2007 World Golf Teachers Cup
2007
Location: Boulder Creek Golf Club, Las Vegas, Nevada
Individual Champion: Christopher Richards
Score: 138
Team Champion: Team Caribbean
Menezes, from Brazil, became the second South American to win the championship. A seasoned competitor, Menezes only had modest success in WGTF events before emerging victorious on the George Fazio and Arthur Hills courses at Palmetto Dunes. Team USA returned to the winner’s circle for the first time since 2003, defeating defending champion Team Caribbean (representing Trinidad & Tobago) by a single shot over the 36 holes. Caribbean held a 4-stroke lead after the first round of play, but uncharacteristically struggled the final day to allow USA to take the title.
|
Erasing the disappointment of a playoff loss in the United States Golf Teachers Cup a year ago, Trinidad & Tobago’s Christopher Richards won the individual championship of the 8th biennial World Golf Teachers Cup, the largest international competition for golf teaching professionals ever held, and led Team Caribbean to the team title October 25-26 in Boulder City, Nevada. Richards set both an 18-hole and 36-hole tournament scoring record, firing an opening round 67 at Boulder Creek Golf Course enroute to a two-round total of 138. Miguel Suarez of Puerto Rico finished one stroke back. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team Caribbean held off five-time champion Team USA by seven strokes in the team competition, 732-739. Twelve teams participated in the play-6, count-5 format. Canada finished third at 742.For Richards, his victory represented perseverance at its finest. Having competed in several US and World Cups without making much noise prior to 2006, Richards’ breakthrough win came on the heels of last year’s runner-up finish to James Douris in the US Golf Teachers Cup.Team Caribbean’s victory in the team competition showed that Team USA’s dominance in the event is, perhaps, a thing of the past. Richards, along with teammates Suarez, Anthony Benny, Ricky Campbell, Herbert Con, and Tim Mangal, took Team Caribbean to a six-stroke advantage after the first round over the USA. Only Canada could better the Caribbean’s second round score, 368-369, but it wasn’t enough.
In the Women’s division, Anna Lai Har Yu also set 18- and 36-hole scoring records with 74-71–145 in successfully defending her 2005 title. Jill Scally from Pennsylvania finished second at 153. New Jersey’s Jerry Moore continued to plunder the Senior division with a one-stroke victory over Florida’s Tipo Toomalatai. Moore set a 36-hole Senior scoring record with 72-70–142. Although eligible to play with the Super Seniors (age 60+), and in fact a past champion of that division, Moore has chosen to play with the “youngsters” the past two years. Setting records seemed to be the theme of this edition of the World Golf Teachers Cup, as Jim Perez of California set a Senior 18-hole scoring mark of 68 in galloping out to a three-stroke lead over Toomalatai in round one at Boulder City Golf Course. Perez was unable to sustain that pace, but he still finished third in the division despite a final-round 77 at Boulder Creek Golf Club. Walt Abraham of California overcame a three-stroke deficit to start the final round in besting South Carolina’s William Gunderman, 149-151, for Super Senior honors. Prior to the playing of the World Golf Teachers Cup, the 12th annual United States Golf Teachers Cup, consisting solely of individual play and held October 23-24, proved no less compelling. Australia’s James Douris became just the second player in US Cup history to successfully defend his USGTF national championship when his 72-68–140 over the Boulder Creek Golf Course and Boulder Creek Golf Club, respectively, topped Toomalatai and Ken Morton of North Carolina by two strokes. Toomalatai almost became the second Senior winner of the US Cup, after 1996’s Edward Lee, as his first-round score of 70 led Suarez by one. Toomalatai’s second-round 72 wasn’t enough to hang on to the overall championship, although he did take Senior honors with a five-shot win over Perez. Jill Scally successfully defended her Women’s championship from a year ago with rounds of 81-79–160, edging Samantha Cebrero from California by three strokes. And, continuing the common theme of repeat champions, 2006 titlist Joe Bernat of South Carolina once again captured the Super Senior championship with a 10-stroke victory over runner-up Abraham, 148-158. A record 193 players competed in both tournaments. The United States Golf Teachers Cup is the national championship of the United States Golf Teachers Federation (USGTF) and is played annually. The World Golf Teachers Cup is the world championship of the World Golf Teachers Federation (WGTF) and is played biennially.
TEAM RESULTS FROM THE 2007 WORLD GOLF TEACHERS CUP, HELD OCTOBER 25-26 AT BOULDER CITY GOLF COURSE (6,542 YARDS, PAR 72) AND BOULDER CREEK GOLF CLUB (7,030 YARDS, PAR 72) IN BOULDER CITY, NEVADA.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS FROM THE 2007 WORLD GOLF TEACHERS CUP
RESULTS FROM THE 2007 UNITED STATES GOLF TEACHERS CUP, HELD OCTOBER 23-24 AT BOULDER CITY GOLF COURSE (6,542 YARDS, PAR 72) AND BOULDER CREEK GOLF CLUB (7,030 YARDS, PAR 72) IN BOULDER CITY, NEVADA.
s – Senior Division (age 50 and older) ss – Super Senior Division (age 60 and older) w – Women’s Division |
