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| 10th World University Golf Championship |
| Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand - August 1st to 6 th, 2004 |
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Ireland Again Irishman Darren Crowe's exceptional poise and self-control brought home a magnificent title for Ireland for the third time in a row.
Thailand was the country hosting the 10th edition of the World University Golf Championship, that took place for the first time in 1986 in Cagliari, Sardinia (ITA).The site of the competition was the "Voyage Panorama Golf Club" in Nakhon Ratchasima or "Korat" Province. Located some 200km northeast of Bangkok Korat it is a lovely historical city surrounded, by extraordinary landscapes whose charm enchanted the championship golfers. The "Suranaree University of Technology" handled the organization, offering its facilities and with the help of countless volunteers. 60 men and 36 women, representing 14 countries, met on the green in Korat – a better score than the last edition, but some people regretted that Thailand's neighbours were not among the participants. 
Consistency and ConcentrationIn golf, a great job on the first day is not enough to win first place. The tournament is played in four rounds (1 per day), so it takes consistency to hope to get a place of honour and, better still, a place on the podium. This must be what Irishman Darren Crowe, the happy winner of the tournament, keeps telling himself. At the same time, he gave Ireland a third consecutive victory. After the first day (windy, making conditions difficult), South African Christian Basson headed the tournament with a score of 69.3 points under par, ahead of his compatriot Mark Mahoney (71) and American Zack Wolma (72). With 74 points, Darren was only in tenth place, but he had faith and told himself that the next day he would do better. And he did, with 70 points in the second round, he climbed slowly up the ranks, but was still far behind the best, Japanese Kunihiro Kamii who did a very handsome course at 68 points, 4 under par, tying South African Charl Coetze. His fellow countryman Mark Mahoney also did a great job. 
There's no doubt, South Africa put up a strong team. For the third day and the third round, things began to get serious – it was time to move in to top rank. Darren, with the same consistency, managed the course in 2 under par (70); Mark Mahoney was the most challenging with six below par (66); that shot him up to first place in front of Japanese Kamii, now tying with Darren. For the last round, "consolidate and don't let the pressure get to you" is the rule, and this was really Darren's strong point. 
As the challenger, he scored his best at 5 under par (67), while his closest opponents did their worst with 2 above par. Mark Mahoney had to be content with the second place, although he seemed to be best in line to win. With the same score (74) Japanese Kunihiro Kamii shared the third place with the American Tyler Cummins, who also made handsome progress thanks to his consistency.When asked about his victory, Darren was quite surprised: "To tell the truth, I didn't think that Mark Mahoney would crack up. On the other hand, I was a bit lucky and that's what made the difference" (...) "This was the handsomest tournament I've played to date". South Africa got its consolation with the best ranking team, followed by Japan and the United States.
Consistency pays, and Thai Porani Chutichai found that out to her expense. She was first in the first round thanks to a magnificent course in 72 points, and kept the first place for the next two days, as she managed her headstart well, but didn't really shine. Katie Futcher (USA) did just the opposite – she started out slowly, and kept getting better. The two players were neck-and-neck at the end of the four rounds with exactly the same number of points. So they had to play another round to determine the winner. And in this case, the first person to miss is eliminated. What a suspense! Spectators had to wait for the 18th hole to see the Thai miss her goal by just a few centimetres all to the advantage of Katie who made the shot and came home with gold. The American team made it double, by winning the best team award ahead of Thailand and Chinese Taipei. |
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Commission of Higer Education 328 Sri Ayuttaya Road Ratchatawee 10400 Bangkok - Thailand phone: (66.2)2458559 fax: (66.2)24544516 Golf 2004 golf2004@ccs.sut.ac.th 2004 WUC Golf http://www.sut.ac.th/golf2004/ Ranking
1. Darren Crowe (IRL) 2. Mark Mahoney (RSA ) 3. Tyler Cummins (USA)
1. Katie Futcher (USA) 2. Porani Chutichai (THA) 3. Denise Knaebel (USA)
1. RSA: Christiaan Basson, Charl Coetzee, Jacobus Roos, Jaco Ahlers 2. JPN: Kunihiro Kamii, Takamasa Yamamoto, Haruo Fujishima, Yuta Ikeda 3. THA: Wisut Atjanawat, Ronnachai Jamnong, Nakul Vichitryuthasastr, Pornpong Phatlum Women's Team Competition 1. TPE: Peil Lin Yu, Kuan Pei Chen, Kuan Chi Lu 2. THA: Porani Chitichai, Titiya Plucksataporn, Chataya Chanachai 3. USA: Katie Futcher, Ashley Prange, Carol Green Results The complete results of the championship can be downloaded in pdf format by clicking on the hyperlinks below. Men's Results Women's Results |
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