20^th Women's World Amateur Team Championship
23rd World Amateur Team ChampionshipFact SheetOct. 16-19, 2002 (Women for the Espirito Santo Trophy)
Oct. 24-27, 2002 (Men for the Eisenhower Trophy)Saujana Golf and Country Club
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

PAR AND YARDAGE- Saujana Golf and Country Club's two courses - Palm and Bunga Raya will be used for the championship. For the Espirito Santo Trophy: Palm (Par: 36-37-73, 5,618 meters); Bunga Raya (Par: 36-37-73, 5,477 meters)For the Eisenhower Trophy: Palm (Par: 36-36-72, 6,343 meters); Bunga Raya (Par: 36-36-72, 6,162 meters) [NOTE: see attachment at end of document]

GOLF COURSE ARCHITECT- Ron Fream designed both courses, which were opened in 1985. Saujana Golf and Country Club has been the site of four Malaysian Opens.

WHAT ARE THE WORLD AMATEUR TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS?- Conducted by the International Golf Federation , which comprises national governing bodies of golf in more than 100 countries, the World Amateur Team Championships are a biennial international amateur golf competition which is rotated among three geographic zones: Asia-Pacific, American and European-African. The Malaysian Golf Association will host the Championships.

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 by players 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 Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, Scotland, or the United States Golf Association.

SCHEDULE OF PLAY- During the Espirito Santo Trophy competition, 18 holes of stroke play will be conducted Wednesday, October 16, through Saturday, October 19. During Eisenhower Trophy competition, 18 holes of stroke play will be conducted Thursday, October 24, through Sunday, October 27. Each team will play twice on each of Saujana's two golf courses.

PRIZES -The winning team in the women's competition (39 teams), receives custody of the Espirito Santo Trophy for the ensuing two years. The winning team in the men's competition (64 teams), receives custody of the Eisenhower Trophy for the ensuing two years. Members of the winning team receive gold medals; members of the second-place team receive silver medals; and members of the third-place team receive bronze medals.

WWW.IGF .ORG - Log on to the International Golf Federation Internet site (www.wagc.org) for the latest World Amateur results and information during the Championships.

2000 WOMEN'S REVIEW(Espirito Santo Trophy) - France took the lead in the second round and never slowed as it produced a seven-stroke victory over Korea at Sporting Club Berlin in Bad Saarow, Germany. The French earned their second Espirito Santo Trophy, 36 years after their victory in the first Women's World Amateur Team Championship in 1964 at St. Germain (France) GC. In between the two victories, France has finished second five times. Maitena Alsuguren (289), Karine Icher (292) and Virginie Auffret (307) became the first players to hold the European and World titles concurrently after shooting 4-over-par 580 at the demanding Nick Faldo course. In addition, their captain, Gwladys Nocera, a former player then in her fourth year as an assistant coach at New Mexico State, became the winningest captain in Espirito Santo history. Alsuguren's 67 in the third round was a key point for the winners.

2000 MEN'S REVIEW (Eisenhower Trophy) - The USA team recorded a 16-stroke victory over defending champion Great Britain and Ireland at Sporting Club Berlin in Bad Saarow, Germany. The USA total of 23-under-par 841 secured the third-largest margin of victory in the event's 22 playings. The USA lineup was completed just two days before the flag-raising ceremony with Jeff Quinney flying to Germany just hours after winning the U.S. Amateur Championship. David Eger set the pace with a 5-under-par 67 on the first day. Although wind and rain made for very difficult conditions, Bryce Molder finished his four days with a 15-under-par total of 273. Ben Curtis was the fourth player on the victorious USA team, which was captained by past USGA president Judy Bell, the first woman to captain a winning Eisenhower Trophy team.

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

The USGA, which received many such invitations from other countries, simply could not accept the Japanese proposal.

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 attending a planning conference in Washington, D.C., formed the International Golf Federation . The council had 32 member organizations, and planned the first Championship.

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 visited there last.

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 scores are not recognized.

While the United States of America has prevailed in 10 of the 20 competitions, 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 21 different nations.

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 for France. Miss Lacoste tied with Carol Sorenson of the USA at 294 for medalist honors.

While no official recognition is given for individual scoring, 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 International Golf Federation assumed sponsorship of 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.

FUTURE SITES- The 2004 World Amateur Team Championship will be played at the Hyatt Dorado Resort and Country Club. The women's competition is scheduled for October 20-23 and the men's October 28-31.

MEDIA CENTER STAFF- For more information, please visit the IGF Web site (www.wagc.org). The IGF press officer is Pete Kowalski. His cell phone on site is +447766424823.