Australia captures the Eisenhower Trophy in style

 

Cameron Davis and Curtis Luck each shot 3-under 68s and Australia tied the 72-hole scoring record in winning their fourth World Amateur Team Championship (WATC) at the par-71, 6,771-yard/6,187-meter Mayakoba El Camaleon Golf Club. The Australians won by 19 strokes to claim the Eisenhower Trophy for the first time since 1996.

“It’s great for the game of golf back home,” said Australian captain Matt Cutler. “It started two years ago when the women won the Espirito Santo (Trophy). We got a taste of competing and winning internationally. They executed the plan perfectly this week. They had a determination to get it done.”

The Australians, who also won World Amateur Team titles in 1958 and 1966, posted a record score of 38-under-par 534, tying the total established by the USA in 2014. Their victory margin was the third-largest in championship history.

England won the silver medal at 553, behind a final-round 6-under 136. Austria and Ireland shared the bronze medal and were one stroke back at 554.

Australia’s Davis, the lone player in the field to shoot all four rounds in the 60s despite the hot and humid conditions, turned in the lowest individual score at 17-under 269. He birdied three consecutive holes on the inward nine and had six during the final round.

“This is by far the best I have played in such a big tournament,” said Davis, who finished second in both the Asia-Pacific Amateur and Australian Amateur last year. “It was just an honor to be in this tournament in the first place and representing my country, but to come away with a win is pretty special.”

Luck, the 2016 U.S. Amateur champion, followed Friday’s sparkling 9-under 63 at the par-72, 6,888-yard/6,386-meter Iberostar Playa Paraiso Golf Club with six birdies and three bogeys during his fourth round. He finished at 15-under overall after posting two non-counting scores in the opening two rounds, as only two of the three-man team scores are used toward the total each day.

“We came out with a pretty good strategy around both courses,” said Luck, who also captured this year’s Western Australian Open and is No. 3 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking™. “We did a really good job in the practice rounds of setting out where the pins would be and fortunately we pretty much got them all right. We did things extremely professionally.”

England registered its best finish in a WATC after tying for sixth in 2006 and 2014. Alfie Plant, who won the 2016 Lytham Trophy and was last year’s English Amateur runner-up, fired a 5-under 66 and holed a 9-foot birdie putt at the par-4 18th to vault his team into second place. Jamie Bower added a 1-under 70.

“Once I knew I had to make the putt for birdie, I just went through my routine to make sure you make the best putt you can, and it just went in,” said Plant, who made seven birdies on the day. “It’s been a great week, we’ve recorded our highest finish in the event as a team, and I’m playing good golf as well. It’s great to get up on the stage for a medal.”

Added English captain Kevin Tucker, “We’re absolutely delighted, the good thing is that all three players have contributed twice. Alfie’s done a great job with the two low scores, and Jamie and Scott (Gregory) have both produced twice. It’s the first time England has medalled, we’re over the moon.”

Austria also earned a medal for the first time as their best performance was tie for fifth in 2002. Matthias Schwab, who is No. 5 in the WAGR™, birdied the last three holes for a 4-under 67, while teammate Markus Maukner chipped in with a 70. Schwab set up his birdie at No. 16 with a 7-iron, struck a 54-degree sand wedge to within 15 feet at the next hole and sank a 10-foot putt at No. 18.

“My two teammates had the same goals, just try to shoot the best they can,” said Schwab, who tied for third at this year’s NCAA Championship as a member of the Vanderbilt University team. “Everyone brought their A game or close to their A game, and that’s reason enough for us to be in the top four. The goal is to make a medal or at least fight for one.”

Ireland slipped from second into a tie for third due to the squad’s difficulties on the final hole, but still captured their first WATC medal. Jack Hume, a member of the winning 2015 Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup Team, was bitten by a double bogey after earlier making six consecutive birdies on the outward nine. Hume settled for a 3-under 69. Stuart Grehan, who had a 1-over 72, and Paul McBride, who had a non-counting 73, made bogeys on the closing hole.

