3rd September 2022

ITALY won the 32nd World Amateur Team Championship (WATC), for the Eisenhower Trophy, in France. 2022 was the first time that Italy had won a medal, let alone gold, at the WATC.

Team Italy (Photo: IGF / USGA / Steve Gibbons)

Round 4

The leading teams, which included ENGLAND, IRELAND, SCOTLAND and WALES, all played their final rounds at Le Golf National.

ITALY produced a 9-under par final round to move past overnight leaders SWEDEN who could only post  a 7-under score. Marco FLORIOLI (-6) and Pietro BOVARI (-3) contributed the two scores that took Italy to the title. European Amateur champion Filippo CELLI, the third member of the Italian team, shot a non-counting 70 in Round 4. ITALY finished on an impressive 541 -31 total with the Swede’s, whose Women’s team won their WATC last week, missing out on a rare double by 1-shot.

USA finished 3rd on -27, NORWAY -25 4th and SPAIN -23 5th.

Early Championship leaders JAPAN perhaps deserved more than their 7th place finish but they paid the price for a flattering finish.

WALES (-17), tied 8th, will be delighted to finish in the top 10 and as the leading home nation team. It was the Principality’s best result at the WATC since they came in fourth in 2006 with a team that consisted of Nigel Edwards, Rhys Davies and Llewellyn Matthews.

ENGLAND (-14) 14th, IRELAND (-8) tied 19th and SCOTLAND (+2) 33rd all finished lower than they would have hoped when they arrived in Paris at the beginning of the week.

Team Results (Graphic: IGF / Golf Genius)

Tobias JONSSON (SWE) shot a final round 66 at Le Golf National to secure Low Individual honours with a 269 -17 total.

Tobias Jonsson (Photo: IGF / USGA / Steve Gibbons)

Taga SEMIKAWA (JAP), who had led from the opening day and started Round 4 with a 5-shot lead, sadly collapsed to a disappointing 73 to finish second on -16.

Austin GREASER (USA) completed a consistent championship with a 67 to finish 3rd on 271 -15.

Archie DAVIES (WAL) had the best Individual score by a home nation player, finishing tied 9th with a 274 -12 result.

Looking at the our ther leading home nation players Mark POWER (IRL) & Sam BAIRSTOW (ENG) -6 finished tied 25th, John GOUGH (ENG) -4 tied 31st, James ASHFIELD (WAL) -2 tied 40th and Calum SCOTT (SCO) & Luke HARRIES (WAL) Ev tied 46th.

Individual Results (Graphic: IGF / Golf Genius)

Click here to view the – Men’s WATC Team Results

Click here to view the – Men’s WATC Individual Results

ME.

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2nd September 2022

Round 3

The leading teams all played their third rounds at Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Brèteche.

SWEDEN matched JAPAN‘s opening day 130 -14 salvo at Saint-Nom-la-Brèteche to snatch the 54-hole lead at the World Amateur Team Championship, finishing on 407 -23.

The Swede’s now have a narrow one shot lead over ITALY, JAPAN and USA heading into the final day. FRANCE -21, SPAIN -19 and NORWAY -18 are also still well in the fight for the Eisenhower Trophy.

WALES (-15) continued their strong performance to stay in the top ten. ENGLAND (-9) are 16th, IRELAND (+1) tied 27th and SCOTLAND (Ev) tied 30th.

Round 3 Team Leaderboard (Graphic: IGF / Golf Genius)

Taga SEMIKAWA (JAP) 197 -18 will take a 5-shot lead over Filippo CELLI (ITA) into the final round after they recorded 69 and 70 respectively at Saint-Nom-la-Brèteche on Day 3.

Tobias JONSSON (SWE) produced the day’s low round with a 64 (-8) which included an eagle and eight birdies. Teammate Ludvig ABERG (SWE) also contributed a 66 (-6) to drive the Swede’s to the top of the leaderboard.

Archie DAVIES (WAL) is tied 3rd alongside Johnson on 203 -12 after he added a solid 69 to his tally

Looking at the other leading home nation players Sam BAIRSTOW (ENG) -5 finished Round 3 tied 33rd, Mark POWER (IRL) -2 tied 36th, Calum SCOTT (SCO) & Luke HARRIES (WAL) -1 tied 45th and James ASHFIELD (WAL) & John GOUGH (ENG) Ev tied 52nd.

