Golf Update: Korea Wins the Women World Amateur team Championship.
Korea beat the United States by 17 strokes at Olivos Golf Course to win the Espirito Santo Trophy in Argentina. The last time Korean ladies won the Amateur Championship was in 1996 in Philippines. The team consisting of Ji-Hee Kim, Hyun-Soo Kim and Jung-Eun
Han shot a communal total of 30-under par 546. They overcame the previous team record of 558 set by USA in 1998.
Yesterday’s triumph added to an ever impressive record at the World Amateur Teams Championship. Overall, the winning team has achieved four medals and have been runner ups two times in 1994 and 2000. The Korean captain, Hyung-Mo Kang, was very happy. She
said that it’s the second time they have won an event and she would like to thank the players for their victory.
Korea was at a leading advantage since the second round and looking at the final results, it seems like they used it well. Following the third round, Korea secured a huge 13 stroke lead over America and 16 stroke advantage over Germany. The Championship
victory was inevitable, as Jung-Eun Han attained the individual medallist honour by finishing the championship at 13-under-par. Not only did she win such a great honour, but also was one stroke ahead of American Jenny Chuasiriporn’s 1998 record of lowest score.
As for competition among her own team, she was two strokes ahead of her team mate Ji-Hee Kim who finished at 11 under. Han has also advanced to the third round of the 2010 U.S. Women’s Amateur.
"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."
Ji-Hee Kim in turn was one stroke ahead of the final team member, Hyun-Soo Kim. Hyun-Soo Kim said that she never looked at the leader board during the game. It was only after the last hole she realized that they had won. Now that’s called being focused.
Therefore, the Koreans were leading individually and as a team. The Asian Ladies really showed who owns the women Amateur Golf.
The United States, who came second, attainted its 19th medal overall and its third silver-medal performance. The U.S Women’s Amateur Champion, Danielle Kang, shot a 70 and Cydney Clanton posted a 73.
The American Captain, Roberta Bolduc, said that it was a huge margin. She praised the winners by saying they played incredibly well. She said that even though her team played well, they did not make a lot of putts. She appreciated her players by saying
that a silver medal still means a lot and second in the world is not bad.
The defending Champion Sweden tied at third place at 572. Swedes share the third place with France and South Africans. The consistency Sweden has portrayed in these events is remarkable. The team has finished in the top ten since they started playing in
1964. Spain came in sixth at 573 whereas Canadian ladies were at seventh position with a 574.
The team representing New Zealand consisted of Cecilia Cho, Lydia Ko and Caroline Bon tied with Germany and Philippines for 8th position. As for the Australian team, Julia Boland, Alison Whitaker and Stacey Keating all played to tie for the fifteenth
position. They were 34 strokes behind the Koreans and didn’t do as well as they had expected. Even though they had the same defeat margin in Adelaide in 2008, as compared to their overall performance this year, better things were expected. From the three person
team, Alison Whitaker gave the best performance overall. Whitaker gave rounds of 75-73-69-73 and is tied for the 24th position in the individual rankings.
Alison was the only Australian player to secure a sub-par round in these championships. As for her teammates, Julia Boland is tied for 62nd position for rounds of 77-73-73-75 and Stacy Keating is tied for 36th position and posted rounds
of 72-74-74-72.
Overall, the Women Amateur Team championship was very exciting and the Koreans ladies truly deserved their victory.
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