United States name Espirito

Santo Trophy trio

The United States Golf Association has named its three players to take part in the 2008 women's world amateur team championship for the Espirito Santo Trophy at the Grange Golf Club's East and West courses in Adelaide, Australia from October 8 to 11.

The new US women's amateur champion and No 1 college player, Amanda Blumenherst, will be joined by Tiffany Joh from San Diego and Irish-born Alison Walshe (pictured right by Cal Carson Golf Agency, all rights reserved) from Westford, Massachusetts.

All three were members of the victorious United States team in the Curtis Cup match over the Old Course, St Andrews at the end of May.

Sydnee Michaels of Temecula, Calif., was named first reserve and Tiffany Lua of Rowland Heights, Calif., was named second alternate.
Marcia Luigs of Carmel, Indiana, USGA Women's Committee chairman in 2005 and 2006, will serve as the American tam captain.
The biennial competition has been played since 1964, with the winner taking home the Espirito Santo Trophy. South Africa is the defending champion, having won the 2006 title in its home country. The United States last won the championship in 1998, and has captured the trophy a record 13 times since 1966.

Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales are now permitted to enter their own teams whereas until fairly recently it was a Great Britain & Ireland trio who took part.
A record 54 teams from around the world have entered the competition which is played in conjunction with the world amateur team championship for men for the Eisenhower Trophy, from October 16-19 at Royal Adelaide Golf Club and the Grange’s West Course.
Both world amateur team titles are determined by four rounds of stroke play. A country may field a team of two or three players. In each round, the total of the two lowest scores by players from each team constitutes the team score for the round. The four-day total is the team's score for the championship.

IT'S ANOTHER AMERICAN TEAM HONOUR

FOR IRISH-BORN ALISON WALSHE

Galway-born Alison Walshe - who began her collegiate career at Boston College before transferring to Tulane University - has earned first-team honours in three different conferences: the Big East in 2003-04, Conference USA in 2004-05 and the Pac-10 in 2006-07 and 2007-08.

She won the 2004 Big East Conference title and was that conference's player of the year for 2003-04. She matched that feat upon transferring to Tulane, winning the 2005 Conference USA Championship and earning the conference's player of the year honour.

Among her victories are the 2006 Stanford Invitational, the 2007 BYU Dixie Classic, the 2007 North and South Women's Amateur Championship, the 2008 Harder Hall Invitational, and the 2008 Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational.