Amateur Golf

Golf Canada today announced the four amateur players who have been named to the Canadian Teams that will compete in the 2013 Copa de las Americas, January 3-6, 2013, at Doral Resort and Spa in Miami, Fla.

The players named to the men’s team are Albin Choi, 20, of Toronto and Corey Conners, 20, of Listowel, Ont.

The players named to the women’s team are Brooke Henderson, 15, of Smiths Falls, Ont., and Augusta James, 19, of Bath, Ont.

Team Canada’s Men’s Squad Assistant Coach Robert Ratcliffe will accompany the players to Florida.

A biennial team event, the Copa de las Americas is an amateur team competition for countries in North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. There are three 72-hole competitions – men’s, women’s and overall – with 18 holes played on each of the four days.

This will be the fifth playing of the Copa de las Americas, and the first time the championship will be conducted in the United States.

In 2010, Canada finished tied for third in the overall championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 26 strokes back of winners Team USA. Matt Hill of Bright’s Grove, Ont. and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C. placed fourth in the men’s portion of the championship, while Stephanie Sherlock of Barrie, Ont. and Jennifer Kirby of Paris, Ont. also earned a fourth place finish.

Choi, a former Team Canada member and a junior at North Carolina State University, most recently represented Canada at the 2012 World Amateur Team Championship. He earned low amateur honours at the 2012 RBC Canadian Open, won the 2012 Ontario Amateur Championship and reached the Round of 16 at the 2012 U.S. Amateur Championship. Choi also finished tied for first in stroke play at the 2012 North & South Men’s Amateur Championship. He posted his fifth and sixth career collegiate wins earlier this season for the Wolfpack.

Conners, a member of Team Canada’s National Squad and a junior at Kent State University, is the reigning Mid-American Conference (MAC) Golfer of the Year. A two-time collegiate event winner and a member of Canada’s 2012 World Amateur Team Championship squad, he tied for fourth individually at the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship and placed fourth at the 2012 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship. In four starts for the Golden Flashes this past fall, Conners registered one victory, two top-10s and four top-20 finishes. He recently earned a fifth place finish at the Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic, an event that featured 23 of the premier collegiate golfers in the NCAA.

Henderson, a member of Team Canada’s National Squad, most recently posted a top-20 individual finish at the 2012 Women’s World Amateur Team Championship. She is the reigning Royale Cup Canadian Junior Girls Championship and Ontario Junior Girls Championship titleholder, and was the youngest competitor ever to play in the CN Canadian Women’s Open in August. Over the summer, Henderson qualified for match play at the Ladies’ British Open Amateur Championship, U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship and U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. She also earned a victory at a CN Canadian Women’s Tour event, becoming the youngest player ever (male or female) to win a professional golf tournament (14 years, 9 months, 3 days). Henderson placed fifth at the Royale Cup Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship, and posted top-5 finishes at the CN Future Links Ontario and Pacific Championship events.

James, a member of Team Canada’s National Squad and a sophomore at North Carolina State University, was the top Canadian at the 2012 Women’s World Amateur Team Championship, finishing tied for 12th individually. She finished tied for second at the 2012 Ontario Women’s Amateur Championship and also reached the Round of 16 at the 2012 Ladies’ British Open Amateur Championship. James, last season’s Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Freshman of the Year, has posted two top-20 finishes in three starts for the Wolfpack thus far this season.

Canada has captured the overall championship at the Copa de las Americas on two occasions, earning back-to-back overall titles at the inaugural event in 2003 in Rio Grande, P.R. and again in 2005 in Nuevo Vallarta, Mex.