Top 10 storylines: U.S. dominates World Amateur Team Championship
12/27/2012 | by Golfweek
The USA's dominating performance at the WATC is No. 5 on Golfweek's Top 10 stories of 2012
By Ron Balicki, Golfweek
There were plenty of good stories that came out of amateur golf this past season, exciting, happy endings as well as disappointing, heart-breaking endings.
From Steven Fox winning the U.S. Amateur, to Nathan Smith capturing a record fourth U.S. Mid-Amateur to a 14-year-old from China qualifying for next year’s Masters -- and a whole lot more along the way.
I’ve been covering amateur golf at just about every level for some 30 years and it seems each year provides its own share of interesting stories, whether in victory or defeat.
Compiling a list of the best of them for
2012 was difficult, but here is a list of my
top
10:
No. 5: The United States, with a record- setting score of 24-under 404, won the weather-shortened World Amateur Team Championship (WATC) by five strokes over Mexico at the par-71 Antalya (Turkey) Golf Club and claimed the Eisenhower Trophy for the 14th time.
In the final, title-clinching round, Steven Fox, of Hendersonville, Tenn., the 2012 U.S. Amateur champion and Chris Williams, of Moscow, Idaho, No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), both shot 2-under 69 for the U.S. Justin Thomas, of Goshen, Ky., and the freshman and player of the year at Alabama last season, posted a non-counting 1-under 70.
“It has been since 2004 that the trophy has found its way to the USA and it is great to have it coming back to our shores,” said U.S. captain Jim Vernon afterward. “They are three guys who bonded well and played golf as a team.”
The previous low total for 54 holes was 407 by the USA in Puerto Rico in the 2004 WATC, which was also played at 54 holes because of weather.
“It’s fun to win as an individual,” said Williams, a University of Washington senior who won the 2012 Western Amateur. “But to win as a team is awesome and it doesn’t get any better than doing it as representative of the USA.”
There were plenty of good stories that came out of amateur golf this past season, exciting, happy endings as well as disappointing, heart-breaking endings.
From Steven Fox winning the U.S. Amateur, to Nathan Smith capturing a record fourth U.S. Mid-Amateur to a 14-year-old from China qualifying for next year’s Masters -- and a whole lot more along the way.
I’ve been covering amateur golf at just about every level for some 30 years and it seems each year provides its own share of interesting stories, whether in victory or defeat.
|
No. 5: The United States, with a record- setting score of 24-under 404, won the weather-shortened World Amateur Team Championship (WATC) by five strokes over Mexico at the par-71 Antalya (Turkey) Golf Club and claimed the Eisenhower Trophy for the 14th time.
In the final, title-clinching round, Steven Fox, of Hendersonville, Tenn., the 2012 U.S. Amateur champion and Chris Williams, of Moscow, Idaho, No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), both shot 2-under 69 for the U.S. Justin Thomas, of Goshen, Ky., and the freshman and player of the year at Alabama last season, posted a non-counting 1-under 70.
“It has been since 2004 that the trophy has found its way to the USA and it is great to have it coming back to our shores,” said U.S. captain Jim Vernon afterward. “They are three guys who bonded well and played golf as a team.”
The previous low total for 54 holes was 407 by the USA in Puerto Rico in the 2004 WATC, which was also played at 54 holes because of weather.
“It’s fun to win as an individual,” said Williams, a University of Washington senior who won the 2012 Western Amateur. “But to win as a team is awesome and it doesn’t get any better than doing it as representative of the USA.”
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