22nd WOMEN’S WORLD AMATEUR TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
25th WORLD AMATEUR TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

Conducted by the International Golf Federation
Hosted by the South African Golf Association in conjunction with
Women’s Golf South Africa

18-21 October 2006 (Women’s Championship for the Espirito Santo Trophy)
26-29 October 2006 (Men’s Championship for the Eisenhower Trophy)
De Zalze Golf Club and Stellenbosch Golf Club
Stellenbosch, South Africa

PAR AND YARDAGE – De Zalze Golf Club and Stellenbosch Golf Club will be used for both championships.

WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP PAR AND YARDAGE/METERS:

De Zalze Golf Club: Par and yardage/meters: 36-36—72, 6,080/5,557

Stellenbosch Golf Club: Par and yardage/meters: 36-36—72, 6,137/5,610

MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP PAR AND YARDAGE/METERS:

De Zalze Golf Club: Par and yardage/meters: 36-36—72, 6,966/6,369

Stellenbosch Golf Club: Par and yardage/meters: 36-36—72; 6,835/6,247

GOLF COURSE ARCHITECTS – De Zalze Golf Club and Stellenbosch Golf Club are located approximately 30 miles east of Cape Town in the Stellenbosch wine-growing region. De Zalze Golf Club was designed by Peter Matkovich and opened in 2000. Matkovich, incidentally, played in the 1966 World Amateur in Mexico City for Zimbabwe. Stellenbosch Golf Club was opened in 1904. The present course was designed by Ken Elkin and opened in 1953. It was revised by Mark Miller in 2004.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS: Both courses are located at the foot of the Stellenbosch Mountains. De Zalze Golf Club is a parkland-style course with Kikuyu fairways. The oak tree-lined Blaauwklippen River runs through the course. Visit www.golfdezalze.com for more information. Stellenbosch Golf Club, a host to the South African Masters and the South African Open, is a narrow, tree-line layout bordered by vineyards. Visit http://www.stellenboschgolfclub.com/ for more information. Nigel Edwards, who played for Wales at the 2002 and 2004 WATCs, won the 2006 South African Amateur Championship in early March, defeating Won Joon Lee (playing for Australia in 2006), 2 up. The stroke play portion of the event was played at both courses, with the match play being contested at De Zalze.

WHAT ARE THE WORLD AMATEUR TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS? – Conducted by the International Golf Federation (formerly the World Amateur Golf Council), which comprises the national governing bodies of golf in more than 100 countries, the World Amateur Team Championships are a biennial international amateur golf competition rotated among three geographic zones: Asia-Pacific, American and European-African. The South African Association (www.saga.co.za), in conjunction with Women’s Golf South Africa (www.womensgolf.co.za.salgu.co.za/index/html), will host the 2006 World Amateur Team Championships. South Africa was designated as the ninth different European-African Zone nation to host the biennial championships, which gather some of the best amateurs in the world.

FORMAT— Each team, which has two or three players, plays 18 holes of stroke play for four days. In each round, the total of the two lowest scores from each team constitutes the team score for the round. The four-day (72-hole) total is the team’s score for the championship.

ELIGIBILITY – Players must be amateur golfers under the Rules of Amateur Status of either The R&A or the United States Golf Association and citizens of the countries they represent.

SCHEDULE OF PLAY – For the duration of each championship, each team will play twice on De Zalze G.C. and Stellenbosch G.C. During the Espirito Santo Trophy competition, 18 holes of stroke play will be conducted Wednesday, 18 October, through Saturday, 21 October. During Eisenhower Trophy competition, 18 holes of stroke play will be conducted Thursday, 26 October, through Sunday, 29 October.

PRIZES – The winning team in the women’s competition receives custody of the Espirito Santo Trophy for the ensuing two years. The winning team in the men’s competition receives custody of the Eisenhower Trophy for the ensuing two years. Members of the winning teams receive gold medals; members of the second-place teams receive silver medals; and members of the third-place teams receive bronze medals. In 2006, record-setting numbers of teams will play for both the Eisenhower Trophy (76) and Espirito Santo Trophy (49). A total of 77 countries will be represented.

FIRST TIME PARTICIPANTS – A total of 10 teams, seven from the continent of Africa, will be participating in the World Amateur Team Championships for the first time in 2006. Those countries are: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Gabon, Honduras, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, and Zambia.

