GRIFFIN
GOES
GLOBAL
by RANDY KING
OK,
CHRIS LANG
IT’S NOT THE PGA TOUR.
FAR FROM IT, FRANKLY.
As the third-flight circuit behind the
big tour and the Web.com Tour, the
fifth-year Latinoamerica Tour plays for
much smaller purses—$175,000, with
the winner taking home $31,500.
Plus, every event is a big-time road
game for the American-born participants who find themselves bouncing
all over Latin America, South America
and Mexico in hopes of one day of being
able to ply their trade closer to home for
much more lucrative paydays.
Blacksburg’s Lanto Griffin, the 2015
Delta Dental State Open of Virginia
champion and 2016 runner-up, said the
daily rigors of the Latinoamerica Tour
are not exactly for the faint of heart.
“You see a lot of stuff that really
makes you appreciate America,” said
Griffin, a 28-year-old Mount Shasta,
California native who moved to Blacksburg with his family at age 6.
vsga.org
“Especially with everything that’s
going on here [in the U.S.]—all the political and civil unrest—you go to other
countries and if you don’t like it here?
“I’m not saying we have it all figured
out, but we’re pretty lucky compared to
some of these other countries.”
Griffin, who reached the title match
of the 2009 VSGA Amateur, turned to
the Latinoamerica Tour after he fell one
shot shy of making the low 21 finishers
in second-stage qualifying for the 2016
Web.com Tour. The 2010 Virginia
Commonwealth graduate won in his
seventh career start on the fifth-year
circuit, pocketing a career-high $31,500
for capturing the Punta del Este Open in
Uruguay last Nov. 1.
The most difficult part for the Americans on the circuit for is dealing with the
language barrier, Griffin said.
“That’s tough ... ‘no comprendo, no
hablo Espanol!’ Then you kind of laugh
and giggle,” noted Griffin, chuckling.
That said, there have some been anxious moments in places, especially in
Honduras, a country that includes a
couple of cities listed among the world’s
most dangerous places.
“I haven’t worried,” Griffin said. “The
only time I was worried was the shuttle
ride from Honduras Airport to the resort,
which is like an hour and a half, and it
was at night.
“They have a problem down there
where the gangs will hijack tour buses
coming from the airport. They will follow them once they get in the dark area
and we had no cops or anything following us or any protection.
“They’re not going to kill us, they’re
just going to rob us, take our money.
“If they see 12 [Americans] getting on a
bus at 10 o’clock at night ... and they see all
our luggage, it would have been pretty easy
for somebody, and it happens down there.”
According to those who know him
best, said the lanky 6-foot-3 golfer with
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