Stellenbosch, South Africa (29 October) – Joost Luiten of the Netherlands played his last five holes in six-under-par and finished with a 5-under-par 67 as the Dutch captured the Eisenhower Trophy as the winners of the 2006 World Amateur Team Championship.

With Canada and the Netherlands battling for the top position, 20-year-old Luiten began his run with a birdie on the par-5 14th hole at De Zalze Golf Club. He then holed a sand wedge from 93 yards on the par-4 15th for an eagle and closed with birdies on the 16th, 17th and 18th. 

Joost Luiten sprays teammate Tim Sluiter in their Eisenhower Trophy celebration. (Carl Fourie/USGA)

With Luiten’s 67 and a 2-under-par 70 from individual low scorer Wil Besseling, the Netherlands won by two strokes over second-place Canada and by three over third-place USA at 22-under-par 554. Their winning total is the lowest since the two counting scores format was instituted in 2002.

"His nickname is Pyromaniac and he went on fire,” said Dutch coach Chris van der Velde of Luiten.

Ironically, Luiten’s five-hole streak began after he had bogeyed three of his previous four holes.

"It just happened,” Luiten said. “After 15, I knew I was in the zone.”

For most of the final nine holes, the champions jockeyed with Canada, which shot 7-under-par 137 on a 68 from Richard Scott and a 69 from James Love.

"We didn’t lose it,” said Canada’s captain Doug Roxburgh. “The Netherlands won it. They made the birdies coming home.”

"You can’t question how good they are,” said Scott. “They were 22-under par. They went out and won it.”

Trip Kuehne was 5-under-par on his second nine and finished at 3-under 69 to go along with a 69 from Chris Kirk to move to the USA into the bronze medal slot.

James Love of the silver medal-winning Canadian team shot 69 and his team matched final round totals of 137 with the Dutch. (Carl Fourie/USGA)

"The Netherlands played great,” Kuehne said. “What Joost did out there is the stuff of legends.”

The previous best finish for the Netherlands was a tie for eighth place in 1992 and 1994. The host South Africans finished tied for 22nd.

The rest of the top 10 included: Wales in 4th at 559, Korea in 5th at 561, England, Scotland and Argentina tied for 6th at 563, and France and Ireland tied for 9th at 564.

Although there is no individual recognition, Besseling was the low scorer at 13-under-par 275.

In the World Amateur, the team’s two best individual scores count. The Netherlands receives custody of the Eisenhower Trophy for the ensuing two years and the players receive gold medals. For the final round, the teams at the top half of the leader board played at De Zalze Golf Club. The bottom half teams played at Stellenbosch Golf Club.

The International Golf Federation was founded in 1958 to encourage the international development of the game and to employ golf as a vehicle to foster friendship and sportsmanship. The IGF is the recognized international federation for golf for the International Olympic Committee and comprises the national governing bodies of golf of more than 100 countries.  

For more information and scoring visit www.internationalgolffederation.org and click on the WATC Scoring icon.

Story written by Pete Kowalski, IGF Media Officer. E-mail him with questions or comments at pkowalski@usga.org.

Stellenbosch, South Africa – Results of the final round of the 2006 World Amateur Team Championship, conducted by the International Golf Federation, at De Zalze Golf Club (par and yardage/meters: 36-36—72, 6,835/6,247) and Stellenbosch Golf Club (par and yardage/meters: 36-36—72, 6,966/6,369):

Pos. Team                                 To par-thru  today  1  2  3  4  Total Score

1    Netherlands 1                              -22  F    -7  141  140  136  137  554 

2    Canada 1                                     -20  F    -7  139  139  141  137  556 

3    United States of America 1       -19  F    -6  143  136  140  138  557 

4    Wales 1                                         -17  F    -4  144  143  132  140  559 

5    Korea 1                                        -15  F    -4  146  137  138  140  561 

T6    England 1                                  -13  F    -8  149  138  140  136  563 

T6    Scotland 1                                  -13  F    -4  144  142  137  140  563 

T6    Argentina 1                                -13  F    -5  148  142  134  139  563 

T9    France 1                                    -12  F    -5  142  142  141  139  564 

T9    Ireland 1                                     -12  F    -4  146  138  140  140  564 

11    Spain 1                                      -11  F    -9  145  141  144  135  565 

T12    Australia 1                                 -7  F    -3  147  141  140  141  569 