Victor Hovland fired a 6-under 65, the lowest round of the championship at Mayakoba El Camaleon, and playing captain Kristoffer Ventura added a 71 as Norway was fifth at 17-under 555. The team’s previous best finish was a tie for sixth in 2012.

“I’m pretty satisfied, said Hovland, who carded a bogey-free round. “I knew we had to try and shoot some low scores out there to try and win a medal. It was a good time to contribute a score to the team. It means a lot for us to do well.”

New Zealand and the USA tied for sixth at 557. Ryan Chisnall, of New Zealand, shot a 68 after scoring in the mid-70s in the first three rounds, while teammate Luke Toomey had a 70. Chisnall, who was the co-medalist at the 2015 Amateur Championship at Carnoustie, holed birdie putts of 25- and 20-feet at Nos. 16 and 17, respectively.

“We really wanted to get on the podium this week, so the last three holes were really important,” said Chisnall, who finished third at the Mexican Amateur in May. “It was very pleasing for me. It’s a big event and very important for our nation.”

The USA struggled to an even-par 142 and failed to medal in this championship for the first time since 1998 when the team was seventh. Brad Dalke, last month’s U.S. Amateur runner-up, had a 70, while Stanford University All-American Maverick McNealy shot a 72. Scottie Scheffler, a junior at the University of Texas, posted a non-counting 73.

“It was a difficult day for all of them,” said USA captain Paul Caruso. “I guess it is unusual that that happens and all three of them did not have their best today.”

Poland was eighth for its first top-10 WATC finish. Adrian Meronk, who is a playing captain, carded a 69, his third round in the 60s during the championship. Mateuz Gradecki had a 72. The two players, who were teammates at East Tennessee State University, competed in their third WATC together.

Mexico, the host nation, tied for 16th at 564. Alvaro Ortiz, a junior at the University of Arkansas, and Isidro Benitez, each shot an even-par 71.

Twenty-six of the 71 teams had 72-hole scores under par. The field recorded 35 sub-par individual counted scores in the fourth round.

The WATC is a biennial international amateur competition conducted by the International Golf Federation (IGF), which comprises 147 national governing bodies in 141 countries and 22 professional members.

The competition, which is being held for the 30th time, is rotated among three geographic zones: Asia-Pacific, the Americas and Europe-Africa. This year’s event is being hosted by the Mexican Golf Federation. The teams will play for the Eisenhower Trophy.

The IGF is the international federation for golf for the International Olympic Committee and conducted the 2016 Olympic golf competition in Rio de Janeiro. In each round, the total of the two lowest scores from each team constitutes the team score for the round. The four-day total (72-hole) is the team’s score for the championship.

The 2018 World Amateur Team Championship will be played 5-8 Sept. at Carton House Golf Club in Maynooth, Ireland, approximately 30 miles from Dublin.

For complete results, visit www.igfgolf.org.

 

RESULTS

RIVIERA MAYA, Mexico – Results from Saturday’s fourth round of the 2016 World Amateur Team Championship played at the par-72, 6,988-yard/6,38-meter Iberostar Playa Paraiso Golf Club (I) and the par-71, 6,771-yard/6,187-meter Mayakoba El Camaleon Golf Club (M).

1.Australia (AUS) – 135 I-132 M-131 I-136 M–534 (-38)

Cameron Davis 67-66-68-68–269

Curtis Luck 69-71-63-68–271

Harrison Endycott 68-66-73-73–280

2.England (ENG) – 139 M-141 I-137 I-136 M–553 (-19)

Alfie Plant 69-72-67-66–274

Scott Gregory 70-70-70-76–286

Jamie Bower 73-71-75-70–289

T3.Austria (AUT) – 139 M-140 I-138 I-137 M–554 (-18)

Matthias Schwab 67-72-69-67–275

Michael Ludwig 72-70-69-72–283

Markus Maukner 80-70-74-70–294

T3.Ireland (IRL) – 136 M-143 I-135 I-140 M–554 (-18)

Jack Hume 75-70-66-68–279

Paul McBride 66-73-69-73–281

Stuart Grehan 70-75-71-72–288

5.Norway (NOR) – 141 I-139 M-139 I-136 M–555 (-17)

