KARUIZAWA, Japan – Bolstered by a 6-under-par 66 from 2014 U.S. Women’s Amateur runner-up Brooke Mackenzie Henderson and a 69 from Augusta James, Canada posted a record score of 9-under 135 to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the 2014 Women’s World Amateur Team Championship (WWATC) at Karuizawa 72 Golf East.
Canada’s 135 is the lowest first-round score in WWATC history, bettering the previous mark of 136 by the USA in 2010. The Republic of Korea, the two-time defending champion, is second at 137, followed by France at 140 in third. India, the Republic of Ireland and Italy are tied for fourth at 3-under 141.
The USA, behind a 4-under 68 from Alison Lee and a 74 from U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Kristen Gillman, is tied for seventh at 2-under 142 with Mexico, South Africa and Spain.
Henderson, 16, who is No. 2 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking™, posted four birdies through her first seven holes and finished without a bogey on the par-72 Oshitate Course. Her 66 is tied for the second-lowest first-round score in WWATC history. Henderson, the low amateur at the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open, won the 2012 CN Canadian Women’s Tour Quebec at age 14.
“My ball-striking was very good today,” said Henderson. “I gave myself a lot of chances coming in. I had four or five chances from inside 15 feet, but I didn’t make them all. We knew it was important to get some solid rounds in and now we have to follow that up.”
The 21-year-old James, who made five birdies against two bogeys, is a senior at North Carolina State and the 2014 Canadian Women’s Amateur champion.
Both Henderson and James are playing in their second WWATC. Brittany Marchand posted a non-counting 1-under 71 for Canada.
The Republic of Korea, vying to become the first team to win three consecutive Espirito Santo Trophies since the USA in 1980, 1982 and 1984, was led by So-Young Lee, 17, the gold medalist at the recent Youth Olympic Games in China, who fired a 5-under 67 on the Oshitate Course. Her teammate Hye-Jin Choi shot a 2-under 70.
France’s Mathilda Cappeliez (69) and Celine Boutier (71) combined for the team’s 4-under total. Both players competed in the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open, and the latter led Duke to the 2014 NCAA Division I championship.
The Women’s World Amateur Team Championship is a biennial international amateur competition conducted by the International Golf Federation (IGF), which comprises 137 national governing bodies in 131 countries. The competition, which is being held for the 26th time, is rotated among three geographic zones: Asia-Pacific, Americas and Europe-Africa.
This year’s event is hosted by the Japan Golf Association. The teams play for the Espirito Santo Trophy. The IGF is the international federation for golf for the International Olympic Committee and will conduct the Olympic golf competition in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. In each round, the total of the two lowest scores from each team constitutes the team score for the round. The four-day (72-hole) total is the team’s score for the championship.
Lee, a quarterfinalist at last month’s U.S. Women’s Amateur and No. 3 in the WWAGR, turned her day around with a birdie at No. 11 on the Oshitate Course.
“The first nine holes, I was 1 over and my putting wasn’t that good,” said Lee, a sophomore at UCLA and a member of this year’s victorious Curtis Cup Team. “They weren’t dropping and it was a little frustrating.”
The USA also received a non-counting 77 from 2013 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Emma Talley. The USA owns a record 13 victories in the event, but has not claimed the Espirito Santo Trophy since 1998.
“There is still a lot of golf left. I know the other guys didn’t play as well as they can, so I wasn’t too disappointed,” added Lee. “It’s not over yet.”
World No. 1 Minjee Lee shot a 73 on the Iriyama Course for Australia, which is tied for 16th with the host country Japan. Lee, the 2012 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion, was awarded the 2014 McCormack Medal last week for being the leading female amateur in the WAGR.
KARUIZAWA, Japan – Results of Wednesday’s first round of the 2014 Women’s World Amateur Team Championship played at the par-72, 6,309-yard Oshitate Course (OC) and the par-72, 6,311-yard Iriyama Course (IC) at Karuizawa 72 Golf East.
