Ireland 21st as South Africa wins Eisenhower Trophy
Ireland finished tied for 21st on level par as South Africa claimed the World Amateur Team Championship and the Eisenhower Trophy in Singapore.
Stuart Grehan closed with a one-under 71 (finishing 17th individually, 17 shots behind South Africa’s Christiaan Maas) as Caolan Rafferty shot 74 and John Doyle a non-counting 76.
That left Ireland tied 21st with Guatemala and China, 29 strokes behind the champions.
Saturday’s final round of the World Amateur Team Championship at Tanah Merah Country Club served as a coronation round for South Africa, which finished 29-under 547, eight strokes ahead of silver-medalist Australia en route to its first victory in the championship and first podium finish in over 40 years.
England earned its first bronze medal in the competition, finishing two strokes behind Australia.
“Yeah, just elated. Really proud. The guys played unbelievable golf the whole week. It's just been such a great experience being here,” said Gavin Groves, South Africa’s captain.
“This has been a long time coming… it’s been a lot of near misses, a lot of very talented teams.”
World No. 6 Maas led the way for his country all week long, carding four rounds in the 60s and registering just three bogeys across the 72 holes of play to finish 10 strokes clear on the individual leader board as well.
His pace steadied in the final round, recording a 3-under 69 after rounds of 66-66-65 across the first three days of competition.
“I’m relieved, happy. It’s nice to see that my game can travel. It’s a long flight over here, different conditions,” said Maas, who was the third-highest ranked player in the field this week.
“It’s a long week. I think building a lead, everybody thinks it’s all happy, but it also comes with a lot of pressure… Being in a team event, it can quickly go the other way.”
Teammate Daniel Bennett, who also plays alongside Maas at the University of Texas, added an even-par 72 to Maas’ final-round 69, giving South Africa a final-round, 3-under 141.
Charl Barnard posted 5-over 77, which marked his fourth non-counting score of the week.
“I’m just happy to have such a good team,” Barnard said. “It really meant a lot for me this week [to represent South Africa]. It’s something that I can look back at when I’m done and be proud to be a part of.”
The Australians were led on Saturday afternoon by Declan O’Donovan, the reigning Canadian Amateur champion, and Harry Takis, who won this year’s Singapore Open Amateur Championship by 11 strokes.
O’Donovan finished second in the individual scoring at 12-under 276 after posting a final-round, 3-under 69, while Takis added a 69 of his own to the team’s final-round total of 138.
It marked a 10-shot improvement from Takis' third-round 79 and the Australians’ third consecutive round of 6 under par.
“I went home last night, and coaches had a chat with me about keeping my head up and trying to do what I do best, and I did that today,” said Takis, who will return to Singapore to compete in the Singapore Open in November. “It’s always an honor to represent your country… we don’t take it for granted.”
The Englishmen were led by Eliot Baker in the final round, who posted a 5-under 67 for his best individual performance of the week. Charlie Forster contributed a 2-under 70 for a team 7-under 137, while Tyler Weaver posted a non-counting 73.
The trio, who represented GB&I in the Walker Cup Match at Cypress Point in September, finished the championship 19-under 557.
“It was a big goal of the year to be picked for this team,” said Baker, the reigning Scottish Men’s Open champion.
“It’s nice to come out here and put this performance in. Slow first few days for myself but finally got it going today.”
Defending champion USA was in position to become the first American team to finish outside of the top 10 in the history of the Eisenhower Trophy after a 6-over 150 in the first round landed it T-32 with Panama.
But the Americans battled back, posting three consecutive rounds of 5-under 139 to finish T-10 with Japan at 9-under 567 for the championship.
Host country Singapore finished T-18 with Norway after posting 4-under 572 for the championship, its best finish in 15 appearances.
In the final round, it was 18-year-old Brayden Lee who led the way with a 3-under 69 after tallying four birdies against a single bogey.
Hiroshi Tai carded a 1-under 71, while Troy Storm posted a second consecutive round of even par after starting the week with a 12-over 84 in Round 1.
Quotable:
Gavin Groves, South Africa Captain: “[The conversations were] very much to keep it going, keep the same rhythm, same routine, same recovery, same processes. I know that [Christiaan] Maas had iron in his hand on the first tee, and then he put it away and hit the driver and I said to him, ‘I was going to kill you if you hit iron off the tee.’ So, it was very much just to keep going with what worked, and it obviously worked.
Daniel Bennett, South Africa: “It's a pretty incredible first time, we've got such a great group around us, and we are very thankful to everyone back home and all the support we've had... [Christiaan] Maas has been playing good all week, and we just needed one other good score.”
Chris Zambri, USA Coach: “It was a rough first day, obviously, and I'm just glad they hung in there and did their best and gave it their all the whole time… We really wanted to come here and win this tournament. I know that South Africa played amazingly well, and that would have been a tall task no matter how well we played… In the end, we didn't have it this week like we needed to, to contend with a lot of these great players.”