Round 3 Individual Leaderboard (Graphic: IGF / Golf Genius)

ME.

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1st September 2022

Round 2

JAPAN continued to enjoy their trip to France posting a strong round at Le Golf National on Day 2 of the Eisenhower Trophy. Their 264 (-22) 36-hole score sees them take a 5-shot lead into the third round.

ITALY moved up to 2nd place after an impressive 134 -10 score at Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Brèteche.

FRANCE -16, USA -15 and NORWAY & SPAIN -13 are the countries battling to stay in touch with the leaders.

WALES (-10), tied 7th, jumped to the top of the home nation rankings after posting an excellent 137 -7 score at Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Brèteche.

It was a disappointing over par day for the remainder of our teams. ENGLAND (-5), who were playing at Saint-Nom-la-Brèteche today, are now tied 17th, IRELAND (+1) tied 29th and SCOTLAND (+4) tied 35th. The Irish and Scots were at Le Golf National for their second rounds.

27 of the 71 teams finished Day 2 under par.

Round 2 Team Leaderboard (Graphic: IGF / Golf Genius)

Taiga SEMIKAWA (JAP) 128 -15 extended his lead in the individual standings to 4-shots after a 65 -6 at Le Golf National.

European Amateur champion Filippo CELLI (ITA) 132 -11 moved into a tie for 2nd place with a 65 (-7) at Saint-Nom-la-Brèteche, finishing his round eagle-birdie.

David PUIG (ESP) also remains in 2nd place after a 66 (-5) at Le Golf National.

Tom VAILLANT (FRA) and Archie DAVIES (WAL) 134 -9 are tied 4th after recording a 65 and 69 respectively at Saint-Nom-la-Brèteche.

Adrien DUMONT DE CHASSART (BEL) produced the round of the day, a 63 at Saint-Nom-la-Brèteche, matching Semikawa’s effort in Round 1

Sam BAIRSTOW (ENG) and John GOUGH (ENG) 141 -2 are tied 30th and Mark POWER (IRL), Luke HARRIES (WAL) and Calum SCOTT (SCO) 141 -1 are tied 42nd with 36-holes still to play.

Round 2 Individual Leaderboard (Graphic: IGF / Golf Genius)

ME.

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31st August 2022

Round 1

JAPAN made a sparkling start to the 2022 Eisenhower Trophy with a barely believable 130 (-14) score around Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Brèteche’s Red Course. It was the second lowest opening round in the WATC since USA’s 128 in Japan in 2014.

SPAIN are second after recording a 136 (-8) score at the same venue.

AUSTRIA, FRANCE, GERMANY, ITALY, SWEDEN and SWITZERLAND 135 (-7) are all tied 3rd. France, Germany and Italy all started their Championship’s at Le Golf National and therefore led the scoring at this venue on Day 1.

ENGLAND (-6) are tied 9th and WALES (-3) tied 14th, after both played their opening rounds at Le Golf National. IRELAND and SCOTLAND (both -2) are tied 20th after starting out at nearby Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Brèteche.

The ideal playing conditions enabled 26 of the 71 teams to finish Day 1 under par.

Round 1 Team Leaderboard (Graphic: IGF / Golf Genius)

Taiga SEMIKAWA (JAP) 63 -9 leads Jonas BAUMGARTNER (GER) 65 -6, Archie DAVIES (WAL) 65 -6, David PUIG (ESP) 66 -6 and Cedric GUGLER (SUI) 66 -6 in the Individual standings. Semikawa’s score was the joint lowest in the history of the WATC.

With Kohei OKADA (JAP) 67 -5, tied 6th, also posting a strong score it is no wonder Japan are leading the way by 6-shots.

Mark POWER (IRL) 69 -3, Sam BAIRSTOW (ENG) and John GOUGH (ENG), both 68 -3, all tied 12th, were the best of the home nation players in Round 1. Scotland’s Calum SCOTT 70 -2 was one shot further back in tied 28th.

Round 1 Individual Leaderboard (Graphic: IGF / Golf Genius)

ME.

