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 120 countries, the World Amateur Team Championships are biennial international amateur golf competitions rotated among three geographic zones of the world: Asia-Pacific, Americas and Europe-Africa.
|
| FORMAT |
 |
| Susana Benavides of Bolivia practices in the international setting of Olivos Golf Club on the second day of practice for the 2010 Women's World Amateur Team Championship. (John Mummert/IGF) |
Each team has two or three players and 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.
|
| 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. The lowest individual score in each championship is recognized at the respective awards ceremony, but no prize is awarded.
|
| SCHEDULE OF PLAY |
During the competition for the Espirito Santo Trophy, 18 holes of stroke play will be conducted from 20-23 October at Olivos Golf Club and Buenos Aires Golf Club. The same two courses will be used for the Eisenhower Trophy competition from 28-31 October. The final round of the women’s championship will be played at Olivos G.C. and the final round of the men’s championship will be played at Buenos Aires G.C.
|
| RETURN TO ARGENTINA |
The World Amateur Team Championships will be played in Buenos Aires for the second time. Olivos Golf Club and The Hindu Country Club served as the host clubs in 1972. Argentina is the second nation in the Americas zone, after the USA, to twice host the biennial championships. For the first time in either championship, a course (Olivos Golf Club) is the host for a second time.
|
| RECORD ENTRIES |
A record number of entries was received for the women’s competition and a record-tying total for the men’s competition. A total of 53 teams entered the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship, topping the record of 48 set in Puerto Rico in 2004 and matched in Australia in 2008. A total of 70 teams entered the World Amateur Team Championship, tying the men’s championship record established in South Africa in 2006.
|
PAR AND YARDAGE
ESPIRITO SANTO |
Buenos Aires Golf Club will be set up at 6,110 yards/5,588 meters and will play to a par
36-36–72. Olivos Golf Club will be set at 6,110 yards/5,584 meters for a par of 36-36–72.
|
BUENOS AIRES G.C.
HOLE BY HOLE
|
| Hole |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
Total |
| Par |
4 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
36 |
| Yards |
354 |
493 |
337 |
366 |
161 |
479 |
352 |
145 |
375 |
3,062 |
| Meters |
324 |
451 |
308 |
335 |
147 |
438 |
322 |
133 |
343 |
2,801 |
|
|
| Hole |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
Total |
| Par |
5 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
36 |
| Yards |
456 |
132 |
328 |
347 |
176 |
515 |
398 |
324 |
372 |
3,048 |
| Meters |
417 |
121 |
300 |
317 |
161 |
471 |
364 |
296 |
340 |
2,787 |
|
OLIVOS G.C.
HOLE BY HOLE
|
| Hole |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
Total |
| Par |
5 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
36 |
| Yards |
476 |
357 |
360 |
148 |
405 |
376 |
162 |
477 |
328 |
3,089 |
| Meters |
435 |
326 |
329 |
135 |
370 |
344 |
148 |
436 |
300 |
2,823 |
|
| |
| Hole |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
Total |
| Par |
3 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
36 |
| Yards |
184 |
513 |
334 |
142 |
368 |
455 |
383 |
153 |
489 |
3,021 |
| Meters |
168 |
469 |
305 |
130 |
336 |
416 |
350 |
140 |
447 |
2,761 |
|
PAR AND YARDAGE
EISENHOWER |
Buenos Aires Golf Club will be set up at 6,962 yards/6,364 meters and will play to a par 36-36–72. Olivos Golf Club will be set at 6,801 yards/6,218 meters for a par of 36-35–71.
|
BUENOS AIRES G.C.
HOLE BY HOLE
|
| Hole |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
Total |
| Par |
4 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
36 |
| Yards |
389 |
523 |
387 |
385 |
220 |
543 |
418 |
159 |
459 |
3,483 |
| Meters |
356 |
478 |
354 |
352 |
201 |
496 |
382 |
145 |
420 |
3,184 |
|
| |
| Hole |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
Total |
| Par |
5 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
36 |
| Yards |
525 |
140 |
369 |
379 |
223 |
583 |
446 |
385 |
429 |
3,479 |
| Meters |
480 |
128 |
337 |
346 |
204 |
533 |
408 |
352 |
392 |
3,180 |
|
OLIVOS G.C.
HOLE BY HOLE |
| Hole |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
Total |
| Par |
5 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
36 |
| Yards |
508 |
388 |
420 |
178 |
445 |
415 |
176 |
511 |
346 |
3,387 |
| Meters |
464 |
355 |
384 |
163 |
407 |
379 |
161 |
467 |
316 |
3,096 |
|
| |
| Hole |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
Total |
| Par |
3 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
35 |
| Yards |
199 |
557 |
430 |
168 |
436 |
470 |
441 |
210 |
503 |
3,414 |
| Meters |
182 |
509 |
393 |
154 |
399 |
430 |
403 |
192 |
460 |
3,122 |
|
| ARCHITECTS |
Kelly Blake Morgan and Robert von Hagge designed Buenos Aires Golf Club, which opened in 1994. Luther Koontz designed Olivos Golf Club, which opened in 1952.
|
2008 CHAMPIONS
ESPIRITO SANTO
|
Sweden seized the first-round lead and went on to win the 2008 Women’s World Amateur Team Championship by 12 strokes over Spain and 14 over the USA at The Grange Golf Club’s East and West Courses in Adelaide, Australia. For more details, visit: http://www.internationalgolffederation.org/2008/wwatcsat.html.
|
2008 CHAMPIONS
EISENHOWER |
Scotland won the 2008 World Amateur Team Championship and claimed its first Eisenhower Trophy by nine strokes over the USA and 14 over Sweden at Royal Adelaide Golf Club in Adelaide, Australia. For more details, visit: http://www.internationalgolffederation.org/2008/watcsunday.html.
