Australia and Chinese Taipei Lead Asia-Pacific Challenge

Paris, France: Rachel Heck and Rose Zhang, who are also teammates at Stanford University, shot 68 and 69, respectively as the United States fashioned a one-stroke lead over Germany on the opening day of the 29th Women’s World Amateur Team Championship.

In defence of the Espirito Santo Trophy title it won in Ireland in 2018, the US is vying to become the first back-to-back winner since the Korea (2010 and 2012).

Heck and Zhang, who were also team-mates on the victorious USA Curtis Team this summer, totalled five-under 137 on the par-71 Le Golf National. Heck’s three-under 68 included four birdies (three in her last eight holes) and a bogey.

Of the 11 Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation member nations taking part, Australia and Chinese Taipei were tied for sixth on two-under 140 followed by the Philippines (tied 11th), Japan (tied 13th), Korea (tied 17th), India and Thailand (tied 24th), New Zealand (28th), Singapore (tied 29th), Hong Kong (tied 38th) and Guam (55th).

In the individual standings, Liao Hsin-chun of Chinese Taipei is joint fourth after a two-under 69, while Mikhaela Fortuna of the Philippines and Australians Kirsten Rudgeley and Kelsey Bennett all returned one-under-par scores.

Japan’s Mizuki Hashimoto, winner of the individual titles at last year’s Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific and this year’s Queen Sirikit Cup, returned a one-over 72. Playing in the day’s first group at Le Golf National, Hashimoto began her round by holing out for an eagle-two at the first.

Reflecting on the opening day, Heck, the NCAA Division I women’s golf individual champion in 2021, said: “I felt super confident in my game. I had a lot of good birdie looks and some of them happened to go in but in a long tournament like this it is important to start steady and feel confident. There is a lot of golf left to play.”

Zhang, a three-time Mark H. McCormack medal winner as the number one player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, snared four birdies and a double-bogey. Team-mate Rachel Kuehn, another USA Curtis Cup Team member, gave the Americans a third sub-par score at one-under 70, albeit non-counting.

“It was a great start,” said USA captain Pam Murray. “The girls all played well. The course played hard. It is a beautiful course and we played with great players from Japan and France. We couldn’t be happier with how the girls played.”

Also, at Le Golf National, Germany rode a pair of two-under 69s from Alexandra Forsterling and Helen Briem to post a four-under total of 138.

“We just kept steady, especially on the back nine,” said Forsterling, who just completed her college career at Arizona State University. “We had some troubles on our front nine. We hung in there and made some birdies in the end and that’s what got us back. I’m really proud of us. And hopefully, we can make some more birdies over the next couple of days.”

Playing in its fifth WWATC, Poland had its best day in its competition history as Kinga Ksumierksa fired a 70 and Dorota Zalewska shot 71 to propel the team to a tied third finish at three-under with South Africa and Switzerland, who all played at Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche.

“It means a lot to play like this,” said Zalewska, who plays at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. “We are hungry to win for Poland. We have a great team, and we are going in the right direction. We are trying to make history.”