked Mid-Amateur (see the rankings section above for the complete list) anytime soon. The tournament field included 123 golfers from 10 South American countries, as well as The United States, Canada, England, Finland, Guatemala, Panama, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales. The host country Peru's delegation is composed of 22 athletes —among young and experienced ones— such as Lucia Gutierrez, Micaela Farah, Simone de Souza, Maria Salinas, Miguel Tola, Rafael Claux, Santiago Zubiate, youngsters Jean Pierre Peglau, Alberto Menacho and Patricio Freundt, among others.