18 January 2007

The Women's World Cup of Golf tees off in South Africa for the third year running on Friday, with Sun City in North West province hosting the event for the second time.

Twenty-two countries will be represented, with defending champions Sweden missing world number one Annika Sorenstam, and Liselotte Neumann also not returning in 2007. This time around the Swedes will be represented by Carin Koch and Helen Alfredsson.

Between them, Koch and Alfredsson have won seven times on the prestigious LPGA Tour. For Alfredsson, 2007 is a big year as she will captain the European Solheim Cup Team on home soil, in Halmstad, against the US in the women's equivalent of the Ryder Cup.

American experience
As always, the US should be in the running for the honours at the World Cup. They bring plenty of experience to the event in the form of Hall of Famer Juli Inkster and Pat Hurst. It's not just about experience, however, as both players produced excellent form in 2006.

Inkster recorded 12 top-10 finishes, including a win at the Safeway International, while Hurst finished in the top 10 eight times and won the Safeway Classic.

England will be represented by Laura Davies and Trish Johnson. Davies has 47 careers wins to her name, including 20 in the US. The former world number one finished 2006 on top of the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit thanks to a season that included victory in the SAS Masters and five runner-up finishes.

South African challenge
South Africa's team is the same for the third year in a row, consisting of Laurette Maritz and Ashleigh Simon, who is one of only two amateurs in the field.

The pair finished twelfth at Fancourt in 2005, and in seventh place in Sun City last year.

For Maritz, 2006 wasn't a great year as she achieved only three top-10 places on the Ladies European Tour, one of which came at the World Cup. Simon, though, had a fantastic year, winning the World Amateur Women's Team Championship and dominating the local golf scene in competition against the professionals.

Her year included victories in the the Nedbank Women's Masters, the SA Amateur Strokeplay and Matchplay, and the Rolex Tournament of Champions in the US.

Late inclusion
Scotland became a late inclusion into the competition when the Philippines withdrew. Their back door entry was something of a surprise considering the Scots' fine record in the event in recent years.

They finished runners-up to Sweden in 2006, and in 2005 they ended in fourth place. Janice Moodie competes in the World Cup for the third consecutive year, while Mhairi McKay plays for the first time.

With Julieta Granada leading their challenge, Paraguay is a dark-horse challenger for honours. The 20-year-old Granada enjoyed a superb rookie season on the LPGA Tour, finishing in the top 10 on seven occasions, and winning the season-ending ADT Championships to pick up the biggest cheque in women's golf of US$1-million. She plays alongside Celeste Troche.

Wales return the same team that finished third in 2006, made up of Becky Morgan and Becky Brewerton.

Teamwork crucial
As is the nature of such team events, it isn't necessarily the teams with the highest ranked players that perform well. If that was the case, the US wouldn't have lost three successive Ryder Cups clashes to Europe, but lost them they have, and the European victories have been clear-cut. And Tiger Woods has been nowhere near as successful in the event as he has been in individual tournaments.

The Women's World Cup of Golf requires good teamwork. The competition covers 54 holes with a different format being used each day. On Friday, the singles competition takes place. On Saturday, the foursomes follow, with best ball taking place on Sunday.

The team that can best find the combination of form and teamwork should emerge the winners.

The course
According to Sun City's director of golf, Ken Payet, the course at the Gary Player Country Club is in immaculate condition. In fact, thanks to recent rains, he reckons it is looking better than it was for the Nedbank Challenge in December.

The rough has been cut down to 50 millimetres, which is standard for women's events, but Payet has warned that it won't be at all forgiving. He is expecting a winning score of about five-under-par, which is similar to last year's seven-under-par achieved by Sweden.

TEAMS

	Young South African golfing phenomenon Ashleigh Simon will get to show her off her game against the world's best at Sun City

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	Women's World Cup of Golf  Ladies African Tour  LPGA.com  Ladies European Tour

Golf courses in South Africa Our climate is ideal for spending time out on the fairways, and when it comes to courses, golfers here are blessed for choice.