Australia has named two power-packed teams for the World Amateur Teams Championships to be played in the Middle East in October.
Twice Australian Amateur runner-up Justice Bosio will be joined by US college star Maddison Hinson-Tolchard and South Australian Caitlin Peirce in the women’s team who will play for the Espirito Santo Trophy from October 25-28.
The men’s team will be spearheaded by another college player in Karl Vilips, with two-time Australian Junior Amateur champion Jeffrey Guan and South Australia’s Jack Buchanan in the men’s team to play for the Eisenhower Trophy from October 18-21.
Both championships will be played at Abu Dhabi Golf Club in the United Arab Emirates.
The Australian men’s team of Harrison Crowe, Hayden Hopewell and Connor McKinney finished 15th in 2022 in France, while the women’s team of Hinson-Tolchard, Kelsey Bennett and Kirsten Rudgeley finished 14th.
New South Wales star Crowe, winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur, was not available for this year’s WATC.
Five of the six Australian team members will be at their first WATC, a fact highlighted by Tony Meyer, Golf Australia’s director of high performance.
“They’re very strong teams and the fact that there’s some new faces tells us that there’s been a transition of elite amateurs to professional status, and that’s opened up some excellent further opportunities,” Meyer said. “We like the look of the two teams and all these players deserve to be there.
“The World Amateur is the pinnacle of amateur teams golf, and it’s an important step for the players toward our main focus of helping our elite amateurs transition into elite professional golfers.”
Both teams will be coached by Dean Kinney, Golf Australia’s performance manager. The team manager is longtime LPGA Tour professional Sarah Jane Smith.
Australia’s last Eisenhower Trophy win was in 2016 for the team of Cam Davis, Harrison Endycott and Curtis Luck. The Espirito Santo Trophy last went Australia’s way in 2014 for the team of Minjee Lee, Su Oh and Shelly Shin.
TEAM PROFILES
Women
Justice Bosio (QLD)
Age: 19
Club: Caboolture
Runner-up at the Australian Amateur in 2022 and 2023, Bosio played at the Augusta National Women’s tournament this year, narrowly missing the cut.
Caitlin Peirce (SA)
Age: 22
Club: Royal Adelaide
A past Karrie Webb Scholarship holder and the reigning SA Amateur champion, and Australia’s best player at the recent US Women’s Amateur.
Maddison Hinson-Tolchard (WA)
Age: 21
Club: Gosnells
Former Australian Junior Amateur champion and Webb Scholarship holder who has been a brilliant performer during her time at Oklahoma State University.
Men
Karl Vilips (WA)
Age: 22
Club: Stanford University (USA)
Perth star who is in his final year at Stanford. Won the World Junior aged 11; qualified for the US Open this year.
Jeffrey Guan (NSW)
Age: 19
Club: The Australian
National junior champion in 2021 and 2022, Guan has been earmarked for big things since he became NSW Junior champion.
Jack Buchanan (SA)
Age: 21
Club: Glenelg
SA champion in 2022 and runner-up in the Australian Amateur in the same year, a fixture in all the big events.