Murray Smit, Singapore Captain: “I think it was a really good final day for us today... I think [T-18 is] another milestone achievement and something we can really build on from here. I think most importantly, I’m just really proud of all three players; they all chipped in at various points.”
Alejandro Villavicencio, Guatemala: “Well, it's a blessing, really, and an honor to be in the top two or three players in my country eight times now. I just love golf, love this game, and it's given me a lot. So it's really an incredible experience for me to be able to – year after year – keep competing with the young guys back home and be able to qualify for these types of events.”
Darlington Chikanyambidze, Zimbabwe: “I didn't see it go in, but I just saw people shouting and saying, ‘hole-in-one, hole-in-one.’ So yeah, that's how I did it... For me, it's good to be here, and I really enjoyed [the WATC]. And I put [in] all my effort here. So, it was a great week for me. You know, it's not easy, but for my first time, I can appreciate what I did.”
Notable:
Christian Maas’ 72-hole score of 266 ties the second-lowest individual mark in championship history. France’s Victor Perez, Australia’s Lucas Herbert and Argentina’s Alejandro Tosti all recorded the same score in Japan in 2014, where Spain’s Jon Rahm set the lowest 72-hole total in championship history at 263.
South Africa’s previous best finish in the Eisenhower Trophy was its silver medal in 1980. Before that, its only podium finishes were bronze in 1970 and 1972.
In 33 appearances, the Australians have won 15 medals, the most of any country outside of the USA. With its silver on Saturday, Australia now owns four gold, five silver and six bronze.
England’s bronze medal on Saturday was its second podium finish, and it now owns two medals as a country in the Eisenhower Trophy, having earned silver in 2016. England has finished inside the top 10 nine times.
Mexico finished solo fourth, registering its first top-five finish in the Eisenhower Trophy since earning silver in 2012, its only medalist performance in the championship.
For USA, which has competed in all 34 editions of the championship, T-10 marks its lowest finish on the leader board all time (previously 9th in 1996).
The Dutchmen posted the low final round at 9-under 135, propelling the Netherlands to a sixth-place finish, which is its best performance since winning in 2006 and its sixth top-10 finish all time.
Darlington Chikanyambidze, of Zimbabwe, recorded a hole-in-one on the par-3 6th (173 yards/158 meters) on Saturday morning, using 8-iron. It was technically his second of the week on that hole, having recorded a hole-in-one on No. 6 during Monday’s practice round as well.
Alejandro Villavicencio, of Guatemala, was the oldest player in the field this week and was making his eighth appearance in the championship, the most of anyone competing. He is one appearance away from matching the fourth-most appearances in the championship with Austria’s Klaus Nierlich.
What’s Next:
The 2027 World Amateur Team Championships will be hosted by the Royal Moroccan Golf Federation and will be played at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam.
2025 World Amateur Team Championships, played at par-72 Tanah Merah Country Club (Tampines Course), Singapore.
1 South Africa 139-135-132-141--547
Christiaan Maas 66-66-65-69--266
Daniel Bennett 73-69-67-72--281
Charl Barnard 75-76-75-77--303
2 Australia 141-138-138-138--555
Declan O'Donovan 70-69-68-69--276
Billy Dowling 71-71-70-72--284
Harry Takis 71-69-79-69--288
3 England 142-137-141-137--557
Eliot Baker 71-72-72-67--282
Charlie Forster 71-69-73-70--283
Tyler Weaver 73-68-69-73--283
4 Mexico 137-143-137-142--559
Carlos Astiazaran 68-71-73-76--288
Eduardo Derbez 69-78-64-69--280
Gerardo Gomez 73-72-73-73--291
5 France 140-139-142-140--561
Oscar Couilleau 70-67-71-70--278
Hugo Le Goff 70-75-72-76--293
Louis Anceaux 73-72-71-70--286
6 Netherlands 142-143-142-135--562
Nevill Ruiter 70-71-71-67--279