Viktor Hovland 71-70-70-65–276

Kristoffer Ventura 70-69-69-71–279

Knud Krokeide 74-78-80-77–309

T6.New Zealand (NZL) – 143 M-138 I-138 I-138 M–557 (-15)

Luke Toomey 74-70-66-70–280

Nick Voke 69-68-72-72–281

Ryan Chisnall 75-74-76-68–293

T6.United States of America (USA) – 137 M-138 I-140 I-142 M–557 (-15)

Brad Dalke 67-72-72-70–281

Maverick McNealy 70-69-71-72–282

Scottie Scheffler 73-69-69-73–284

8.Poland (POL) – 138 I-139 M-140 I-141 M–558 (-14)

Adrian Meronk 66-69-70-69–274

Mateusz Gradecki 72-70-70-72–284

Jakub Dymecki 78-80-85-76–319

T9.Canada (CAN) – 144 I-140 M-136 I-140 M–560 (-12)

Garrett Rank 74-72-70-69–285

Jared du Toit 71-70-75-71–287

Hugo Bernard 73-70-66-NC–NC

T9.Spain (ESP) – 136 I-145 M-138 I-141 M–560 (-12)

Ivan Cantero 71-74-68-70–283

Manuel Elvira 69-71-70-73–283

Mario Galiano 67-74-76-71–288

11.Scotland (SCO) – 134 I-144 M-143 I-140 M–561 (-11)

Robert MacIntyre 69-71-72-71–283

Grant Forrest 68-73-71-74–286

Connor Syme 66-73-78-69–286

12.Germany (GER) – 147 I-137 M-140 I-138 M–562 (-10)

Max Schmitt 75-69-70-68–282

Hurly Long 76-68-70-70–284

Jeremy Paul 72-69-74-73–288

T13.Republic of Korea (KOR) – 145 M-139 I-141 I-138 M–563 (-9)

Sung ho Yun 73-66-69-66–274

Seung bo Jang 74-73-72-72–291

Je chang Ryu 72-75-73-79–299

T13.Sweden (SWE) – 139 M-142 I-142 I-140 M–563 (-9)

Fredrik Nilehn 68-71-71-69–279

Robin Petersson 71-71-74-71–287

Hannes Ronneblad 71-74-71-76–292

T13.Venezuela (VEN) – 143 M-143 I-141 I-136 M–563 (-9)

Jorge Garcia 69-68-71-68–276

Manuel Torres 76-75-70-73–294

George Trujillo 74-77-80-68–299

T16.France (FRA) – 139 I-142 M-142 I-141 M–564 (-8)

Ugo Coussaud 70-69-67-72–278

Jeremy Gandon 69-74-76-71–290

Antoine Rozner 73-73-75-70–291

T16.Mexico (MEX) – 141 M-140 I-141 I-142 M–564 (-8)

Alvaro Ortiz 74-65-72-71–282

Isidro Benitez 70-75-69-71–285

Luis Gerardo Garza 71-77-72-77–297

T16.Switzerland (SUI) – 139 I-137 M-144 I-144 M–564 (-8)

Mathias Eggenberger 71-69-73-73–286

Jeremy Freiburghaus 68-68-75-76–287

Marco Iten 72-76-71-71–290

T16.Thailand (THA) – 138 I-143 M-138 I-145 M–564 (-8)

Kousuke Hamamoto 69-71-69-70–279

Sadom Keawkanjana 69-72-69-75–285

Witchayanon Chothirunrungrueng 76-76-72-77–301

T16.Wales (WAL) – 144 M-143 I-140 I-137 M–564 (-8)

David Boote 69-73-68-67–277

Owen Edwards 76-70-72-73–291

Josh Davies 75-79-73-70–297

T21.Colombia (COL) – 142 I-138 M-145 I-141 M–566 (-6)

Nicolas Echavarria 72-68-72-68–280

Mateo Gomez Villegas 70-70-73-73–286

Santiago Gomez 72-76-74-73–295

T21.Denmark (DEN) – 143 M-139 I-140 I-144 M–566 (-6)