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| EISENHOWER HISTORY |
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 principle a plan for such a championship. That March, a group of USGA representatives, including USGA President John D. Ames, met with officials of The R&A to discuss the plan. St. Andrews was proposed as the site 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 serve as 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 on the Old Course of St. Andrews in October 1958, and 115 players, representing 29 countries, competed. Australia won in a playoff with the USA. The lowest individual scorers, at 301 for the 72 holes, were 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 24 nations. In 2003, the name of the organization was changed from the World Amateur Golf Council to the International Golf Federation.
|
| ESPIRITO SANTO HISTORY |
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 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 had begun 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. Lacoste tied with Carol Sorenson of the USA at 294 for low individual honors.
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 event, the USA has dominated, winning 13 times. Spain (1986, 1992), France (1964, 2000), Australia (1978, 2002) and Sweden (2004, 2008) are the only other multiple victors.
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| PAST PLAYERS OF NOTE |
The best players in the world have participated in World Amateur Team Championships. Many are the most recognized in the game. Here is a brief list.
| Women |
Men |
| Catherine Lacoste (FRA) ’64, ’66, ’68, ’70 |
Bob Charles (NZL) ’58, ’60 |
| Nancy Lopez (USA) ’76 |
Jack Nicklaus (USA) ’60 |
| Beth Daniel (USA) ’78 |
Tom Kite (USA) ’70 |
| Juli Inkster (USA) ’80, ’82 |
Ben Crenshaw (USA) ’72 |
| Liselotte Neumann (SWE) ’82, ’84 |
Curtis Strange (USA) ‘74 |
| Hiromi Kobayashi (JAP) ’82, ’86 |
Nick Price (ZIM) ’76 |
| Helen Alfredsson (SWE) ’86, ’88 |
Scott Hoch (USA) ’78 |
| Wendy Doolan (AUS) ’90 |
Vijay Singh (FIJ) ’80 |
| Annika Sorenstam (SWE) ’90, ’92 |
Colin Montgomerie (GBI) ’84 |
| Lorie Kane (CAN) ’92 |
Jose Maria Olazabal (ESP) ’84 |
| Patricia Meunier-Lebouc (FRA) ’92 |
Jesper Parnevik (SWE) ’84, ’86 |
| Maria Hjorth (SWE) ’92, ’94 |
Robert Allenby (AUS) ’90 |
| Mi Hyun Kim (KOR) ’94 |
Shigeki Maruyama (JAP) ’90 |
| Se Ri Pak (KOR) ’94 |
Phil Mickelson (USA) ’90 |
| Karrie Webb (AUS) ’94 |
David Duval (USA) ’90, ’92 |
| Kelli Kuehne (USA) ’96 |
Michael Campbell (NZL) ’92 |
| Mhairi McKay (GBI) ’96 |
Justin Leonard (USA) ’92 |
| Janice Moodie (GBI) ’96 |
Tiger Woods (USA) ’94 |
| Dorothy Delasin (PHI) ’96, ’98 |
Sergio Garcia (ESP) ’96, ’98 |
| Grace Park (KOR) ’98 |
Trevor Immelman (RSA) ’98 |
| Lorena Ochoa (MEX) ’98, ’00 |
Aaron Baddeley (AUS) ’98, ’00 |
| Suzann Pettersen (NOR) ’98, ’00 |
Ben Curtis (USA) ’00 |
| Hilary Homeyer Lunke (USA) ’00 |
Paul Casey (GBI) ’00 |
| Karine Icher (FRA) ’00 |
Luke Donald (GBI) ’00 |
| Ai Miyazato (JPN) ’02 |
Hunter Mahan (USA) ’02 |
| Paula Creamer (USA) ’04 |
Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) ’02 |
| Yani Tseng (TPE) ’04 |
Ricky Barnes (USA) ’02 |
| Anna Nordqvist (SWE) ’06, ’08 |
Eduardo Molinari (ITA) ’04 |
| Amanda Blumenherst (USA) ’06, ’08 |
Francesco Molinari (ITA) ’04 |
| |
Martin Kaymer (GER) ’04 |
| |
Rory McIlroy (IRE) ’06 |
| |
Rickie Fowler (USA) ’08 |
|
| FUTURE SITES |
The 2012 Championships will be played in Antalya, Turkey and will be hosted by the Turkish Golf Federation. The Espirito Santo competition (26-29 Sept.) will be played on the Old and New Courses of Gloria Golf Club. The Eisenhower competition (4-7 Oct.) will be played on Antalya Golf Club’s PGA Sultan Course and at Cornelia Golf Club’s Faldo Course. The site of the 2014 World Amateur Team Championships, to be played in the Asia-Pacific zone, will be announced in October 2010. |
| PHOTO MEDIA SERVICE |
The USGA will offer daily complimentary high-resolution photographs during the World Amateur Team Championships for news use only. For more information and to register, contact John Mummert at jmummert@usga.org. |
IMPORTANT
PHONE NUMBERS |
World Amateur Team Championship Media Centers (as of 18 October)
Olivos Golf Club (+4587-1001)
Buenos Aires Golf Club (+6091-3475)
|
| MORE INFORMATION |
Please contact Pete Kowalski of the IGF by cell phone at (+ 3691-8261) or e-mail at pkowalski@usga.org. |
