Golf NZ names team for Espirito Santo Trophy

The New Zealand team which finished second in the Queen Sirikit Cup will also fly the country’s flag at the World Amateur Teams’ Championship in France next month.

The Queen Sirikit Cup, an Asia-Pacific version of the World Championship, was held in Singapore in May and the Auckland trio of Vivian Lu (Royal Auckland & Grange), Fiona Xu (Titirangi) and Eunseo Choi (Takapuna) beat all but the Japan team.

The 29th World Amateur Teams’ Championship, also known as the Espirito Santo Trophy, will be held at Le Golf National and Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Brèteche from August 24-27.

New Zealand has twice finished runner-up in the tournament. The first occasion was in 1982 and the second when New Zealand hosted the tournament at Russley Golf Club in Christchurch in 1990.

Lu was in the hunt for the individual honours in Singapore after three rounds, ultimately finishing 13th. She’s been in formidable form in 2022, becoming the first woman in 27 years to defend her New Zealand Women’s Strokeplay Championship.

Her Auckland teammate Fiona Xu has also been in some career-best form, finishing 10th at the Queen Sirikit Cup. Earlier in the year, she followed in her idol Lydia Ko’s footsteps by winning the Australian Women’s Amateur by three shots at 11-under-par at Cranbourne Golf Club in Victoria.

Choi will wear the fern for a second time after a solid debut at the Queen Sirikit Cup, where she finished 18th. This year she’s had victories at the Danny Lee Springfield Open, North Island Age Groups, Lydia Ko Age Groups and a second-place at the New Zealand Strokeplay.

The World Amateur Teams’ Championship will be contested over 72-holes of strokeplay, with the best two of three individual scores counting toward the team score.

The 2020 World Amateur Teams' Championship was cancelled due to covid-19.