Team USA Players Named for 2019 Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship
Four of the country’s top collegiate golfers have been named to Team USA for the 2019 Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship held Nov. 7-9 at Whispering Pines Golf Club. The Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship is a premiere golf event featuring the world’s best men and women amateur golfers representing their respective countries in team and individual competitions. It is a biennial event which alternates with the World Amateur Team Championship.
Representing Team USA is Cole Hammer (Houston, Texas), Andy Ogletree (Little Rock, Miss.), Emilia Migliaccio (Cary, NC), and Kaitlyn Papp (Austin, Texas).
The 2019 Spirit International features 80 competitors from 20 countries, representing six continents. The Spirit is a 54-hole four-ball stroke play competition with three concurrent competition categories: international team, men’s team, women’s team. Gold, Silver and Bronze commemorative medals are awarded to the top three golfers in each competition.
Team USA is looking for its sixth overall and fifth consecutive win. Their latest win came in 2015. The 2017 event was cancelled due to Hurricane Harvey.
Stacy Lewis, a 12-time LPGA champion and Houston resident, is the captain of Team USA.
“The Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship is such a special event and I look forward to serving as captain for Team USA,’ Lewis said. “With Cole, Andy, Emilia and Kaitlyn, we have a great team that I know will represent our country well. It’s going to be a great week of competition.”
A closer look at Team USA:
Cole Hammer • Houston Texas • Houston-Kinkaid HS • University of Texas, Soph.
- Currently No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings…2019 McCormack Medal winner…member of the 2019 Walker Cup Team which defeated Great Britain & Ireland at Royal Liverpool Golf Club…member of the 2019 Palmer Cup team… At age 15, he qualified for the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay…Helped lead University of Texas to a second-place finish in the 2019 NCAA Championship…2019 Phil Mickelson Award winner for college golf’s Freshman of the Year…compiled a 69.44 stroke average in nine college events as a freshman
Andy Ogletree • Little Rock, Miss. • Union HS • Georgia Tech, Sr.
- 2019 U.S. Amateur Champion at Pinehurst…currently No. 36 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings…member of the 2019 Walker Cup Team which defeated Great Britain & Ireland at Royal Liverpool Golf Club…Qualified for the 2015 and 2018 U.S. Amateur Championships…Named to the 2019 All-America second team and All-Atlantic Coast Conference team…2019 ACC Championship runner-up…Compiled a career-best 70.38 stroke average in his junior year at Georgia Tech…Won the Class AA state medalist honors five times at Union High School (Miss.), winning the 2016 title by 16 strokes
Emilia Migliaccio • Cary, N.C. • Athens Drive HS • Wake Forest, Jr.
- Currently No. 9 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings…member of the 2016 Junior Ryder Cup, 2017 Junior Solheim Cup and 2018 & 2019 Palmer Cup teams…2019 Pan American Games Gold Medalist…2019 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) individual and team champion earning All-ACC and GCCA All-America honors…compiled a scoring average of 71.52, fourth lowest overall in Wake Forest history…2018 ACC Freshman of the Year…2017 AJGA Girls Champion…2013 North Carolina Girls Junior Player of the Year and 2013 4A North Carolina state champion.
Kaitlyn Papp • Austin, Texas • Lake Travis HS • University of Texas, Jr.
- Currently No. 26 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings…member of the 2018 & 2019 Palmer Cup teams…Named to the 2019 WGCA All-America first team at University of Texas…Big 12 Player and Freshman of the year in 2018…Played in the 2019 Augusta National Women’s Amateur…One of 26 amateurs who qualified to play in the 74thS. Women’s Open in Charleston…2017 National High School Senior Girls Golf Athlete of the Year…Helped Lake Travis High School win three consecutive UIL Class 6A state championships, earning individual state medal honors in 2017
Team USA Captain – Stacy Lewis
- Houston resident who won the 2007 NCAA Division I Championship… Member of 2008 U.S. Curtis Cup team and first ever player to go 5-0 in a single Curtis Cup…has totaled 12 LPGA Tour wins, including majors at the 2011 ANA Inspiration and the 2013 Women’s British Open…108 career Top 10 finishes…Five-time member of the United States Solheim Cup team (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)…represented USA in the 2016 Rio Olympics…2017 Cambria Portland Classic champion and donated her winnings to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey in Houston…2019 Spirit Charity Challenge Ambassador
About The Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship:
Eighty competitors from 20 countries compete for gold medals in the 54-hole four-ball stroke play competition in The Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship. Each country is represented by two women and two men amateur golfers. Previous Spirit International competitors who now are professionals on the LPGA and PGA TOUR include Jordan Spieth, Francesco Molinari, Brandt Snedeker, Jason Day, Martin Kaymer, Viktor Hovland, Lexi Thompson, Bronte Law, Lorena Ochoa, Paula Creamer, Brooke Henderson and Maria Fassi. Spirit alumni have gone on to win more than 650 professional events, including 23 major championships. The Spirit Golf Association, a 501 (c) (3) charity that is dedicated to the promotion of amateur golf for the benefit of health-related causes, organizes and oversees the tournament along with the Texas Golf Association.
The Spirit Golf Association has contributed more than $12 million to its charitable activities: The Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship and healthcare service providers such as Baylor College of Medicine Teen Health Clinics, Medical Bridges and The Immunization Partnership. In 2017, The Spirit Golf Association responded to the Hurricane Harvey relief efforts by directing funds to Harvey victims through the United Way, Houston Food Bank, KIPP, Yellowstone Academy and the Baylor College of Medicine Teen Health Clinics.
For more information about The Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship visit TheSpiritGolf.com.
About Whispering Pines Golf Club:
Just 80 miles north of Houston along the shores of Lake Livingston sits Whispering Pines Golf Club, one of the best private golf clubs in the country. The club was founded not only to offer its discerning members a superior golf experience on an exceptional course, but it also was created to promote amateur golf and to benefit charitable causes on a local, national and international level. Whispering Pines is ranked #1 in Texas and #54 in the country by Golf Digest.
For more information about Whispering Pines Golf Club or The Spirit Golf Association, visit
either WhisperingPinesGolfClub.com or TheSpiritGolf.com, respectively.
Media Contacts:
Tammy Boclair, Alday Communications, tammy@aldaycommunications.com, 615-500-2930
Kara Marsom, Alday Communications, kara@aldaycommunications.com, 615-791-1535, x29
