Teenage sensation Jeffrey Guan has been named to represent Australia at the 2023 Eisenhower Trophy to be played in the Middle East in October.
The men’s team will be spearheaded by US-based Karl Vilips, two-time Australian Junior Amateur champion and Cam Smith Scholarship holder, Guan, and South Australia’s Jack Buchanan forming the men’s team to play for the green and gold in the World Amateur Teams Championships from 18-21 October at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club in the United Arab Emirates..
New South Wales star Crowe, winner of the Asia Pacific Amateur, was not available for this year’s WATC.
In the women’s Espirito Santo Trophy, twice Australian Amateur runner-up Justice Bosio will be joined by US college star Maddison Hinson-Tolchard and South Australian Caitlin Peirce from 25-28 October at the same venue.
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 opportunities.
“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.
The Australian 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.
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.
