Ireland secured their best ever finish at the World Amateur Team Championships and captured a medal for the first time.
Bronze was Ireland’s reward for a magnificent performance in Cancun as Jack Hume, Stuart Grehan and Paul McBride combined for a podium finish. Ireland tied for third alongside Austria as Australia romped to a 19-stroke victory with England snatching silver.
It could have been even better for Ireland as Jack Hume recorded six birdies in a row on the front nine. Hume’s amazing run had Ireland in the silver medal position and three shots clear of the chasing pack.
However Hume came to grief at the 18th, where he recorded a double bogey and with Grehan making bogey, Ireland slipped back to a share of third. Still, Ireland captured their first WATC medal.
Cameron Davis and Curtis Luck each shot 3-under 68s as Australia tied the 72-hole scoring record in winning their fourth Eisenhower Trophy at Mayakoba El Camaleon Golf Club. The Australians won by 19 strokes to claim the Eisenhower Trophy for the first time since 1996.
The Australians, who also won World Amateur Team titles in 1958 and 1966, posted a record score of 38-under-par 534. England won the silver medal at 553, behind a final-round six-under 136. Austria and Ireland shared the bronze medal and were one stroke back at 554.
Australia’s Davis, the lone player in the field to shoot all four rounds in the 60s despite the hot and humid conditions, turned in the lowest individual score at 17-under 269. He birdied three consecutive holes on the inward nine and had six during the final round.
England registered its best finish in a WATC after tying for sixth in 2006 and 2014. Alfie Plant, who won the 2016 Lytham Trophy and was last year’s English Amateur runner-up, fired a 5-under 66 and holed a 9-foot birdie putt at the par-4 18th to vault his team into second place. Jamie Bower added a 1-under 70.
The WATC is a biennial international amateur competition conducted by the International Golf Federation (IGF), which comprises 147 national governing bodies in 141 countries and 22 professional members.
