2003 Spirit International Amateur Championship

Trinity, TX-The 2003 Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship, played October 15-18, 2003 at Whispering Pines Golf Club, was truly an event of Olympia proportions. The 24 participating countries, from six continents, experienced a week filled with great golf competition and international goodwill.

The fun started when the 96 participants (two men and two women amateur golfers from each country) were introduced at The Spirit Opening Ceremonies on Monday, October 13th. Lorena Ochoa, The 2001 Spirit gold medalist and 2003 LPGA Rookie of the Year, provided a heart-warming address to the players and 6,800 attendees. The festive evening was completed with a concert performance by Huey Lewis & The News.

It was then onto golf where a Scottish bagpiper summoned the player field to the first and tenth tees for the first round. Every player looked proud to represent their country. Several world class players such as 2003 US Amateur Champion, Nick Flanagan from Australia and 2003 British Amateur Champion, Gary Wolstemholme from England, had high hopes to bring home the International Team gold medal.

However, it was a highly young and talented team of Americans, selected by Captain Duke Butler, which took The Spirit by storm. Representing Team USA were Paula Creamer, #1 ranked USA Junior, age 17; Jane Park, US Women’s Amateur runner-up at age 17; Matt Rosenfeld, NCAA Tournament runner-up, age 18; and Brandt Snedeker, US Men’s Publinks Champion, age 22. Collectively they posted the low International Team score in each of the first three rounds, going 49 under par in the combined best ball team event.

By the final round, it was only the battle for the silver and bronze medals that was left undecided. Team USA cruised in the final 18 to post a tournament record score of 53 under par (Mexico won in 2001 at 51 under par) to claim the gold, while Team Australia captured the silver with a 37 under par total. It was a photo finish for the bronze medal, Team Finland and Team New Zealand (2001 Team Bronze medalist) tied at 26 under par for the bronze, while Team Korea and Team Netherlands came up one stroke shy at 26 under par.

Spirit International LeaderBoard
Course : Whispering Pines Golf Club
current position	team		scoring			rounds				total score
			to par	thru	today	1	2	3	4
1		United States of America	-53	F	-4	128	129	126	140	523
2		Australia	-37	F	-5	133	133	134	139	539
T3		Finland	-26	F	-3	140	138	131	141	550
T3		New Zealand	-26	F	-2	135	138	135	142	550
T5		Korea	-25	F	-7	131	147	136	137	551
T5		Netherlands	-25	F	-6	134	140	139	138	551
T7		Thailand	-23	F	-2	137	140	134	142	553
T7		Colombia	-23	F	-4	137	137	139	140	553
9		Germany	-22	F	-4	140	136	138	140	554
10		Austria	-20	F	-4	141	138	137	140	556
T11		Canada	-17	F	-12	145	142	140	132	559
T11		Italy	-17	F	-2	138	141	138	142	559
T11		England	-17	F	-4	140	140	139	140	559
14		Mexico	-16	F	-10	144	143	139	134	560
15		Scotland	-15	F	-1	143	137	138	143	561
T16		Philippines	-14	F	+1	138	144	135	145	562
T16		Sweden	-14	F	-3	140	145	136	141	562
T18		Argentina	-11	F	-9	140	148	142	135	565
T18		Denmark	-11	F	-5	145	141	140	139	565
20		South Africa	-10	F	-4	142	140	144	140	566
21		Norway	-7	F	-1	145	141	140	143	569
22		Chinese Taipei	+9	F	+3	147	149	142	147	585
23		Malaysia	+32	F	+4	152	149	159	148	608
24		Croatia	+120	F	+31	170	179	172	175	696