The Loop
WATC causes women's game to take quick break
Curious why there aren't any high-profile women's college events being held this week? Look no further than Buenos Aires, Argentina, where the Women's World Amateur Team Championship begins tomorrow (click here for live scoring) with a record 53 countries competing in the biennial event. (The men's edition is held next week in the same locale.)
Below is a list of the 38 current college players that are representing their countries (each nation has a three-player squad with the top two scores each round counting toward the team total). There are a couple of interesting points to make when looking at the names below—or more importantly the schools the players attend. They're not just the teams that appear in the *Golf World/NGCA coaches' poll *each week. There are several mid-major level programs (and a few Division II) that have elite international golfers on their rosters. As if the fact that the NCAA women's individual champion has come from outside the U.S. in 13 of the past 20 years (and seven of the last 10) hasn't already highlighted how global the women's college game has become, this snapshot lends further credence.
__ALABAMA
__ Jennifer Kirby, Canada
Camilla Lennarth, Sweden
__ARIZONA STATE
__Carlota Ciganda, Spain
Guilia Molinaro, Italy
ARKANSAS
Kelli Shean, South Africa
AUBURN
Cydney Clanton, United States
Diana Fernandez, Paraguay
BARRY
Isadora Stapff, Brazil
CALIFORNIA
Pia Halbig, Germany
CALIFORNIA U. (Pa.)
Dianne Luke, Malaysia
__DENVER
__Tonje Daffinrud, Norway
__DUKE
__Laetitia Beck, Israel
__FLORIDA
__Mia Piccio, Philippines
__FLORIDA STATE
__Macarena Silva, Chile
Maria Salinas, Peru
GEORGIA
Marta Silva Zamora, Spain
GEORGIA STATE
Charlotte Lorentzen, Denmark
__KENT STATE
__Martina Gavier, Argentina
__
LOUISVILLE
__Sara-Maude Juneau, Canada
__PEPPERDINE
__Martine de Gannes, Trinidad and Tobago
Danielle Kang, United States
__PURDUE
__Laura Gonzalez-Escallon, Belgium
__OHIO STATE
__Susana Benavides, Bolivia
__
SAN DIEGO STATE
__Christine Wong, Canada
__SAN FRANCISCO
__Tinna Johannsdottir, Iceland
STANFORD
Sally Watson, Scotland
TCU
Sanna Nuutinen, Finland
Rachel Raastad, Norway
__
TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN
__Maria Jose Camey, Guatemala
__TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO
__Paola Valerio, Mexico
__TEXAS STATE
__Krista Puisite, Latvia
Mara Puisite, Latvia
__
TEXAS TECH
__Alexandra Gibson, Peru
__
TROY
__Signy Arnorsdottie, Iceland
__
TULSA
__Marita Engzelius, Norway
__UNLV
__Therese Koelbaek, Denmark
USC
Lisa McCloskey, Colombia
Sophia Popov, Germany