1. Canada (CAN) - 135 OC
Brooke Mackenzie Henderson 30-36—66
Augusta James 32-37—69
Brittany Marchand 33-38--71
2. Republic of Korea (KOR) - 137 IC
So-Young Lee 33-34—67
Hye-Jin Choi 35-35—70
Gyeol Park 37-38--75
3. France (FRA) - 140 IC
Mathilda Cappeliez 33-36—69
Celine Boutier 35-36—71
Manon Gidali 35-38--73
T4. India (IND) - 141 IC
Aditi Ashok 35-34—69
Gurbani Singh 37-35—72
Astha Madan 38-37--75
T4. Ireland (IRL) - 141 OC
Paula Grant 33-37—70
Maria Dunne 32-39—71
Mary Doyle 37-43--80
T4. Italy (ITA) - 141 OC
Virginia Elena Carta 31-38—69
Laura Lonardi 34-38—72
Roberta Liti 36-38--74
T7. Mexico (MEX) - 142 IC
Maria Gabriela Lopez Butron 35-34—69
Marijosse Navarro Miguez 39-34—73
Ana Paula Valdes 35-40--75
T7. South Africa (RSA) - 142 OC
Michaela Fletcher 36-33—69
Cara Bella Gorlei 35-38—73
Monja Richards 36-40--76
T7. Spain (ESP) - 142 IC
Noemi Jimenez Martin 36-34—70
Marta Sanz Barrio 37-35—72
Luna Sobron Galmes 38-38--76
T7. United States of America (USA) - 142 OC
Alison Lee 35-33—68
Kristen Gillman 35-39—74
Emma Talley 37-40--77
T11. Denmark (DEN) - 143 IC
Nanna Koerstz Madsen 33-36—69
Caroline Nistrup 34-40—74
Emily Kristine Pedersen 38-37--75
T11. Germany (GER) - 143 IC
Olivia Cowan 38-33—71
Laura Funfstuck 36-36—72
Antonia Scherer 38-40--78
T11. Netherlands (NED) - 143 IC
Anne Van Dam 33-35—68
Dewi Weber 36-39—75
Romy Meekers 39-37--76
T11. Philippines (PHI) - 143 OC
Princess Superal 34-37—71
Clare Amelia Legaspi 33-39—72
Pauline Del Rosario 34-40--74
T11. Sweden (SWE) - 143 OC
Linnea Strom 33-38—71
Madelene Sagstrom 33-39—72
Louise Ridderstrom 34-39--73
T16. Australia (AUS) - 144 IC
Su Oh 35-36—71
Minjee Lee 36-37—73
Shelly Shin 39-35--74
T16. Japan (JPN) - 144 IC
Yumi Matsubara 36-34—70
Minami Katsu 38-36—74
Eri Okayama 41-37--78
T18. Argentina (ARG) - 145 IC
Magdalena Simmermacher 38-33—71
Manuela Carbajo Re 36-38—74
Delfina Acosta 37-37--74
T18. Finland (FIN) - 145 IC
Oona Vartiainen 31-37—68
Mitilda Castren 39-38—77
Emily Penttila 39-43--82
T20. Austria (AUT) - 146 OC
Lea Zeitler 34-36—70
Nadine Dreher 35-41—76
Leonie Bettel 35-42--77
T20. People's Republic of China (CHN) - 146 IC
Yuting Shi 35-35—70
Ziqi Ye 39-37—76
XinYing Wang 38-39--77
T20. Hong Kong, China (HKG) - 146 OC
Tiffany Chan 34-37—71
Isabella Leung 37-38—75
Kitty Tam 35-41--76
T20. Switzerland (SUI) - 146 OC
Kim Metraux 33-38—71
Albane Valenzuela 36-39—75
Morgane Metraux 34-42--76
T20. Chinese Taipei (TPE) - 146 OC
Ssu-Chia Cheng 35-37—72
Jo-Hua Hung 35-39—74
Chi-Hui Chen 37-45--82
T20. Wales (WAL) - 146 IC
Chloe Williams 38-33—71
Katie Bradbury 38-37—75
Rebecca Helen Harries 41-38--79