Guus Lafeber 72-78-71-77--298
Benjamin Reuter 73-72-77-68--290
T7 Thailand 142-140-141-142--565
Parin Sarasmut 70-74-76-70--290
Pongsapak Laopakdee 72-70-70-72--284
Arsit Areephun 74-70-71-73--288
T7 Denmark 144-136-143-142--565
Oscar Holm Bredkjær 71-67-72-72--282
Claes Borregaard 73-76-71-70--290
Kristian Hjort Bressum 75-69-72-76--292
T7 Scotland 147-140-140-138--565
Niall Sheils Donegan 73-73-69-73--288
Connor Graham 74-67-75-66--282
Cameron Adam 76-74-71-72--293
T10 United States of America 150-139-139-139--567
Mason Howell 75-68-71-70--284
Ethan Fang 75-71-73-69--288
Preston Stout 75-72-68-73--288
T10 Japan 145-137-143-142--567
Rintaro Nakano 71-66-75-69--281
Taisei Nagasaki 74-72-68-73--287
Gunma Tamura 75-71-75-74--295
12 Spain 144-149-136-139--568
Alejandro De Castro Piera 71-76-69-80--296
Sergio Jimenez Romero 73-77-73-68--291
Alvaro Pastor Roman 74-73-67-71--285
13 Paraguay 142-148-138-141--569
Erich Fortlage 70-74-73-72--289
Franco Fernández 72-74-69-73--288
Benjamin Fernandez 75-74-69-69--287
T14 Czechia 141-140-146-143--570
Timotej Formánek 69-72-73-76--290
Filip Jakubčík 72-68-74-67--281
Štěpán Plášek 75-78-73-77--303
T14 New Zealand 144-144-143-139--570
Robby Turnbull 71-73-73-77--294
Zackary Swanwick 73-71-70-68--282
Cooper Moore 76-77-73-71--297
T16 Italy 142-144-140-145--571
Michele Ferrero 71-72-74-72--289
Filippo Ponzano 71-80-70-74--295
Riccardo Fantinelli 73-72-70-73--288
T16 Sweden 141-140-147-143--571
Filip Fahlberg Johnsson 69-69-73-71--282
Simon Hovdal 72-72-77-73--294
Alfons Bondesson 76-71-74-72--293
T18 Norway 146-143-140-143--572
Michael Mjaaseth 69-70-68-73--280
Joachim Tegner 77-73-75-70--295
Emil Børrestuen Herstad 77-80-72-74--303
T18 Singapore 141-144-147-140--572
Hiroshi Hirahara Tai 65-71-75-71--282
Brayden Lee 76-73-75-69--293
Troy Storm 84-77-72-72--305
20 Morocco 147-139-145-143--574
Adam Bresnu 71-68-70-69--278
Hugo Mazen Trommetter 76-71-75-76--298
Alex El Khomri 81-73-76-74--304
T21 Ireland 148-138-145-145--576
Stuart Grehan 73-68-71-71--283
Caolan Rafferty 75-70-74-74--293
John Doyle 75-73-75-76--299
T21 People's Republic of China 144-144-147-141--576
Zi Qin Zhou 71-76-71-71--289
Qi You Wu 73-70-79-74--296
Hao Yi Wang 74-74-76-70--294
T21 Guatemala 146-148-141-141--576
Gabriel Palacios 71-71-70-72--284
Sebastian Barnoya 75-77-71-69--292
Alejandro Villavicencio 75-77-73-75--300
T24 Argentina 146-137-144-150--577
Mateo Pulcini 72-69-73-78--292
Segundo Oliva Pinto 74-68-77-73--292
Juan Martín Loureiro 74-75-71-77--297
T24 Canada 144-143-145-145--577
Ashton McCulloch 70-76-73-75--294
Justin Matthews 74-73-72-72--291
Isaiah Ibit 75-70-80-73--298
26 Germany 148-143-144-144--579
Tim Wiedemeyer 73-73-72-74--292
Emil Riegger 75-73-72-70--290
Wolfgang Glawe 78-70-73-76--297
T27 Estonia 151-144-144-142--581
Mattias Varjun 75-72-72-72--291
Kevin Jegers 76-72-72-70--290
Richard Teder 77-75-74-72--298
T27 Wales 146-140-146-149--581
Jonathan Bale 73-72-74-74--293
Caolan Burford 73-78-72-75--298
Tomi Bowen 77-68-79-76--300
T27 Colombia 147-144-143-147--581
Carlos Ardila 73-72-75-74--294
Tomas Restrepo 74-72-70-73--289
Emilio Velez 76-73-73-78--300
30 Vietnam 149-146-146-142--583
Nguyen Anh Minh 73-70-75-74--292
Nguyen Duc Son 76-76-73-70--295
Ho Anh Huy 76-76-73-72--297
31 Brazil 146-145-144-149--584
Andrey Borges 73-75-71-73--292
Herik Oliveira 73-76-77-78--304
Eduardo Ferreira 74-70-73-76--293
32 Indonesia 149-148-144-148--589
Amadeus Susanto 74-75-71-75--295
Randy Bintang 75-73-73-77--298
Asa Najib 78-76-75-73--302
33 India 145-150-150-146--591
Rakshit Dahiya 72-72-76-71--291
Deepak Yadav 73-79-74-77--303
Arin Ahuja 75-78-83-75--311
34 Panama 150-150-147-150--597
Raul Carbonell 74-75-75-75--299
Miguel Ordoñez 76-75-76-75--302
Omar Tejeira 78-77-72-75--302
35 Guam 156-152-154-149--611
Markus Nanpei 75-76-78-76--305
Ivan Sablan 81-76-76-80--313
Redge Camacho 82-84-79-73--318
36 Zimbabwe 155-161-154-155--625
Darlington Chikanyambidze 75-83-77-74--309
Munesu Chimhini 80-81-80-83--324
Elton Zulu 83-80-77-81--321
