Creamer, Huarte And Park Named To USA Women's World Amateur Team


Aug. 19, 2004
E–mail address: mediarelations@usga.org

Far Hills, N.J. – The Women's Committee of the United States Golf Association has named Paula Creamer of Pleasanton, Calif., Sarah Huarte of Shingle Springs, Calif., and Jane Park of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., to the 2004 USA Women's World Amateur team.

	Creamer

The Women's World Amateur Team Championship is conducted by the International Golf Federation, which comprises national governing bodies of golf in 100 countries. A record 51 teams from around the world have thus far entered the 2004 Women's World Amateur Team Championship, which will be played Oct. 20-23 at Rio Mar Country Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.

It is played in conjunction with the World Amateur Team Championship for men, which will be played on the same courses Oct. 24-27.

Morgan Pressel of Boca Raton, Fla., was named first alternate and Amanda McCurdy of El Dorado, Ark., is second alternate.

Cora Jane Blanchard of Edina, Minn., USGA Women's Committee chairman in 2001 and 2002, is the team captain.

Creamer, Huarte and Park were all members of the USA Curtis Cup squad that won the 2004 Match at Formby Golf Club in Merseyside, England. In addition, Creamer and Park teamed to bring the USA a victory at the 2003 Spirit International.

Creamer, 18, a senior at the Pendleton School in Bradenton, Fla., was a semifinalist at both

the 2003 and 2004 Girls' Juniors and Women's Amateurs, and tied for low-amateur honors at the 2004 U.S. Women's Open, finishing tied for 13^th. She nearly became the first amateur to win an LPGA event in 35 years when she finished second at the 2004 LPGA ShopRite Classic. She also earned low-amateur honors at the 2004 Women's Canadian Open. She has won 16 national-caliber junior competitions, including 11 on the American Junior Golf Association circuit, and was named the AJGA Player of the Year for 2003.

Park

Huarte, 22, set a 72-hole record with a 10-under-par 278 en route to winning the 2004 NCAA Women's Division I championship. She was named the 2004 Honda Award winner as the best female collegiate golfer. She also won the 2004 South Atlantic Ladies Amateur. She was a semifinalist at the 2004 U.S. Women's Amateur, losing 1 up to eventual champion Park. She also advanced to the third round of match play at the 2003 Women's Amateur, where she lost to eventual champion Virada Nirapathpongporn. A three-time All-American, including first-team honors in 2003-04, she recently completed her eligibility at the University of California-Berkeley and plans to graduate in December.

Park, 17, won the 2004 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship at The Kahkwa Club in Erie, Pa., when she defeated McCurdy, 2 up. Park was also the runner-up at both the 2003 U.S. Women's Amateur and the 2004 U.S. Girls' Junior. She has played in two U.S. Women's Opens and finished tied for 30^th in 2003. Park, a senior at Rancho Cucamonga High School, also won the 2003 AJGA McDonald's Betsy Rawls Girls' National Championship.

Pressel, 16, is a junior at the St. Andrews School. She was a quarterfinalist at both the 2004 U.S. Girls' Junior and the 2004 U.S. Women's Amateur. In 2001 at age 12, she became the youngest to ever qualify for the U.S. Women's Open. She also played in the 2003 Women's Open, making the cut and finishing 52^nd. Pressel became the youngest champion in the history of the North and South Women's Amateur when she captured the title in 2004 at Pinehurst (N.C.) No. 2.

McCurdy, 20, a junior at the University of Arkansas, was the runner-up at the 2004 U.S. Women's Amateur. She won the 2004 Arkansas State Women's Championship by 10 strokes. McCurdy, who also won the 2003 Landfall Tradition, earned second-team All Southeastern Conference honors in 2004. 

The World Amateur Team title is determined by four days of stroke play. A country may

	Huarte

field a team of two or three players. In each round, the total of the two lowest scores by players from each team constitutes the team score for the round. The four-day total is the team's score for the championship.

The competition has been played every two years since 1964 for the Espirito Santo Trophy. Australia is the defending champion, having won the 2002 championship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The USA, represented by Emily Bastel, Becky Lucidi, and Laura Myerscough, finished fifth. The USA last won in 1998 and has won the trophy a record 13 times since 1966.

The championship is rotated biennially among three geographic zones: Asia-Pacific, American, and European-African. The 2004 competition is hosted by the Puerto Rico Golf Association.

For more information, please contact the USGA at (908) 234-2300.