Marcus Helligkilde 73-67-68-71–279

John Axelsen 70-75-72-73–290

Peter Launer Baek 73-72-73-75–293

23.Singapore (SGP) – 146 M-135 I-147 I-140 M–568 (-4)

Joshua Ho 76-65-78-70–289

Gregory Foo 70-70-72-78–290

Joshua Shou 76-73-75-70–294

24.Japan (JPN) – 139 I-144 M-141 I-145 M–569 (-3)

Kazuki Higa 67-71-75-75–288

Takumi Kanaya 72-73-73-71–289

Junya Kameshiro 75-73-68-74–290

25.Iceland (ISL) – 141 M-142 I-143 I-144 M–570 (-2)

Gudmundur Kristjansson 70-72-71-69–282

Andri Bjornsson 71-75-74-75–295

Haraldur Magnus 76-70-72-80–298

26.Argentina (ARG) – 142 I-142 M-139 I-148 M–571 (-1)

Alejandro Tosti 71-68-67-74–280

Gaston Bertinotti 72-74-72-76–294

Andres Gallegos 71-75-79-74–299

T27.Chinese Taipei (TPE) – 140 M-140 I-147 I-147 M–574 (+2)

Chun-An Yu 70-67-73-79–289

Yu-Chen Yeh 70-73-74-74–291

Wei-Hsiang Wang 76-79-76-73–304

T27.Peru (PER) – 142 I-142 M-142 I-148 M–574 (+2)

Luis Fernando Barco 73-72-71-71–287

Felipe Strobach 72-70-71-78–291

Julian Perico 70-77-79-77–303

29.Netherlands (NED) – 145 M-138 I-144 I-148 M–575 (+3)

Vince van Veen 71-69-75-75–290

Lars van Meijel 74-73-70-73–290

Rowin Caron 81-69-74-77–301

30.Finland (FIN) – 141 M-151 I-145 M-140 I–577 (+5)

Kim Koivu 71-77-73-69–290

Juuso Kahlos 70-74-77-71–292

Ilari Saulo 75-77-72-72–296

T31.Chile (CHI) – 149 M-146 I-139 M-145 I–579 (+7)

Joaquin Niemann 71-73-71-69–284

Claudio Correa 78-73-68-76–295

Carlos Bustos 83-81-80-80–324

T31.India (IND) – 147 M-144 I-146 I-142 M–579 (+7)

Aalaap Indira Lakshminarayana 73-75-69-74–291

Arjun Prasad 74-71-78-68–291

Kshitij Naveed Kaul 76-73-77-78–304

T31.South Africa (RSA) – 141 M-144 I-148 I-146 M–579 (+7)

Jovan Rebula 70-70-76-77–293

Dylan Naidoo 75-74-72-73–294

Marco Steyn 71-74-79-73–297

T34.Brazil (BRA) – 143 M-142 I-148 I-148 M–581 (+9)

Daniel Kenji Ishii 73-72-73-72–290

Herik Machado 70-70-75-76–291

Gustavo Chuang 73-75-79-77–304

T34.Italy (ITA) – 141 M-145 I-150 I-145 M–581 (+9)

Guido Migliozzi 74-76-70-72–292

Stefano Mazzoli 67-71-89-73–300

Luca Cianchetti 75-74-80-73–302

T34.Morocco (MAR) – 140 M-148 I-145 I-148 M–581 (+9)

Ayoub Id-Omar 72-72-72-75–291

Yassine Touhami 68-76-76-77–297

Ayoub Lguirati 77-83-73-73–306

T34.Zimbabwe (ZIM) – 144 M-148 I-146 M-143 I–581 (+9)

Kieran Vincent 69-71-75-74–289

David Amm 75-79-81-69–304

Benjamin Follett-Smith 76-77-71-81–305

38.Uruguay (URU) – 145 I-152 M-141 M-145 I–583 (+11)

