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6th Biennial World Golf Teachers Cup®
USA • November 17-19, 2003 |
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On the surface,
the 6th playing of the World Golf Teachers Cup (WGTC), held
November 17-19 in Kissimmee, Florida, and sponsored by Train 2
Engrain, seemed like just another in a long line of successful
Cup events. But upon further reflection, this WGTC was notable
for one big reason: it heralded an important turning point in
the history of the World Golf Teachers Federation (WGTF).
Consider:
• This WGTC was
so large that, for the first time, two golf courses were
necessary;
• The WGTC Individual Championship was covered on American
national television;
• For the first time, the WGTC had a title sponsor;
• This WGTC was the first to be held after an expansion of
member nations in the WGTF;
• The WGTC Team Championship had 12 federations competing, a
record;
An historic
meeting and dinner between leaders and representatives of nine
member nations of the WGTF took place after the first round of
play.
Anticipating a record tournament attendance, officers of the
United States Golf Teachers Federation (USGTF) contracted with
Orange Lake Resort to use its two golf courses, the Legends and
the Resort. 188 participants from 16 nations teed it up Monday,
November 17 in the first round of the two-round Individual
Championship. Seven players were in contention, within three
strokes of the lead, after the first day:
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Mark
Harman, USA 70 |
David
Belling, Canada 71 |
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Sammy Oh,
Korea 71 |
Booth
Kates, USA 72 |
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Tim
Mangal, West Indies 73 |
Richard
Eaton, USA 73 |
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Brian
O'Rourke, Canada 73 |
|
In years past,
Harman would have been declared the champion, as all prior WGTC
Individual Championships were played over just one round.
Recognizing that championships of this stature should be held
over multiple rounds, this year's individual title was expanded
to two rounds (future Individual Championships will be at least
two rounds). Harman still had some work to do if he was to take
his third WGTC Individual Championship to go along with his four
United States Golf
Teachers Cup titles.
A final round 70 by Harman, establishing a tournament - record
four-under par score of 140, seemed to clinch the title, but
Belling had other ideas. Playing in extremely windy conditions,
Belling produced a 69 to send the championship to a sudden death
playoff for the first time. On the first playoff hole, a parfour,
Belling's drive found the fairway while Harman's wound up behind
a tree. Harman punched his approach just over the green before
Belling's 8-iron landed 25 feet from the hole. Harman, using his
putter, rolled his ball down the hill five feet past the hole.
Belling easily two-putted, putting the pressure on Harman and
forcing him into a must-make situation. Alas, Harman pulled his
putt wide, earning Belling the Individual Championship in his
first WGTC outing.
Kates held strong for the second round, shooting a 74 (148
total) to overtake Oh for the Senior Division title. Eaton shot
a final- round 77 (150 total) to earn Super Senior honors. Jill
Finlan claimed the Women's Division with a two-round score of
159.
Held concurrently with the final round of the Individual
Championship was the stroke-play portion of the Team
Championship. Six-man teams from 12 WGTF entities, with the top
five scores counting, did battle to determine which two would
square off in singles match play for the Team Championship. The
format would be #1 qualifying team vs. #2 for the championship,
#3 vs. #4 for third place, #5 vs. #6 for fifth place, etc.
To no one's surprise, team USA qualified first. And to very
little surprise, team Brazil qualified second. It was rumored
before the tournament that Brazil would field a very strong
team, and it did not disappoint - well, except for maybe the
other 10 teams that didn't qualify for the championship match.
Representing the United States were Harman, Belling (although
Canadian, he's a member of the USGTF), Ron Longoria, Jim Perez,
Mike Stevens, and Jerry Moore. Luiz Martins, Luiz Menezes, Bill
Picca, Jack Correa, Gregory Mann, and Antonio Araujo teed it up
for Brazil. Since both teams scored very closely in the
stroke-play qualifying, it seemed more than likely that
there could be a 3-3 tie in the match play portion- and that's
exactly what happened.
To break the tie, each team picked two players to shoot it out
in sudden-death, best-ball (or four-ball) format. Harman and
Belling were chosen for the USA, while Martins and Menezes w e
re selected for Brazil.
After both teams parred the first hole, Belling, Harman, and
Martins hit drives that found the fairway, while Menezes flared
his tee shot out of bounds. Belling and Harman hit second shots
that landed just short of the green, while Martins hooked his
ball into the deep left rough. This proved to be Martins'
undoing, as he was unable to get his approach pitch close.
Belling pitched to 15 feet, while Harman pitched to six feet.
After Martins missed his 30-foot birdie putt, Belling again
provided overtime heroics by draining his birdie putt, giving
Team USA its fifth championship in six tries.
Thrilling golf wasn't the only highlight of the week. Title
sponsor Train 2 Engrain, maker of perhaps the most versatile
training aid available for golf teachers, recognized that the
WGTC would provide a good avenue to market and demonstrate its
fine product. Along with Train 2 Engrain, representatives from
over two dozen golf-related companies were also on hand to
showcase their products and services. Leaving the tournament
competition aside, Train 2 Engrain and the other companies made
attending the WGTC more than worthwhile on their own.
In 2001, the WGTF began an expansion of member nations.
Previously, Europe had been represented by one entity, but with
the individual nations clamoring for federations to call their
own, allowing each country to have a WGTF presence made sense.
From Europe, Great Britain fielded a team, and France and
Germany combined to form a team. Other nations or entities
competing in the team competition were the USA, Brazil, Korea,
Canada, Holland, Australia, Taiwan, Canada, continental Asia,
and the Hispanic team.
For the first time, leaders and representative from nine WGTF
member nations attended a historic summit and dinner, held after
the first round of play. In attendance at the summit were Sammy
Oh (Korea), Dave Reid and Bob Bryant (Canada), Rob Tol and
Ignace Adriaanse (Holland), Dieter Lang (Germany), Thomas
Wartelle (WGTF Coordinator), Luiz Martins and Bill Picca
(Brazil), Ben Schmulian (South Africa), Gary Cooney (Australia),
and Geoff Bryant, Bob Wyatt, Mark Harman, and Robert Kleabir
(USA).
Each representative had important words to contribute to the
growth and direction of the WGTF. Among them, Lang said that,
aside from the United Nations, the WGTF re p resented one of the
very few multi-national organizations - and certainly, a much
more friendly and cohesive bind. Oh pointed out the strength in
numbers he has in South Korea. Hudson has changed the name of
his federation to "World Golf Teachers Federation of Great
Britain" to reflect the international connection of his
organization.
Martins provided perhaps the best evidence of the WGTF's
influence. He is also president of the PGA of Brazil, and it is
now a requirement that any prospective PGA member there must
attend the certification class of the Brazil Golf Teachers
Federation. In addition to being a fine player, Martins also has
been a fine leader for both organizations in his country, and
has off e red to host the 2005 WGTC.
What do you think? Would you like to see the next WGTC held in
South America? We would like to hear from you on this matter.
The WGTC alternates between the United States and an
international location. In previous years, the international
location was always Spain, but with the growth of the WGTF,
other locations will now be considered.
If you would like to weigh in, please e-mail your comments to
USGTF National Course Director Mark Harman at markusgtf.com.
Based upon your comments and the logistics of setting up the
next WGTC, we hope to announce a location in the not-too-distant
future.
If you were fortunate enough to attend the 2003 WGTC, you were
able to witness first-hand the WGTF's growth. If you did not
attend, we hope to see you at the Cup in 2005 - wherever that
may be.
