Monday, August 29, 2016

USGA Announces 2016 USA World Amateur Team

(FAR HILLS, N.J.) – The United States Golf Association has selected the three players who will represent the USA in the 2016 World Amateur Team Championship, to be played Sept. 21-24 at Mayakoba El Camaleon Golf Club and Iberostar Playa Paraiso Golf Club in Riviera Maya, Mexico.

The players are Brad Dalke, 19, of Norman, Okla.; Maverick McNealy, 20, of Portola Valley, Calif.; and Scottie Scheffler, 20, of Dallas, Texas.

“Brad, Maverick and Scottie exemplify the competitive spirit and sportsmanship that are displayed at the World Amateur Team Championship,” said Diana Murphy, president of the United States Golf Association. “We are delighted to have them join such an illustrious group of players, including Rickie Fowler, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, that have represented the United States at this renowned championship.”

The World Amateur Team Championship is conducted by the International Golf Federation (IGF), which ran the golf competition at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Dalke is a sophomore at the University of Oklahoma, and was runner-up to Curtis Luck at the 2016 U.S. Amateur Championship. He earned 2016 Division I All-Central Team honors after a freshman season that saw him start all 13 tournaments and earn a best finish of second at the 2015 Ka’anapali Classic Collegiate Invitational. Dalke, whose outstanding junior career was highlighted by a victory at the 2015 Junior PGA Championship, is No. 124 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking™ (WAGR).

McNealy is a senior at Stanford University, and is No. 1 in the WAGR, receiving the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the world’s top male amateur in 2016. McNealy has earned first-team All-America and Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year honors for the last two seasons, and helped lead Stanford to conference and regional titles in 2016. McNealy qualified for the 2014 U.S. Open Championship, was a member of the 2015 USA Walker Cup Team and advanced to the Round of 16 at the 2015 U.S. Amateur and U.S. Amateur Four-Ball championships.

Scheffler is a junior at the University of Texas, and is No. 20 in the WAGR. He qualified for the 2016 U.S. Open and shot a first-round 69. Scheffler, the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur champion, helped the University of Texas advance to the 2016 NCAA match-play final, as well as win the Big 12 Conference Championship and NCAA Franklin Regional. Scheffler, who made the cut at the PGA Tour’s 2014 Byron Nelson Classic, was the Big 12’s top newcomer in 2015.

Paul D. Caruso Jr., a former member of the USGA Executive Committee, will serve as captain of the USA World Amateur Team.

The alternates are Will Zalatoris, 20, of Plano, Texas, and Collin Morikawa, 19, of La Canada, Calif.

The World Amateur Team Championship was founded in 1958, and the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship began in 1964. The IGF was founded in 1958 to encourage the international development of golf through friendship and sportsmanship. Today, the IGF consists of 135 national governing bodies of golf representing 129 countries, and is the international federation for golf for the International Olympic Committee.

The Mexican Golf Federation will host the 2016 World Amateur Team Championship. The championship was last played in 2014 in Karuizawa, Japan, with the USA Team of Bryson DeChambeau, Beau Hossler and Denny McCarthy winning the title. The USA has won the last two championships, and has earned a championship-record 15 titles.

The 2018 championship will be contested at Carton House (Montgomerie and O’Meara Courses) in Maynooth, Ireland.

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