Juan Alvarez 68-72-71-75–286

Agustin Tarigo 77-82-70-70–299

Nicholas Teuten 77-80-79-80–316

T39.Ecuador (ECU) – 150 M-149 I-143 M-143 I–585 (+13)

Rafael Miranda 75-74-71-69–289

Jose Miranda 77-75-73-74–299

Juan Miguel Heredia 75-75-72-77–299

T39.Portugal (POR) – 140 M-144 I-158 I-143 M–585 (+13)

Tomas Silva 69-71-77-71–288

Pedro Lencart Silva 71-73-81-72–297

Vitor Londot Lopes 71-76-82-75–304

T41.Dominican Republic (DOM) – 139 M-155 I-145 M-148 I–587 (+15)

Juan Guerra 68-79-70-78–295

Rhadames Pena 71-79-76-74–300

Enrique Valverde 78-76-75-74–303

T41.Peoples Republic of China (CHN) – 146 I-147 M-148 M-146 I–587 (+15)

Zihong Zhang 71-84-70-74–299

Junbin Zhang 79-71-79-72–301

Yilong Chen 75-76-78-77–306

43.Hong Kong, China (HKG) – 148 M-144 I-142 M-154 I–588 (+16)

Terrence Ng 75-73-67-74–289

Matthew Cheung 74-71-75-81–301

Leon Philip D’Souza 74-77-77-80–308

T44.Czech Republic (CZE) – 142 M-152 I-147 M-148 I–589 (+17)

Vitek Novak 76-75-71-73–295

Simon Zach 69-77-76-75–297

Matyas Zapletal 73-77-76-78–304

T44.Puerto Rico (PUR) – 146 I-148 M-148 M-147 I–589 (+17)

Daniel Caban 71-74-74-75–294

Erick Juan Morales 75-74-74-76–299

Max Alverio 81-74-74-72–301

T46.Guam (GUM) – 146 M-152 I-145 M-149 I–592 (+20)

Devin Hua 71-74-72-72–289

Redge Camacho 75-78-73-77–303

Nalapon Vongjalorn 82-80-80-79–321

T46.Guatemala (GUA) – 146 M-145 I-146 I-155 M–592 (+20)

Sebastian Barnoya 79-71-71-76–297

Alejandro Villavicencio 72-74-75-81–302

Pablo Castellanos 74-82-85-79–320

48.Slovakia (SVK) – 149 M-148 I-147 M-154 I–598 (+26)

Adam Puchmelter 73-74-69-77–293

Michal Brezovsky 76-74-78-77–305

Jakub Hrinda 87-NC-NC-78–NC

49.Bermuda (BER) – 152 I-146 M-152 M-149 I–599 (+27)

Jarryd Dillas 77-74-73-73–297

Eric West 80-72-79-76–307

Mark Phillips 75-74-82-78–309

50.Belgium (BEL) – 152 M-152 I-150 M-148 I–602 (+30)

Adrien Dumont de Chassart 75-76-74-76–301

Alan De Bondt 77-76-76-73–302

Kristof Ulenaers 80-80-78-75–313

51.Croatia (CRO) – 156 I-143 M-158 M-149 I–606 (+34)

Ivan Vucemil 75-71-86-73–305

Luka Karaula 81-80-83-76–320

Adam Brnic 93-72-75-83–323

52.Egypt (EGY) – 151 I-156 M-154 M-147 I–608 (+36)

Issa Abouelela 71-74-70-75–290

Gougou Abdeltawab 91-82-84-85–342

Dean Naime 80-84-NC-72–NC

53.Turkey (TUR) – 151 I-150 M-152 M-156 I–609 (+37)

Ali Altuntas 71-75-73-75–294

Alihan Afsar 85-75-79-83–322

Leon Acikalin 80-80-82-81–323

54.Slovenia (SLO) – 149 M-156 I-154 M-151 I–610 (+38)

Zan Luka Stirn 74-75-79-77–305

Luka Naglic 78-81-79-74–312

Mark Trnovec 75-85-75-85–320

55.Jamaica (JAM) – 162 M-150 I-152 M-148 I–612 (+40)