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22nd August 2022

The 32nd Men’s World Amateur Team Championship (WATC), played for the Eisenhower Trophy, starts on Wednesday 31st August in Paris, France.

The WATC is a biennial international amateur golf competition run by the International Golf Federation (IGF), formerly known as the World Amateur Golf Council.

The IGF comprises 151 national governing bodies of golf in 146 countries and 22 international professional tours. It is recognised by the International Olympic Committee as the body responsible for golf and as such, in addition to the Men’s and Women’s WATC’s it also organises the golf competitions in both the Olympics and Youth Olympics.

The competition has in recent years moved by rotation around the world taking in Asia-Pacific, the Americas and Europe-Africa in turn. It will be played in the Middle East for the first time in 2023.

The first WATC took place in 1958 and was played over the Old Course at St. Andrews. Bobby Jones captained the United States of America famously receiving the Freedom of the Town during the trip, although his team ended up losing a play-off to Australia for the title.

The competition was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was therefore last played at Carton House, Ireland in September 2018.

I will be updating this article with reports and results information during the Championship.

Venue

The WATC will be played on the Albatross Course at Le Golf National and on the Red Course at Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Brèteche.

La Golf National is well known having staged the 2018 Ryder Cup and numerous French Open Championships since 1991.

The course, which is man made with undulating fairways, fast greens and numerous water hazards, will play to 6,991 yards and a par of 71. It enjoys a slope of 155.

The 15th and 18th Greens, La Golf National (Photo: Steve Carr / Le Golf National)

Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche is an exclusive golf club which sits in rolling countryside in La Tuilerie and enjoys an 18th century manor house for a clubhouse.

The Club has hosted the Canada Cup in 1963, the French Open Championship twice and the prestigious Tophée Lancôme for 34 years on the European Tour.

The Red Course will play to 6,821 yards and a par of 72 during the Championship. It has a slope of 142.

The 1st Tees and Clubhouse, Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche

Competition Format

71 teams are competing in the 2022 WATC.

The three players from each team play 72 holes of stroke play over four days. The two lowest rounds recorded on each day count towards the team’s total score.

The leading 36 teams after 36 holes will play their third round at Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche and their final round at Le Golf National. The other teams will do the reverse.

The winning team receive the Eisenhower Trophy. The Trophy was provided in 1958 by the American Friends of Golf through the United States Golf Association and the Royal and Ancient GolfGolf Club of St. Andrews, Scotland. It is named in honour of the then United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The inscription on the trophy reads: “To foster friendship and sportsmanship among the Peoples of the World.”

Players in the leading three teams receive gold, silver and bronze medals.

Whilst individual results are reported and the player with the lowest score is recognised at the closing ceremony there is no prize awarded for the honour.

GB&I Competitors

Each of the home nations will be represented with the following players having been selected (SPWAR as at 25th August): –

ENGLAND
Sam BAIRSTOW (#7), Arron EDWARDS-HILL (#38) and John GOUGH (#22)

Team England (Photo: IGF / USGA / Steve Gibbons)

IRELAND
Matthew MCCLEAN (#57), Robert MORAN (#62) and Mark POWER (#175)

Team Ireland (Photo: IGF / USGA / Steve Gibbons)

SCOTLAND
Callum BRUCE (#188), Rory FRANSSEN (#106) and Calum SCOTT (#83)

Team Scotland (Photo: IGF / USGA / Steve Gibbons)

WALES
James ASHFIELD (#159), Archie DAVIES (#85) and Luke HARRIES (#166)

Team Wales (Photo: IGF / USGA / Steve Gibbons)

Good luck to all of the home nation teams competing in France this week.

In addition to England and Ireland, currently our strongest nations, I expect the following teams to feature near the top of the leaderboard: –

AUSTRALIA – Harrison Crowe (#71), Hayden Hopewell (#48), Connor McKinney (#29)

FRANCE – Martin Couvre (#107), Julian Sale (#23), Tom Vaillant (#30)

ITALY – Pietro Bovari (#177), Filippo Celli (#41), Marco Florioli (#87)

JAPAN – Keita Nakajima (#31), Kohei Okada (#407), Taiga Semikawa (#100)

SOUTH AFRICA – Christo Lamprecht (#45), Christiaan Maas (#11), Aldrich Potgieter (#46)