WWW.INTERNATIONALGOLFFEDERATION.ORG – Log on to the International Golf Federation Internet site (www.internationalgolffederation.org) for past World Amateur results and information during the Championships. For other host country information, visit http://www.worldamateur2006.org

2004 WOMEN’S REVIEW (21st Espirito Santo Trophy) – With Karin Sjodin and Louise Stahle posting 2-under-par 70s, Sweden overcame a two-stroke deficit to win the 2004 Women's World Amateur Team Championship by three strokes at 9-under-par 567 at Rio Mar Country Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. It was the second-lowest team score in the championship's history. Sofie Andersson was the third member of the Swedish team.

Canada and the USA shared second place at 6-under-par 570. With an even par 72 from Mary Ann Lapointe and a 1-over-par 73 from Laura Matthews, Canada could not overcome the Swedish surge, nor could the USA, with sub-par rounds from Paula Creamer (69), Sarah Huarte (71) and Jane Park (71).

Sweden and the USA notched the day's best efforts at 4-under 140. All the contending teams played Rio Mar's Ocean Course.

Canada had held the lead through the first three rounds and entered the day two strokes ahead of Sweden and five ahead of the USA. The Canadian team was attempting to become the first start-to-finish winner since the USA in 1996.

Sweden, which had a previous best finish of second in 1988, also matched the second biggest comeback by a winner in the final round of two strokes, which the USA did in 1970. They are the only nation to finish in the top 10 in all 21 Espirito Santo championships

Japan , Korea and Chinese Taipei finished tied for fourth at 579, Colombia finished seventh at 581, Spain was eighth at 583 and Germany and New Zealand tied for ninth at 589.

2004 MEN’S REVIEW (24th Eisenhower Trophy) –The USA won the Eisenhower Trophy for the third consecutive time, its 13th overall, at the weather-shortened World Amateur Team Championship with a 54-hole total of 25-under-par 407 at Rio Mar Country Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.

Because of heavy rain and threats of lightning, the International Golf Federation cancelled play on the last day and based the Championship results on 54-hole scores. The USA, the only nation to finish in the top 10 in all 24 Eisenhower Trophy competitions, finished nine strokes ahead of silver medalist Spain at 416 and 10 strokes clear of bronze medalist Sweden at 417.

The USA team members, all collegiate All-Americans, were Spencer Levin, 20, of Elk Grove, Calif., Ryan Moore, 21, of Puyallup, Wash., and Lee Williams, 22, of Alexander City, Ala.

During the course of the three rounds of the championship, each USA player contributed.

Moore (65) and Williams (67), 2003 USA Walker Cup teammates, sparked the team with a 12-under-par start for a 4-stroke lead after the first round; Moore, the 2004 U.S. Amateur, U.S. Amateur Public Links, NCAA individual and Western Amateur champion, shot 67 to combine with Levin's 69 in Round 2 and increase their advantage to eight strokes; and Levin, who won five amateur events in 2004 and was the low amateur at this year's U.S. Open, shot a 67 to go along with Moore's 72 in the third round to add another stroke to their lead.

The Americans became the 12th team to lead the event from start to finish. The USA also won four consecutive titles from 1968 through 1974 and three consecutive from 1978 through 1982.

Rounding out the top 10 were Canada, Italy and Switzerland sharing fourth at 422, Wales in seventh at 423, England and Malaysia tied for eighth at 424 and Denmark and Germany tied for 10th at 425. Host Puerto Rico finished tied for 37th at 445.

HISTORY OF THE WORLD AMATEUR TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP -- The idea of a World Amateur Team Championship and the World Amateur Golf Council grew out of a suggestion that the USGA received to consider the possibility of a team match between the USA and Japan in 1957.

The USGA, which was fortunate to have received many such invitations from other countries, simply could not accept them all.

The USGA instead suggested a team competition that would bring together the best players of all countries, accommodating all possible interests. Even those American advocates of adding golf to the Olympics seemed satisfied with the World Team Championship idea.

In January 1958, the USGA Executive Committee approved in principal a plan for such a championship. That March, a group of USGA representatives, including USGA President John D. Ames, met with officials of The Royal & Ancient Golf Club to discuss the plan. St. Andrews was proposed as the scene of the first Championship later that year. The R&A joined in implementing the idea. In May, representatives of the national amateur golf associations of 35 countries attended a planning conference in Washington, D.C. and formed the World Amateur Golf Council. The council had 32 member organizations, and planned the first Championship.