Jonathan Newnham 84-77-79-74–314

Ian Facey 86-85-73-74–318

Sean Morris 78-73-87-85–323

56.Serbia (SRB) – 150 I-162 M-151 M-150 I–613 (+41)

Branimir Gudelj 73-79-81-75–308

Mihailo Dimitrijevic 77-84-76-75–312

Ranko Helc 80-83-75-77–315

57.Costa Rica (CRC) – 157 M-152 I-154 M-151 I–614 (+42)

Paul Chaplet 79-78-73-74–304

Jose Mendez 79-74-81-77–311

Manuel Jimenez 78-88-85-77–328

58.Panama (PAN) – 155 I-154 M-157 M-150 I–616 (+44)

Luis Cargiulo 83-72-85-74–314

Paolo Cargiulo 78-82-74-81–315

Jose Guillermo Lewis 77-83-83-76–319

59.Cayman Islands (CAY) – 156 I-153 M-159 M-159 I–627 (+55)

Michael Wight 74-80-79-78–311

Payten Wight 82-78-80-81–321

Andrew Jarvis 87-75-81-81–324

60.Qatar (QAT) – 153 M-159 I-153 M-164 I–629 (+57)

Saleh Al Kaabi 71-79-77-81–308

Ali Al Shahrani 82-81-76-85–324

Abdulrahman Al Shahrani 90-80-91-83–344

61.El Salvador (ESA) – 156 I-167 M-152 M-155 I–630 (+58)

Rodrigo Sol 78-81-75-76–310

Tino Flores 82-86-77-79–324

Bobby Moore 78-88-89-82–337

62.Kenya (KEN) – 158 I-155 M-165 M-159 I–637 (+65)

Sujan Shah 80-75-84-81–320

Bo Gatundu 78-83-83-78–322

Neer Chandaria 81-80-82-84–327

63.Greece (GRE) – 162 I-158 M-157 M-162 I–639 (+67)

Panagiotis Pantazopoulos 83-77-77-80–317

Dimitrios Rokadakis 79-81-80-82–322

Panagiotis Samakovlis 89-84-83-88–344

64.United Arab Emirates (UAE) – 158 I-160 M-161 M-161 I–640 (+68)

Saif Thabet 86-78-80-78–322

Ahmad Skaik 78-82-81-83–324

Rashid Hamood 80-89-81-88–338

65.Mauritius (MRI) – 160 I-158 M-155 M-168 I–641 (+69)

Rakesh Channoo 79-79-79-79–316

Phil Minkley 86-79-76-89–330

Ian Espitalier Noel 81-89-82-NC–NC

66.Bulgaria (BUL) – 161 I-170 M-159 M-155 I–645 (+73)

Vladi Marinov 85-84-75-76–320

Asen Mihaylov 77-87-88-79–331

Ryan Staykov 84-86-84-79–333

67.Republic of Moldova (MDA) – 165 I-162 M-165 M-166 I–658 (+86)

Aleksei Koika 79-77-76-77–309

Dennis Volostnykh 86-86-89-89–350

Artiom Podgainii 95-85-98-103–381

68.Malta (MLT) – 165 I-166 M-158 M-170 I–659 (+87)

Jay Jay Micallef 80-81-78-86–325

Andy Borg 85-85-80-84–334

Christian Brown 85-86-81-89–341

69.Haiti (HAI) – 176 I-167 M-178 M-179 I–700 (+128)

Jean-Philippe Mehu 81-77-82-83–323

Pierre-Antoine Donte 95-100-96-96–387

Maurice Pasha Brandt 99-90-108-NC–NC

70.Kazakhstan (KAZ) – 189 I-172 M-190 M-186 I–737 (+165)

Baurzhan Sarkytbayev 92-85-95-85–357

Yerbol Bukharbayev 103-94-100-101–398

Yerbolat Ospanov 97-87-95-NC–NC

71.Armenia (ARM) – 206 I-221 M-208 M-224 I–859 (+287)

Levon Karakhanyan 86-94-97-95–372

Karen Hovhannisyan 120-127-111-129–487

 

 

  Eisenhower Trophy