SPAIN – Jose Ballester (#66), Luis Masaveu (#117), David Puig (N/R)

SWEDEN – Tobias Jonsson (#173), Adam Wallin (#200), Ludvig Aberg (#1)

USA – Austen Greaser (#17), Gordon Sargent (#6), Michael Thorbjornsen (#2)

Additional Information

Click here to view the – Men’s WATC Team Results

Click here to view the – Men’s WATC Individual Results

Click here to view the – Men’s WATC Tee Times

Click here to view the – Official IGF World Amateur Team Championships Webpage

Future WATC Events

33rd – 25th-28th October 2023 – Jumeirah Golf Estates (Fire Course), Dubai, United Arab Emirates

34th – 2025 – Singapore

35th – 2027 – Morocco

2023 will be the first time the event has been staged in the Middle East and will see it move to odd years to avoid a clash with the Summer Olympic Games.

Due to the escalating costs of staging the WATC it will in all future years be played at a single course with the field reduced to a minimum of 36 teams.

It is expected a new qualifying competition for the smaller and newer golfing nations will be established ahead of this Championship.

2018 WATC

DENMARK won the Men’s World Amateur Team Championship at Carton House in Ireland with a record 541 (-39) team score. The Danish team was made up of John Axelsen, Nicolai Hojgaard and Rasmus Hojgaard. This was Denmark’s first victory in the Championship. Their previous best result was second place in Argentina in 2010.

Denmark With The Eisenhower Trophy (Photo: International Golf Federation)

The UNITED STATES finished 2nd paying the penalty for a poor first day. In the final analysis they found themselves coming up 1-shot short on 542 (-38).

SPAIN were third on 544 (-36) two shots further back.

The Leading Final Team Results (Graphic: IGF)

ENGLAND were the best of the home nations finishing 8th on 549 (-31).

IRELAND finished tied 10th on 553 (-27), SCOTLAND tied 12th on 554 (-26) and WALES tied 18th on 560 (-20).

Click here to view the full – 2018 Eisenhower Trophy Team Scores

Spain’s Alejandro DEL RAY was the low individual with a superb -23 final score, beating Japan’s Takumi KANAYA by 1-shot.

Robin DAWSON and Gian-Marco PETROZZI (-14) both finished tied 13th to share low GB&I honours. Matthew JORDAN, Sandy SCOTT and Ryan LUMSDEN (-12) were a couple of shots further back.

The Leading Final Individual Team Results (Graphic: IGF)

Click here to view the – 2018 Eisenhower Trophy Individual Scores

2016 WATC

AUSTRALIA won the 2016 World Amateur Team Championship in Mayakoba, Mexico by a massive 19-shots. The team of Cameron DAVIS, Harrison ENDYCOTT and Curtis LUCK equalled the 72 hole scoring record of 534 (-38). It was the fourth time Australia had won the Eisenhower Trophy, following victories in 1958, 1966 and 1996.

Australia’ Cameron DAVIS (269 / -17) recorded the Championship’s lowest individual score. His compatriot Curtis LUCK (271 / -15) finished second, helped in no small part by a superb 63 (-9) in the third round.

Australia – Harrison Endycott, Cameron Davis, Curtis Luck, Matt Cutler (Photo: Golf Australia)

2014 WATC

The United States of America, represented by  Bryson DECHAMBEAU, Beau HOSSLER and Denny MCCARTHY won the 2014 Eisenhower Trophy in Karuizawa, Japan. The U.S. team set a new record score of 534 (-38).

In 2014 Spain’s Jon RAHM won the Individual with a record breaking 263 (-23) total.

U.S.A. – Bryson DeChambeau, Denny McCarthy, Jim Hyler (c) and Beau Hossler (Photo: USGA / Steven Gibbons)

Historic Results

GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND (GB&I) have won the Eisenhower Trophy four times but only SCOTLAND have won it in their own right since each of the home nations started to compete separately.

The competion holds a special place in the story of English amateur Peter MCEVOY. He participated in the winning GB&I team in 1988, he also ‘won’ the Individual (284) that year and he went on to captain the GB&I team that won it again in 1998. A hat trick of Eisenhower Trophy achievements that may prove difficult for anyone else to match.

Here is the full list of historic results: –

ME.

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