Christchurch, New Zealand: Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) Junior Boys’ champion Cooper Moore has been selected for the New Zealand team to contest this year’s Eisenhower Trophy.
Joining Moore in the three-man team that will be vying for glory in the men’s World Amateur Team Championships at Singapore’s Tanah Merah Country Club from October 8-11 are Zack Swanwick and Robby Turnbull.
Meanwhile, Vivian Lu, Eunseo Choi and Emma Zheng will carry New Zealand hopes in the women’s World Amateur Team Championships for the Espirito Santo Trophy at the same venue a week earlier (October 1-4).
Golf New Zealand High Performance Manager Gregg Thorpe said: “Congratulations to each of these World Amateur Team Championship representatives. They are now part of a long line of proud players who have represented New Zealand at this level. I look forward to seeing what they can achieve in October.”
While Moore, Swanwick and Turnbull will be aiming to emulate the New Zealand team of Michael Campbell, Grant Moorhead, Stephen Scahill and Phil Tataurangi who lifted the country’s sole title to date in Canada in 1992, the women are seeking to improve on New Zealand’s runner-up performance in 1982 and 1990.
Reigning New Zealand Amateur champion Moore has enjoyed an impressive run of form this year. He began a prolific period by winning the Australian Junior Boys’ Championship as well as the South Island Under-19 title.
He then claimed the APGC Junior Boys’ title with an impressive showing at Hong Kong Golf Club in May to establish himself as one of the premier amateur talents in New Zealand. Valuable experience at the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup and most recently at the US Junior Amateur will stand Moore in good stead.
Swanwick won the Bledisloe Cup as low amateur at the 2024 New Zealand Open and has since thrived after heading to the United States for college. The University of Florida freshman made a fine start to collegiate golf, winning the championship-deciding final match in the 2025 SEC Championship and posting two other top-10 finishes.
In January, Swanwick was a member of the APGC team that defeated the European Golf Association in the Ryder Cup-style Bonallack Trophy in the UAE.
Turnbull, meanwhile, impressed at last year’s Asia-Pacific Men’s Amateur Team Championship for the Nomura Cup in Vietnam, finishing third individually and helping New Zealand to the bronze medal.
This year, he has retained the St Andrews Salver as the leading men’s amateur at the New Zealand Stroke Play Championships and has claimed three wins on the domestic circuit in 2025.
Among the ladies, Lu and Choi have a wealth of experience at international level having represented the country with distinction in multiple Queen Sirikit Cups.
Lu, who transferred to the University of Texas after a successful freshman year at the University of Washington, was a standout member of the APGC team that clinched the Patsy Hankins Trophy against Europe in the UAE in January and has frequently demonstrated calm under pressure and skill in high stakes situations.
Choi won both the New Zealand Women’s Stroke Play and the New Zealand Women’s Amateur in 2024 before heading to Pepperdine University where she secured her first collegiate title at the Silicon Valley Showcase in March. A runner-up finish at the Canadian Women’s Amateur has Choi in hot form heading to Singapore.
For her part, Zheng has steadily risen through the ranks and claimed her place in the Golf New Zealand Academy, phase three of the Talent Development Programme. Winner of this year’s New Zealand Women’s Stroke Play, her powerful ball striking and strong short game make her a rising force on New Zealand’s amateur circuit.
