Tulane's Dryburgh, Penttila Selected to Participate in World Amateur Team Championships
Aug 19, 2014 | Women's Golf
New Orleans - The Tulane golf tandem of rising senior Gemma Dryburgh and rising junior Emily Penttila have each been selected to participate and represent their respective home countries at the 2014 World Amateur Team Championships, Sept. 3-6, in Karuizawa, Japan.
The World Amateur Team Championships are played every two years and was last played at the Antalya Golf Club (Sultan Course) and the Cornelia Golf Club in Antalya, Turkey. Former Tulane All-American Maribel Lopez Porras was selected to participate in the event and represented her home country of Colombia. A group of around 1,500 golfers will play 72 holes of stroke play.
Dryburgh will represent her home country of Scotland, while Penttila will compete for her home nation of Finland. Both Dryburgh and Penttila were key figures this past spring that saw the Green Wave win the 2014 C-USA title, record a seventh-place finish at the NCAA East Regionals and post a 15th-place effort in the NCAA national championship rounds.
"I am very happy and proud for both Gemma and Emily to have this opportunity to represent each of their countries at the World Amateur Team Championships," Tulane head coach Lorne Don said. "This is a very prestigious tournament and it is an event each of them will remember for the rest of their lives. This is also a great way for each player to kick-start their fall season."
The 26th women's championship for the Espirito Santo Trophy will take place in Japan's city of Karuizawa, in Nagano Prefecture. These championships will be hosted by the Japan Golf Association (JGA). Both the men's and women's championships, which feature some of the world's leading amateurs, are played over 72 holes of stroke play. Each country is represented by a team of two or three players.
The Kurizawa Prince Hotel Resort and Karurizawa 72 Golf Complex combine to have six 18-hole golf courses and two 9- hole layouts. Included amongst these are the Oshitate Course and Iriyama Course which will be the venues for the Eisenhower Trophy and Espitio Santo trophy of the 2014 World Amateur Team Championships.
Dryburgh hails from Aberdeen and is a three-time all-conference selection and has been a part of two C-USA Championships and a pair of national championship appearances during her tenure at Tulane. Earlier this summer, she was selected to the 2014 Great Britain and Ireland (GB&I) Curtis Cup Team and also participated in the European Ladies Team Championship in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
During the 2013-14 campaign, Dryburgh played 31 rounds in 11 tournaments and ranked second on the team with a 73.39 scoring average, which was the third-best effort in a single season. Her rounds counted toward the team total on 27 occasions and she owned 10 rounds of par or better, including a season-low 4-under 68 during the opening round of the C-USA Championships. Dryburgh notched three Top-10 finishes, including a runner-up effort at the conference championships.
A native of Helsinki, Finland, Penttila has put together a productive summer. She qualified and represented Tulane in the 2014 U.S. Women's Open Championship and also participated in the European Ladies Team Championship in Ljubljana, Slovenia
This past spring, Penttila was named the C-USA and Louisiana Golfer of the Year, was named to both the All C-USA and All-Louisiana first teams and was tabbed as the team's Most Outstanding Player. She was named the C-USA Golfer of the Week on Sept. 18. Off the course, she was tabbed an All-America Scholar by the Women's Collegiate Golf Coaches Association and was also selected to the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll and to Tulane's 3.0 Club.
Penttila rewrote the school's single season scoring average with a 72.50 and played 34 rounds in 12 tournaments. Her rounds counted toward the team score 30 times and she recorded 15 rounds of par or better, including a school single-round low of 7-under 65 during the opening round of the NCAA East Regionals. She produced four Top-10 finishes, including a season-low third place effort at the C-USA Championships.
Japan previously served as the host of the 1962 World Amateur Team Championship at Fuji Golf Course at the Kawana Hotel.
The IGF was founded in 1958 to encourage the international development of golf and to employ the game as a vehicle to foster friendship and sportsmanship among the peoples of the world. The World Amateur Team Championships are biennial international amateur competitions, which are rotated among three geographic zones: Asia-Pacific, Americas and Europe-Africa. The IGF comprises the national governing bodies in more than 120 countries and serves as the International Olympic Committee's recognized International Federation for golf.