T12    Sweden 1                                  -7  F    +2  150  132  141  146  569 

T12    Germany 1                               -7  F    -8  146  141  146  136  569 

T12    Mexico 1                                   -7  F    -1  143  138  145  143  569 

T16    Japan 1                                    -6  F    -3  145  139  145  141  570 

T16    Switzerland 1                           -6  F    -6  146  143  143  138  570 

18    Malaysia 1                                  -5  F    -3  143  142  145  141  571 

T19    New Zealand 1                        -4  F    -3  148  138  145  141  572 

T19    Denmark 1                               -4  F    +3  145  143  137  147  572 

21    Portugal 1                                   -3  F    -1  145  143  142  143  573 

T22    Belgium 1                                 -2  F    +1  150  140  139  145  574 

T22    South Africa 1                          -2  F    +4  143  145  138  148  574 

T22    Colombia 1                              -2  F    -6  148  148  140  138  574 

T22    Norway 1                                  -2  F    +3  146  143  138  147  574 

T26    Chinese Taipei 1                     -1  F    +2  147  140  142  146  575 

T26    Finland 1                                  -1  F    -2  145  146  142  142  575 

28    Chile 1                                          E  F    E  147  143  142  144  576 

29    Italy 1                                           +1  F    +2  147  142  142  146  577 

30    Austria 1                                     +2  F    +2  143  141  148  146  578 

31    Brazil 1                             +8  F    +2  146  152  140  146  584 

T32    India 1                                       +9  F    +7  148  143  143  151  585 

T32    Czech Republic 1                    +9  F    +1  152  145  143  145  585 

34    Iceland 1                                    +14  F    +3  151  145  147  147  590 

35    Trinidad and Tobago 1            +17  F    +8  147  146  148  152  593 

36    Puerto Rico 1                            +18  F    +9  152  146  143  153  594 

37    Bolivia 2                                      +20  F    +5  158  146  143  149  596 

38    Philippines 2                             +23  F    -3  154  150  154  141  599 

T39    Bermuda 2                              +27  F    +3  154  150  152  147  603 

T39    Hong Kong, China 2              +27  F    +6  153  152  148  150  603 

41    Russian Federation 2              +29  F    +8  149  153  151  152  605 

42    Pakistan 2                                 +30  F    +3  156  148  155  147  606 

43    Zimbabwe 2                              +31  F    +5  147  156  155  149  607 

44    Turkey 2                                     +35  F    +6  161  152  148  150  611 

T45    Peru 2                                      +37  F    +6  157  148  158  150  613 

T45    Ecuador 2                               +37  F    E  161  153  155  144  613 

T45    El Salvador 2                          +37  F    +6  149  156  158  150  613 

48    Guatemala 2                             +38  F    +2  159  151  158  146  614 

49    Namibia 2                                  +40  F    +9  149  155  159  153  616 

50    Tunisia 2                                    +42  F    +7  156  155  156  151  618 

51    Venezuela 2                              +44  F    +10  154  148  164  154  620 

52    Fiji 2                                           +46  F    +14  155  156  153  158  622 

53    Uruguay 2                                  +50  F    +12  155  159  156  156  626 

54    Latvia 2                                      +52  F    +10  165  156  153  154  628 

55    Estonia 2                                   +54  F    +8  163  158  157  152  630 

56    Slovakia 2                                 +58  F    +11  167  161  151  155  634 

57    Greece 2                                   +59  F    +8  163  160  160  152  635 

58    Egypt 2                                      +62  F    +8  159  164  163  152  638 

59    Honduras 2                                +71  F    +17  155  158  173  161  647 

T60    U.S. Virgin Islands 2              +72  F    +11  161  164  168  155  648 

T60    Botswana 2                             +72  F    +10  165  168  161  154  648 

62    Cote d'Ivoire 2               +79  F    +11  170  168  162  155  655 

63    United Arab Emirates 2           +81  F    +5  174  172  162  149  657 

64    Saudi Arabia 2                         +83  F    +15  176  162  162  159  659 

65    Croatia 2                                   +97  F    +25  173  169  162  169  673 

66    Gabon 2                                     +123  F    +30  187  169  169  174  699 

67    Bulgaria 2                                  +126  F    +25  190  176  167  169  702 

68    Bosnia and Herzegovina 2    +128  F    +27  180  173  180  171  704 

69    Nigeria 2                                    +149  F    +30  198  178  175  174  725