USGA Names Three Players to 2012 USA Women's World Amateur Team


The United States Golf Association (USGA) has announced the selection of three players to represent the USA at the 2012 Women's World Amateur Team Championship, to be played September 27-30 at Gloria Golf Club (Old and New Courses) in Antalya, Turkey.

The players are: Austin Ernst, 20, of Seneca, S.C.; Erynne Lee, 19, of Silverdale, Wash.; and Lisa McCloskey, 21, of Houston. Carol Semple Thompson, of Sewickley, Pa., a seven-time USGA champion and a five-time Women's World Amateur Team competitor, will serve as captain of the USA Women's Team.

"These young women are tremendously talented and are to be congratulated on this honor," said Semple Thompson. "I am thrilled to be their captain, and we all look forward to representing the USA in Turkey."

Ernst, who represented the USA at the 2012 Curtis Cup Match, won the 2011 NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship individual title as a freshman at Louisiana State University. She won the 2012 North & South Women's Amateur and made the cut at the 2012 Kraft Nabisco Championship. Ernst advanced to the semifinals of the 2011 U.S. Women's Amateur.

Lee is a sophomore at UCLA. During her freshman season, she won the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate and earned National Golf Coaches Association Freshman of the Year and All-America First Team honors. She reached the semifinals of the 2008 U.S. Women's Amateur and the quarterfinals in 2010-12, and has competed in two U.S. Women's Opens.

McCloskey, who also represented the USA at the 2012 Curtis Cup Match, was the runner-up at the 2010 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links. She qualified for the 2010 and 2011 U.S. Women's Opens, and made the cut in 2010. During her senior season at the University of Southern California, McCloskey tied for first at the 2012 NCAA Central Regional and was named to the NGCA All-America First Team.

The alternates are, in order of ranking: Amy Anderson, 20, of Oxbow, N.D.; and Emily Tubert, 20, of Burbank, Calif.

A record 56 teams have entered the 2012 Women's World Amateur Team Championship. The biennial competition has been played since 1964, with the winner taking home the Espirito Santo Trophy. Korea won the 2010 title in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where it set the championship record for lowest team score with a 30-under 546, finishing 17 strokes ahead of the runner-up, the USA. The USA last won the championship in 1998, and has captured the trophy a record 13 times.

The World Amateur Team title is determined by four days of stroke play. A country may field a team of two or three players. In each round, the total of the two lowest scores constitutes the team score for the round. The four-day total is the team's score for the championship.

The championship is played in conjunction with the World Amateur Team Championship for men, which will be played Oct. 4-7 at Antalya Golf Club and Cornelia Golf Club, also in Antalya. The Turkish Golf Federation will serve as host of the 2012 championships.

The above report is courtesy of the USGA. For additional information, visit www.usga.org.