Barbados: Young golfer Emily Odwin secures 2nd place at WALA Championship

Emily Odwin of Barbados secured 2nd spot at the annual Women’s Amateur Latin America Gold Championship on Sunday.  

She was among top 60 female amateur players from Latin America and the Caribbean. The 20-year-old golfer, scored 281 points, losing to Mexico’s Clarisa Temelo with a brief margin.  

This new victory follows Odwin’s another 2nd place at the ‘Southwest Airlines Showcase’ at Cedar Crest in Dallas, Texas earlier this month.  

Notably, in the annual Women’s Amateur Latin America Gold Championship, the 20-year-old Barbadian player finished on three-under-par 281 after a final round 72 to secure a third top ten at the WALA held in Lima, Peru. 

She is a student at Southern Methodist University in Texas and has played with tremendous success for the Mustangs. Recently, she led her team at the NCAA Championship while finishing in a tie for 17th as the Mustangs advanced out the NCAA regional.  

Earlier in 2021 also, Emily Odwin represented Barbados at WALA after a string of outstanding performance on the golf circuit in the USA. 

That year the golfer was the first Barbadian to quality for a spot in the coveted USA Junior Girls’ Open Golf Championships as well as the US Women’s Open Gold Championships.  

Her performances earned her the chance to represent her country at the prestigious Women’s Amateur Latin America Golf Championships at the Pilar Golf Club in Buenos Aires, Argentina where she was the only representative from the entire region. 

Reportedly, Odwin started playing this sport at the age of eight and she made her way to the top of female golf in Barbados having earned several titles to her name. In 2017, she bagged the Sir Garry Sobers tournament, the RBC Classic, the Ladies Open as well as the Barbados Junior Golf Championships.  

She also won the prestigious People’s Choice Award during the Barbados Independence Invitational Games and the bronze medal in the 15 to 18 category at the 20th Maccabiah Games in Israel.  

The young female was also recognised by the BOA as an outstanding junior athlete in 2017. 

In 2019, the Barbadian golfer won the Royal Westmoreland Ladies Open 36 holes event and was also named the Ladies Champion as well as the overall champion during the 2019 Sir Gary Sobers Golf Tournament, which made her the first female ever to claim the title.  

Furthermore, she was also the first Barbadian female player to represent her country at Pan AM level and was also the youngest participant in the adult line up at the international 72 holes event held in Peru in 2019.  

The female continues to represent her country at various national, regional and international levels, winning several titles and awards.  

Women’s Amateur Latin America (WALA) Gold Championship 

The Women’s Amateur Latin America championship presented by The R&A and the ANNIKA Foundation follows the successful introduction of the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific championship by The R&A in 2018. 

This strategic partnership will bring the region’s most important women’s amateur championship to Mexico twice as part of a five-year agreement. 

As part of this partnership, it has also been confirmed that Mexico will be hosting the Women’s Amateur Latin America in 2025, marking the first time the event will occur in that nation. This follows this week’s edition at Lima Golf Club, Peru, and the three previous ones at Pilar Golf, Argentina. The venue for next year’s championship will be announced later. 

A field of 60 talented players representing 12 countries competed at Lima Golf Club this year. The championship aims to boost the solidify the path to the very highest levels of golf by providing a platform for the best women’s amateur golfers to come forward and compete against each other.