Stellenbosch, South Africa (19 October) – Kelli Shean of Cape Town and Ashleigh Simon of Johannesburg each shot 3-under-par 69 to propel South Africa into the lead by three strokes over Germany through the second day of play at the 2006 Women’s World Amateur Team Championship.

The South Africans, who had trailed first-round leader Japan by two strokes, tied the championship mark for lowest score to lead the field through 36 holes at 277.

Kelli Shean of South Africa leans as she watches her ball. She shot 69 to help propel the host nation to first place after the second round. (Carl Fourie/USGA).

"We are where we wanted to be, but it is almost hard to believe,” captain Sandra Winter said. “Our goal for each round was 4-under and we have shot 5-under and 6-under to start. Now, we are thinking that the sky’s the limit.”

Vying to become the first team to win the championship on home soil since the USA in 1980, South Africa made their five-stroke swing because of Simon, the reigning South African Amateur Stroke and SA Match Play champion who played in the recent Women’s British Open, and the hearing-impaired Shean, 18, who has won the 2006 Southern Cape Open and the 2005 South African Amateur Match Play.

Dust flies for Katharina Schallenberg, who shot 4-under-par 68 as the German team climbed to second place on the leaderboard. (Carl Fourie/USGA)

France, in 1964, is the only other team to win at home. South Africa’s best finish is T2nd in 1974.

"We have never been in this position before,” said Simon, 17. “It is a good position and we will keep grinding out the good scores.”

Through 36 holes, Shean and Simon and Amanda Blumenherst of the USA (71-71) are the only three players to record sub-par scores in each round.

Germany moved up three positions into second position with a 4-under-par 68 from 2006 U.S. Women’s Amateur runner-up Katharina Schallenberg, 26, of Offenbach, and a 1-under-par 71 from Caroline Masson, 17, of Gladbeck.

"This team is united,” said German captain Ulrike Eichler. “They don’t work one against the other and there is no envy.”

First-day leader Japan fell to third place at 281 despite even-par 72s from Mika Miyasato and Rikako Morita, who shot 65 in the first round.

Meanwhile, France moved strongly from tied for 12th to sole fourth by posting the lowest daily total of the championship (136) on a pair of 68s from Anne-Lisa Caudal and Melodie Bourdy. Their 136 is the second-lowest team score for any round in the history of the Espirito Santo competition.

Defending champion Sweden and Chinese Taipei, who were tied for second through 18 holes, both lost ground, moving to tied for fifth and tied for seventh, respectively. Also in the top 10 were England (284, T5th), Korea and Australia (286, T7th) and Colombia (288, 10th).

In the World Amateur, the team’s two best individual scores count. In the third round Friday, the top 21 leading teams will play at Stellenbosch Golf Club and then at De Zalze Golf Club for the final round Saturday. The lower 21 teams will play the opposite schedule.

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.  

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Story written by Pete Kowalski of the IGF. Please submit questions and comments to pkowalski@usga.org.