[PHOTO: Steven Gibbons]
South Korea is once again on top of the world in women’s team golf. World No.4 Minsol Kim shot four-under-par 68 and Kyroim Seo added a 71 in the final round at Abu Dhabi Golf Club as the Koreans came back to win the 30th Women’s World Amateur Team Championship on Saturday. It is the fourth time in the past seven editions of the event that South Korea has won, while being the country’s fifth title overall.
With two scores counting among three players in each round, Korea had a 72-hole total of 22-under, and that was four strokes better than Chinese Taipei, which shot 140 in the final round. Spain, the 54-hole leader, shot even-par on Saturday and was five strokes behind.
Australia tied for sixth with the United States with a 15-under total. Maddison Hinson-Tolchard closed with a 71 to lead the Aussies with a four-day total of eight-under 280, good for a share of the eighth place in the individual standings. Justice Bosio shared 17th individually after a final-round 73 and Caitlin Peirce carded a 71 to see her score count for the first time in the tournament. Australia last won the team title in 2014.
Although there is no official recognition, Chinese Taipei’s Huai-Chien Hsu was the low individual scorer at 13-under 275.
South Korea’s Kim, the runner-up in the 2023 Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific, made back-to-back birdies on the par-5 second and par-4 third holes, and again on the eighth and ninth as South Korea moved to the top of the leaderboard and stayed there.
“I was focused on my play,” Kim said. “I didn’t putt as aggressively as the first three rounds. I was more relaxed and just tried to make par and some became birdies.”
Spain managed to get within two shots of South Korea with two holes to play, but all three players bogeyed the par-5 18th hole to drop the team from the silver-medal position to bronze.
“It’s really disappointing,” said Spainish captain Mar Ruiz de la Torre. “Last year we were in the same situation, and this year again. It’s really a pity because they played well. We just didn’t have too much luck with the putts.”
Korea will hold the Espirito Santo Trophy until the 2025 World Amateur Team Championship is played in Singapore.
