Buenos Aires, Argentina (23 October) – Korea broke the record for the lowest score and won the 2010 Women’s World Amateur Team Championship by 17 strokes over the USA to claim its second Espirito Santo Trophy at Olivos Golf Club.

Hyun-Soo Kim likes the look of her birdie putt on the ninth hole of Olivos Golf Club in the final round of the 2010 Women's World Amateur Team Championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (John Mummert/IGF)

The Koreans, who also won the title in 1996 in the Philippines, shot 30-under-par 546 and demolished the 72-hole scoring mark of 558 set by the USA in 1998. Overall, the Koreans have won four medals in the championship and finished second in 1994 and 2000. Their margin of victory was just four strokes shy of the record of 21 by the USA in 1998.

"This is the second time we have won this event and I would like to thank the players for the victory,” said Korean coach Jong-Il Kim. “They played very well.”

Hyun-Soo Kim and Jung-Eun Han shot 69 and 70, respectively. The 71 from Ji-Hee Kim was discarded.

"I never looked at the leader board,” said Hun-Soo Kim, who was the low amateur at the 2010 Australian Women’s Open. “I realized we won on the last hole.”

Han, who advanced to the third round of the 2010 U.S. Women’s Amateur, set the championship record for lowest 72-hole score by an individual at 275, one stroke better than Jenny Chuasiriporn of the USA in 1998.

"The Korean people who live in Argentina gave us applause and support,” said Han, 17, who won the 2008 Queen Sirikit Cup. “I felt the pressure because I wanted to win this with the team.”

Danielle Kang of the USA and her teammates could not overcome the huge lead of Korea and finished second in the 2010 Women's World Amateur Team Championship. (John Mummert/IGF)

The USA finished second at 563 for its 19th medal overall and third silver-medal performance. Danielle Kang, the 2010 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, shot 70 and Auburn University All-American Cydney Clanton shot 73

"It was a huge margin,” American captain Roberta Bolduc said of Korea’s 13-stroke lead to start the final round. “The Koreans played incredibly well. Our team played well but we didn’t make a lot of putts. The silver medal sits very well. Second in the world is not a bad thing. In fact, it’s a good thing.”

In the second and third rounds, both at Buenos Aires Golf Club, the Koreans literally ran away from the field by firing a scorching 26 under par. Their record-setting stretch of play led to a championship-best 54-hole total of 25-under-par 407, bettering the USA’s 416 in 1998.

Defending champion Sweden, France and South Africa finished tied for third at 572. Sweden kept its streak alive by finishing in the top 10 in all 24 Espirito Santo Trophy competitions.

Spain finished sixth at 573 followed by Canada in seventh at 574. Germany, the Philippines and New Zealand shared eighth place at 575.

For complete results, visit www.internationalgolffederation.org and click on the Golfstat icon.

Conducted by the International Golf Federation, which comprises national governing bodies of golf in more than 120 countries, the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship is a biennial international amateur competition, which is rotated among three geographic zones:  Asia-Pacific, Americas and Europe-Africa.  This year the event is hosted by the Asociacion Argentina de Golf.  The teams play for the Espirito Santo Trophy.

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 by players from each team constitutes the team score for the round.  The four-day (72 holes) total is the team’s score for the championship.

Story written by Pete Kowalski, IGF Media Officer