Oldest amateur still has fire to compete

Hours before his round at the World Amateur Team Championships (WATC) teed off at 12.25pm, Alejandro Villavicencio was already up at 5am and working on his laptop to manage business matters in Guatemala.

- Kimberly Kwek

Alejandro Villavicencio, 45, during the first round of the World Amateur Team Championships at the Tanah Merah Country Club, where he is the oldest in the field battling for the Eisenhower Trophy.

(THE PICTURE SUITE/SINGAPORE GOLF ASSOCIATION)

While in Singapore this week for the prestigious tournament, the 45-year-old, who runs a telecommunications company and a restaurant back home, has been juggling work off course.

The 14-hour time difference makes things challenging, but this is life for Villavicencio, for whom golf remains more than just a hobby.

The oldest player in a field comprising mainly golfers in their teens and 20s this week, he is over three decades older than the youngest golfer, 14-year-old Munesu Tadiswa Chimhini from Zimbabwe.

In his first round at the Tanah Merah Country Club’s Tampines Course, his age was more than double that of his flightmates Cooper Moore (New Zealand) and Hugo le Goff (France), who are both 17.