Paris, France: Sweden won the Espirito Santo Trophy for the third time on a tie-breaker over the hard-charging US at the 29th Women’s World Amateur Team Championship at Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche.
The Swedes and Americans tied at 13-under 559 but after comparing non-counting scores, a one-over-par 73 from Sweden’s Louise Rydqvist was one stroke better than Rachel Kuehn’s 74 giving Sweden the gold medal and the US the silver. One stroke behind at 560, Germany and Japan tied for the bronze-medal position.
Germany could not find its form of round three and posted a fourth-round 145 which left them tied with Japan, who held a short-lived lead early in the round based on a four-under 68 from Mizuki Hashimoto, the 2021 Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific champion. Team-mates Saki Baba, the 2022 US Women’s Amateur champion, and Mika Ueta both shot 70.
Japan has now won medals in back-to-back WWATCs (silver in 2018) after not winning any hardware from 1964 to 2016.
Gareth Jones, Japan’s coach, said: “We had a tough day yesterday and a few tears last night, but we knew we had nothing to lose today and we played great on this golf course.
“We are pretty happy about the way the girls played at this place. The atmosphere on the team, even though they were relatively new, helped them to a great performance.”
Of the other Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation member countries, Chinese Taipei ended sixth on 566 followed by Korea (tied ninth, 572), Australia (14th, 575), New Zealand and Thailand (tied 20th, 586), Hong Kong (tied 26th, 595), Philippines (30th, 598), India (34th, 603), Singapore (tied 38th, 613), and Guam (55th, 674).
Ingrid Lindblad, second in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), fired a three-under 69 and Meja Ortengren added a two-under 70 as Sweden made up five strokes on Germany, who held the 54-hole.
“Yesterday we were on our way to good scores (at Le Golf National), and we lost everything in the end,” said Sweden’s Head of Delegation Fredrik Wetterstrand. “Today, everything went our way, our scores and the other team’s scores. I admit it was a little lucky today. Our team played really well. They were fighting hard on the course, and they did it together.”
In winning its first medal since capturing bronze in Turkey in 2012, Sweden rebounded from a disappointing fourth-place position in round three after holding the 36-hole lead.
“I knew pretty much all day that I had a counting score,” said Lindblad. “We knew that after yesterday at Le Golf National we would have to go for it whether we finished second or 14th. Meja made about a seven-footer for par on the 18th which was so important for us.”
The US, which began the day four strokes behind Germany, battled its way to a one-stroke lead on the tee of the 72nd hole after a birdie on 17th by WAGR number one Rose Zhang.
Zhang, a member of Stanford University’s 2022 NCAA Women’s Division I Championship team, missed the green with her approach on 18 and could not convert a par-saving putt that brought on the tie-breaker. She finished with a three-under 69, while Stanford and USA Curtis Cup team-mate Rachel Heck shot 70.
“There is obviously that tinge of disappointment,” Zhang said. “On that last putt, I actually hit a really good putt exactly where I wanted but it just didn’t go in the hole. It was disappointing to end that way, but I am really proud of how we fought back on the last day.”
Although there is no official recognition, Sweden’s Ortengren, Germany’s Helen Briem and American Zhang tied for the low individual score at seven-under-par 279.
Japan’s Baba was tied for fourth on 280 with Chinese Taipei’s Liao Hsin-chun joint seventh (282), Korean Kim Min-byeol equal 10th (285) and Chinese Taipei’s Tiffany Huang Ting-hsuan in a share of 14th spot (286).
Of the other Asia-Pacific players, New Zealand’s Fiona Xu and Japan’s Miku Ueta were joint 16th (287) with Kirsten Rudgeley finishing as the leading Australian in a share of 21st (288).
The winning team receives custody of the Espirito Santo Trophy until the next World Amateur Team Championship in Dubai, UAE, in October, 2023. Members of the winning team receive gold medals; members of the second-place team receive silver medals; and members of the third-place teams receive bronze medals.
