Far Hills, N.J. (Aug. 11) – One day after being crowned the 2008 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, Amanda Blumenherst of Scottsdale, Ariz., was selected by the United States Golf Association to represent the USA at the 2008 Women’s World Amateur Team Championship, to be played Oct. 8-11 at the Grange Golf Club’s East and West Courses in Adelaide, Australia. Joining her on the American team will be Tiffany Joh of San Diego, Calif., and Alison Walshe of Westford, Mass. Sydnee Michaels of Temecula, Calif., was named first alternate and Tiffany Lua of Rowland Heights, Calif., was named second alternate.
“It is such an amazing experience to represent your country, and I’m honored to be selected,” said Blumenherst, who will play for Team USA a second time after helping the Americans finish ninth in 2006. “And it is so much fun to be on an actual team, when golf is usually an individual sport. I feel we have such a solid team, that we will definitely bring home the trophy.”
Marcia Luigs of Carmel, Ind., USGA Women’s Committee chairman in 2005 and 2006, will serve as the United States Women’s Team captain. “I’m thrilled with the selection of Amanda, Alison and Tiffany,” said Luigs. “All three are such outstanding players and have a passion for the game and representing their country. I look forward to serving as captain of a team that has already demonstrated such talent, camaraderie and sportsmanship.”
The biennial competition has been played since 1964, with the winner taking home the Espirito Santo Trophy. South Africa is the defending champion, having won the 2006 title in its home country. The United States last won the championship in 1998, and has captured the trophy a record 13 times since 1966.
A record 54 teams from around the world have entered the 2008 Women’s World Amateur Team Championship. It is played in conjunction with the World Amateur Team Championship for men, which will be played Oct. 16-19 on Royal Adelaide Golf Club and the Grange’s West Course.
The World Amateur Team title is determined by four days of stroke play. A country may field a team of two or three players. In each round, the total of the two lowest scores by players from each team constitutes the team score for the round. The four-day total is the team’s score for the championship.
The Women’s World Amateur Team Championship is conducted by the International Golf Federation, which was founded in 1958 to encourage the international development of the game and to employ golf as a vehicle to foster friendship and sportsmanship. Recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the official international federation for golf, the IGF comprises the national governing bodies of golf in more than 100 countries.
USA Team Member Bios
Blumenherst, 21, won the 2008 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Eugene (Ore.) Country Club after being the championship’s runner-up a year ago. She tied for low-amateur honors at the 2006 U.S. Women’s Open and also made the cut at the 2007 and 2008 Women’s Opens. In addition to playing on the victorious 2006 and 2008 USA Curtis Cup teams, she represented the USA at the 2006 Women’s World Amateur Team Championship. Among her numerous collegiate victories are the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships while playing for Duke University. A three-time national collegiate player of the year and first-team All-America, she was the 2006 Edith Cummings Mason Golf Award honoree (which recognizes the female All-America golfer with the highest grade-point average), and the winner of the 2007 and 2008 Nancy Lopez Award (which recognizes the top amateur female golfer).
Joh, 21, won the 2006 and 2008 Women’s Amateur Public Links titles and was a member of the victorious 2008 USA Curtis Cup team. She won the 2007 Pac-10 individual title and was the runner-up at the 2008 NCAA Division I Championship and the 2007 NCAA West Regional. A first-team collegiate All-American in 2005-06 and 2007-08 and a second-team selection in 2006-07, she was named the Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year in 2007-08 and is a three-time conference first-team honoree. Joh, who is entering her senior year at UCLA, made the cut at the LPGA Tour’s Safeway Classic in 2007 and won the 2007 Bucaramanga Open in Colombia.
Walshe, 23, who recently graduated from the University of Arizona, was undefeated (4-0) in helping the USA win the 2008 Curtis Cup Match and made the cut at the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open. Walshe – who began her collegiate career at Boston College before transferring to Tulane – has earned first-team honors in three different conferences: the Big East in 2003-04, Conference USA in 2004-05 and the Pac-10 in 2006-07 and 2007-08. She won the 2004 Big East Conference title and was that conference’s player of the year for 2003-04. She matched that feat upon transferring to Tulane, winning the 2005 Conference USA Championship and earning the conference’s player of the year honor. Among her victories are the 2006 Stanford Invitational, the 2007 BYU Dixie Classic, the 2007 North and South Women’s Amateur Championship, the 2008 Harder Hall Invitational, and the 2008 Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational.
Michaels, 20, is entering her junior year at UCLA and has played in the last three U.S. Women’s Opens, making the cut in 2008. She also made the cut at the 2006 LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship and has played in three U.S. Women’s Amateurs and three U.S. Girls’ Juniors. Michaels earned 2008 NCAA second-team All-America honors after tying for eighth individually at the NCAA Division I Championship. She set a 54-hole school record en route to victory at the 2007 NCAA East Regional and has played on Junior Solheim and AJGA Canon Cup teams.
Lua, 17, also made the cut at the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open, was the stroke-play medalist at the 2007 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links and was a semifinalist at the 2008 championship. Lua, who will be a senior at Los Altos (Ca.) High School in the fall, has played in the Junior Solheim Cup and AJGA Canon Cup and has two AJGA runner-up finishes at the 2008 Thunderbird and Rolex Tournament of Champions. In 2004, at the age of 13, she was the California Women’s Amateur runner-up.
About the USGA
The USGA is the national governing body of golf in this country and Mexico, a combined territory that includes more than half the world’s golfers and golf courses.
The Association’s most visible role is played out each season in conducting 13 national championships, including the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Senior Open. Ten additional USGA national championships are exclusively for amateurs, and include the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
The USGA also writes the Rules of Golf, conducts equipment testing, provides expert course maintenance consultations, funds research for better turf and a better environment, maintains a Handicap System and administers an ongoing “For the Good of the Game” grants program, which has allocated more than $62 million over 11 years to successful programs that bring the game’s values to youths from disadvantaged backgrounds and people with disabilities. For more information about the USGA, visit www.usga.org.
Contact:
Dave Fanucchi (dfanucchi@usga.org)
Web Address: www.usga.org
USGA Phone: (908) 234-2300
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