WWATC: Australia wins,India at 17

Report by Rajlakshmi Retesh

September 6, 2014: After a disastrous final round, Indian team comprising of Aditi Ashok, Gurbani Singh and Astha Madan slipped to 17th place at Women’s World Amateur Team Championship (WWATC).

Unable to withstand pressure, Aditi shot a final round of three-over 75,  While, Gurbani posted five –over 77. However Astha Madan’s one-over par-73 was the best score of Indian team on final day.

Meanwhile, Australian team came from behind to lift the prestigious Espirito Santo Trophy in Japan for the third time. Australians combined score of 131 from Minjee Lee and Su Oh in the final round came from seven strokes behind Canada to win the 2014 Women’s World Amateur Team Championship (WWATC) at 29-under-par 547 at Karuizawa 72 Golf East’s Iriyama Course.

Canada, which led on each of the first three days and was vying for its first WWATC win, had to satisfy with second place at 27-under 549. It was Canada’s fourth silver medal. The Republic of Korea, which won the title in 2010 and 2012, finished third at 550.

Canada’s Henderson led the individual standings at 19-under 269, which breaks the WWATC mark of 274 set by Lydia Ko in 2012.

Denmark finished fourth at 556, followed by Sweden and the USA tied for fifth at 557, Mexico in seventh at 560, England and host Japan tied for eighth at 562 and the Philippines in 10th at 563.

The Women’s World Amateur Team Championship is a biennial international amateur competition conducted by the International Golf Federation (IGF), which comprises 137 national governing bodies in 131 countries. The competition, which is being held for the 26th time, is rotated among three geographic zones: Asia-Pacific, Americas and Europe-Africa.

This year’s event is hosted by the Japan Golf Association. In each round, the total of the two lowest scores from each team constitutes the team score for the round. The four-day (72-hole) total is the team’s score for the championship.

For the final round, the top half of team scoring played the Iriyama Course and the other half played Oshitate.

The 2016 Women’s World Amateur Team Championship will be played in Cancun, Mexico.