T26. Belgium (BEL) - 147 OC
Manon De Roey 32-38—70
Fanny Cnops 40-37—77
Leslie Cloots 36-43--79
T26. Colombia (COL) - 147 IC
Laura Sojo 36-36—72
Maria Hoyos 39-36—75
Laura Camila Blanco 38-39--77
T26. England (ENG) - 147 IC
Bronte Law 35-36—71
Gabriella Cowley 38-38—76
Hayley Davis 38-38--76
T26. Puerto Rico (PUR) - 147 IC
Paola Robles 37-36—73
Maria F. Torres 37-37—74
Valeria S. Pacheco 39-39—78
T30. Norway (NOR) - 148 OC
Tonje Daffinrud 33-39—72
Nicoline Skaug 36-40—76
Mariell Bruun 38-39--77
T30. Poland (POL) - 148 OC
Nastasia Kossacky 36-37—73
Dominika Gradecka 33-42—75
Dorota Zalewska 40-42--82
T30. Slovenia (SLO) - 148 IC
Katja Pogacar 36-35—71
Ana Belac 41-36—77
Ursa Oreheu 42-39--81
T33. Iceland (ISL) - 149 IC
Olafia Thorunn Kristinsdottir 36-38—74
Gudrun Bjorgvinsdottir 39-36—75
Sunna Vidisdottir 37-38--75
T33. Russian Federation (RUS) - 149 OC
Sofya Anokhina 36-38—74
Ksenia Eremina 33-42—75
Angelina Monakhova 37-43--80
T35. Brazil (BRA) - 150 OC
Luciane Lee 34-41—75
Clara Teixeira 34-41—75
Luiza Altmann 35-40--75
T35. Czech Republic (CZE) - 150 IC
Hana Ryskova 37-37—74
Barbora Bakova 40-36—76
Karolina Vlckova 39-41--80
T35. Singapore (SIN) - 150 IC
Sock Hwee Koh 39-36—75
Jo Ee Kok 36-39—75
Amanda Tan 37-41--78
T38. Guatemala (GUA) - 151 OC
Lucia Polo 35-36—71
Pilar Echeverria 38-42—80
Beatriz Arenas 39-45--84
T38. Slovakia (SVK) - 151 OC
Natalia Heckova 36-38—74
Aneta Abrahamova 36-41—77
Lea Klimentova 38-43--81
40. Thailand (THA) - 152 IC
Suthavee Chanachai 36-38—74
Pajaree Anannarukarn 39-39—78
Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras 41-38--79
41. Venezuela (VEN) - 153 OC
Maria Andreina Merchan 34-41—75
Ariadna Fonseca 35-43—78
Nicole Ferre 37-44--81
T42. New Zealand (NZL) - 154 IC
Munchin Keh 37-39—76
Julianne Alvarez 39-39—78
Zoe-Beth Brake 40-39--79
T42. Scotland (SCO) - 154 IC
Gemma Dryburgh 37-38—75
Gabrielle Macdonald 42-37—79
Eilidh Briggs 41-39--80
44. Turkey (TUR) - 155 OC
Damla Bilgic 38-39—77
Elcin Ulu 35-43—78
Sena Ersoy 38-46--84
45. Bolivia (BOL) - 162 OC
Tamara Paz 37-44—81
Michelle Ledermann 37-44--81
46. Guam (GUM) - 164 OC
Nalathai Vongjalorn 37-45—82
Kristin Oberiano 39-43—82
Rachael Peterson 41-50--91
47. Portugal (POR) - 167 OC
Susana Mendes Ribeiro 37-43—80
Ines Barbosa 42-45—87
Leonor Bessa 38-50--88
48. Serbia (SRB) - 171 OC
Ariana Savic 37-42—79
Tamara Palkovljevic 43-49—92
Nebojsa Lazic NC-NC—NC
49. Gabon (GAB) - 183 OC
Lea Ndjobouela 42-45—87
Corine Beyeme 43-53—96
Cecile Poncet NC-NC--NC
50. Ukraine (UKR) - 185 OC
Galyna Zagorodnia 42-45—87
Mariia Pedenko 44-54—98
Valeriia Sapronova 47-56--103