Scotland Claims First Ever Men's WAT Championship

Individual Scots have participated in the championship since it's inception in Australia in 1958, but only as part of the Great Britain and Ireland teams, including four victories in 1964, 1976, 1988 and 1998. However, when the championship moved from four-player to three-player teams in 2002, the Scots made their debut under their own flag..

"It's history in the making for a small nation as the home of golf," said Scottish captain George Crawford. "The way golf has developed on the continent means it's much more difficult to compete at this level. It's a historic occasion. It's tremendous."

The trio of Wallace Booth, Callum Macaulay and Gavin Dear, representing a wee nation of just five million, teamed up for a 20-under par 560 total, nine shots better than second place United States of America. Sweden finished 14 shots back in third place while France and Italy shared fourth place at 5-under 575.

Host Australia claimed sixth place all to themselves while Spain and the defending champion Netherlands came in tired for seventh at 579.

Team Canada, runners up two years ago in South Africa, moved forward for the second day in a row as team members and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., Jordan Irwin of Calgary and David Markle of Shelburne, Ont. climbed into ninth place with Argentina at even par 580.

In the World Amateur, the team's two best individual scores count. The winning team receives custody of the Eisenhower Trophy for the ensuing two years and the players receive gold medals.

Taylor (center) led the way for Team Canada, shooting an impressive closing round of 3-under 69 and finishing tied for second with Scotland's Macaulay in individual scoring, posting a 72-hole total of 8-under par 282, two shots behind American Rickie Fowler. Irwin and Markle finished the tournament at 8-over and 22-over respectively for Canada.

Conducted by the International Golf Federation, which is comprised of the national governing bodies of golf in more than 110 countries, the biennial World Amateur Golf Team Championships are contested over four rounds of stroke play. The competition is rotated among three geographic zones of the world: Asia-Pacific, North American and European-African. In 2010, the event will be held in Argentina and the 2012 event will be held in Turkey.

23rd Biennial Men's World Amateur Team championship
1 The Royal Adelaide Golf Club: Royal Adelaide Par 73 - 7215 yards
2 The Grange Golf Club: Grange Par 72 - 6930 yards

Top 10 Teams
1 Scotland --- 136 - 137 - 140 - 147 -- 560
2 United States --- 136 137 144 152 -- 569
3 Sweden --- 142 - 140 - 139 - 153 -- 574
T4 France --- 139 -148 - 141 - 147 -- 575
T4 Italy --- 147 - 141 - 138 - 149 -- 575
6 Australia--- 147 - 137 - 141 - 153 --- 578
T7 Spain --- 145 - 141 - 140 - 153 -- 579
T7 Netherlands --- 145 - 142 - 142 - 150 -- 579
T9 Canada --- 146 - 144 - 142 - 148 -- 580
T9 Argentina --- 151 - 135 - 146 - 148 -- 580

Complete team and individual scoring statistics are available by visiting
World Amateur Team Championship