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From Colin Farquharson
CAPE TOWN NOT ST ANDREWS BAY CHOSEN FOR 2006 WORLD AMATEUR TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
Cape Town, South Africa has been selected as the venue of the 2006 world
men's and women's amateur team championships.
This means that the joint Ladies Golf Union-Scottish Golf Union bid to
stage the tournaments in four years' time at St Andrews Bay has failed.
The selection of Cape Town was announced by the World Amateur Golf Council
(WAGC) at its biennial meeting in Kualal Lumpur, Malaysia today (Tuesday).
The 2006 championships will be hosted by the South African Golf Association
in
conjunction with the South African Ladies Golf Union.
Spier Country Club, designed by Peter Matkovich and opened in 2000, and
Stellenbosch Golf Club, designed by Ken Elkin and opened in 1953, are
the two championship courses, located approximately 35 miles east of Cape
Town in the Stellenbosch wine-growing region.
The 22nd women's competition for the Espirito Santo Trophy and the 25th
men's competition for the Eisenhower Trophy will be held in October or
November of 2006.
"The opportunity to visit the continent of Africa for the first time with
the world amateur team championships is very attractive to the WAGC,"
said Reed Mackenzie, joint chairman of the WAGC. "We are excited about
bringing our international amateur event to the world stage in South Africa."
South Africa was designated as the ninth different European-African Zonenation
to host the biennial championships, which gather some of the best amateurs
in the world.
"To be the first nation in Africa chosen to host the competition for the
Espirito Santo and Eisenhower Trophies is an honor beyond description,"
said Dr. Carel Niewoudt, president of the South African Golf Association.
"We look forward to showing the world the high quality of golf courses
in our
nation as well as a close-up view of our culture, tradition and history.
Hosting the World Amateur Team Championship falls in line with our philosophy
to promote golf in Africa."
Both championships are over 72 holes of stroke play, and each country
will have three players per team representing their nation.
The 2002 world amateur team championships, hosted by the Malaysian Golf
Association, are currently being conducted at Saujana Golf & Country Club,
near Kuala Lumpur, where 39 women's teams and 63 men's teams are competing.
Australia captured the women's event, which concluded 19 October. The
men's
event begins Thursday.
The 2004 Championships will be played at the Hyatt Dorado Beach Resort
&
Country Club in Puerto Rico.
The WAGC was founded in 1958 to encourage the international development
of
golf and to employ the game as a vehicle to foster friendship and sportsmanship
among the peoples of the world. Serving as the International
Olympic Committee's recognized International Federation for golf, the
WAGC
is comprised of the national governing bodies of golf in more than 100
countries.
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FOLLOWING THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT SOUTH AFRICA HAD BEEN CHOSEN TO
HOST THE 2006 WORLD AMATEUR TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS This statement has
been issued today by the Scottish Golf Union
"Obviously we are disappointed that the World Amateur Golf Federation
did not decide to choose Scotland to host the World Amateur Team
Championships in St Andrews in 2006.
"Having said that, they were only positive about the Scottish bid,
with very good feedback from the delegates about St Andrews as a
whole, and St Andrews Bay in particular as the proposed venue for
the event. There was no question at all about our ability to host
the tournament.
"The general consensus was that it should be Scotland's next time
- this wasn't the time for us. South Africa, and the other countries
all put together good bids, and the fact that South Africa have
bid for the event before was enough to tip the ballot.
"The next time Scotland will be able to host the event is 2012 -
that is the next time it will be open to Europe and Africa under
the zone rule. We will build on the success here in Kuala Lumpur,
and when we return to Scotland we will have a think about 2012."
Below is a brief statement from Andy Salmon. Chief Executive Officer
of the Ladies' Golf Union.
" We are obviously disappointed that the joint bid, between ourselves
and the Scottish Golf Union, to host the 2006 World Amateur Team
Championships in St Andrews has been unsuccessful. However we endorse
the statement issued by Hamish Grey, Chief Executive of the SGU,
and in due course will be considering our position in relation to
a bid for the Championships in 2012."
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Hamish Grey, CEO SGU
Andy Salmon, CEO LGU
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