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Team Canada
Mackenzie Hughes Golf Canada
Canada leads after opening-round of Spirit International
Hughes, Rank, Kim and Henderson combine for 12-under par to hold a one-shot lead over defending champion USA
Golf Canada
Published on Wednesday, Nov. 02, 2011 05:18PM EDT Last updated on Wednesday, Nov. 02, 2011 05:21PM EDT
Team Canada sits in top spot at The Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship through 18 holes of play at Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity, Texas, posting a combined 12-under par (132) to hold a one-shot lead over defending champions, Team USA.
National Squad members Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., and Garrett Rank of Elmira, Ont., are tied with Team USA atop the men’s division at 8-under par (64). Hughes, Canada’s reigning Men’s Amateur Champion, posted six birdies on the day, while Rank, a product of the University of Waterloo and two-time defending OUA champion, converted five.
On the women’s side, Development Squad members Taylor Kim of Surrey, B.C., the individual gold medalist at the 2011 Western Canada Summer Games, and Mackenzie Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., the defending Ontario Junior Girls’ champion, are T2 with Team Korea at 4-under par (68), two-shots back of Team Italy.
The biennial championship, which was was created in 2001, features four-player teams – two male and two female – competing in both a team and individual format. In all, 80 players from 20 countries are contesting the 72-hole Best Ball Stroke Play event that features many of the best female and male amateur players in the world.
Team Canada is looking to improve upon its T8 overall showing from the 2009 event that saw the men’s team finish tied for 4th and women’s team finish 16th.
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