16 October 2006

A record 126 teams are taking part in the 2006 World Amateur Team Golf Championships teeing off in Stellenbosch near Cape Town on Wednesday.

The International Golf Federation's biennial World Amateur Team Championships features two international team golf events - for the Espirito Santo Trophy (the women's competition) and the Eisenhower Trophy (the men's competition).

It is the first time the championships will be played in Africa, with 75 men's teams and 51 women's teams competing for the coveted trophies.

Host clubs
Stellenbosch, in the picturesque Cape Winelands, will be home to the competitions, with the De Zalze Golf Club and the Stellenbosch Golf Club hosting the events.

The women's event will be played from 18 to 21 October and the men's event from 26 to 29 October.

Format
Both championships are conducted over 72 holes of stroke play, with the lowest two individual scores of each day making up each team's aggregate score. Teams consist of either two or three players.

Sweden won the women's title and the US the men's title in Puerto Rico in 2004, when 48 women's teams and 66 men's teams took part.

"To have surpassed the records for team entries is extremely exciting for us and bodes well for a great World Championship event," said Neale Kunhardt, South African Golf Association vice-president and organising committee chairman.

World eager to visit SA
"It also demonstrates how eager the rest of the world is to come and play our world-class golf courses and experience everything else South Africa has to offer."

There are five first-time entrants in the women's competition for the Espirito Santo Trophy, while six teams will make their debut in the men's competition for the Eisenhower Trophy.

In the women's competition, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales will also be competing individually for the first time since 1964. In the previous 20 Espirito Santo competitions, these countries competed together as Great Britain and Ireland.

The International Golf Federation, founded in 1958, uses golf as a vehicle to foster international friendship and sportsmanship. The body is comprised of the national governing bodies of golf in more than 100 countries, and serves as the International Olympic Committee's recognised international body for golf.

SouthAfrica.info reporter

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	The beautiful Stellenbosch Golf club will be one of the hosts of the 2006 World Amateur Team Golf Championships (Photo: Evert Nel, Stellenbosch Golf Club)

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