USA President Dwight D. Eisenhower received the delegates in the Rose Garden of the White House and consented to the naming of the championship prize as the Eisenhower Trophy. Eisenhower endorsed the concept, saying, "Both officially and personally, I am interested in the plan advanced by the USGA for an amateur team golf championship among nations. I visualize it, as you do, as a potent force for establishing goodwill and friendship between yet another segment of the populations of nations."

The Championship received yet another stroke of good luck when Bob Jones agreed to be captain of the first USA team. Jones had taken the first leg of his 1930 Grand Slam at St. Andrews by winning the British Amateur, but 22 years had passed since he had last visited there.

The first Championship was played over the Old Course of St. Andrews in October 1958, and 115 players, representing 29 countries, played. Australia won in a playoff with the USA. The lowest individual scores for the 72 holes were 301s by William

Hyndman III of the USA, Bruce Devlin of Australia, and Reid Jack of Great Britain & Ireland.

Jack Nicklaus, who represented the USA in 1960 at Merion Golf Club (East Course), in Ardmore, Pa., holds the 72-hole individual scoring record of 269, although individual champions are not recognized.

The United States of America has prevailed in 13 of the 24 competitions and Great Britain & Ireland has won four times, while countries as diverse in the world of golf as Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and Sweden have each captured the Eisenhower Trophy.

The World Amateur Team Championship has now been conducted in 22 different nations. In 2003, the name of the organization was changed from the World Amateur Golf Council to the International Golf Federation.

HISTORY OF THE WOMEN’S WORLD AMATEUR TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP – What began as a proposal for a match in 1964 between the USA and France grew into the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship.

The impetus for this championship was an invitation by the French Golf Federation for the USA Curtis Cup team to stop off in France for an informal match after that year’s Curtis Cup Match in Wales.

The USGA accepted the invitation, but also suggested inviting other nations to create a women’s counterpart to the World Amateur Team Championship. That event for men’s teams began in 1958 after an invitation from Japan to establish a match between the two nations.

The French were delighted to sponsor the inaugural women’s Championship and arranged for it to be played at the St. Germain Golf Club, near Paris, in October 1964. The event, under the chairmanship of Vicomtesse de Saint-Sauveur, was a triumph.

A total of 25 teams and 75 players participated, which instantly established the competition as a member of international golf’s family of championships. Spectator enthusiasm at the first championship was keen, since the host team prevailed over the USA by one stroke.

The French player Catherine Lacoste, who would later become a heroine of the amateur game when she won the 1967 U.S. Women’s Open, was a big factor in the excitement in her home country. Her final-round 73 secured the Espirito Santo Trophy. Miss Lacoste tied with Carol Sorenson of the USA at 294 for low individual honors.

While no official recognition is given for individual champions, Jenny Chuasiriporn of the USA lowered the 72-hole individual scoring record in 1998. She shot 276 at Prince of Wales Country Club in Santiago, Chile, two shots better than the score returned by countrywoman Wendy Ward four years earlier at The National Golf Club in Versailles, France.

In 1966, the World Amateur Golf Council assumed the role of conducting future Women’s World Amateur Team Championships. Since its second-place finish in the inaugural, the USA has dominated, winning 13 times. Spain (1986, 1992) and France (1964, 2000) are the only other multiple victors.

PAST PLAYERS OF NOTE: Since the inception of the World Amateur Team Championships, the best amateurs in the world have participated. Many of those players are the most recognized in the game of golf. Here’s a capsule look:

FUTURE SITES – The 2008 World Amateur Team Championship will be played in Adelaide, Australia. These Championships will be hosted by the Australian Golf Union. Royal Adelaide Golf Club and The Grange Golf Club are located in the central portion of South Australia. Australia was designated as the first Asia-Pacific zone nation to twice host the championships. The 1968 Championships were held at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Victoria. In October of 2006, the site of the 2010 World Amateur Team Championships will be decided. Bids are being considered from Mexico and Argentina.

MEDIA INFORMATION – For more information, please visit the IGF Web site (www.internationalgolffederation.org). The IGF media officer is Pete Kowalski (pkowalski@usga.org) He will be in South Africa on 12 October for the duration of the championships and can be reached on an international cell phone at + 0828588158.