Past USGA President Mark Newell and USGA Executive Committee member Courtney Myhrum have been named captains of the men’s and women’s USA Teams, respectively, for the 2023 World Amateur Team Championships. The 33rd men’s championship will be held Oct. 18-21, followed by the 30th women’s championship Oct. 25-28, at Abu Dhabi Golf Club (National Course) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
“Mark and Courtney are extraordinary leaders, and we are proud to have them captain our teams in Abu Dhabi,” said Kevin Hammer, USGA Championship Committee chair. “The World Amateur Team Championships are a global celebration of the game we love, and I know that Mark, Courtney and their players will do a wonderful job representing the USGA and our country.”
Newell, of McLean, Va., served as the 65th president of the USGA in 2018-2019, and was a member of the Executive Committee for seven years. He served as general counsel to the USGA in 2011 and 2012 before joining the Executive Committee in 2013. Before his presidency, Newell chaired the USGA Rules of Golf Committee for five years and co-led the USGA/R&A Rules modernization that took effect in 2019. He also spent four years as co-chair of the USGA/R&A initiative that led to the World Handicap System™ in 2020. Newell is a retired vice chairman and chief operating partner of Latham & Watkins LLP.
“It is a great honor to have a chance to represent your country, and I am thrilled to have been named captain of the 2023 USA Men’s World Amateur Team,” said Newell. “I look forward to an exciting and fun championship with our team of three great amateurs competing with the top amateurs from around the world.”
Myhrum, of Pittsburgh, Pa., is in her fourth year as a member of the USGA Executive Committee after serving on the USGA Women’s Committee from 2011-2019, including as its chair in 2019. She has a long history with the USGA both on and off the course. In 1998, Myhrum began volunteering on the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship Committee and has gone on to serve at more than 55 USGA championships. She has competed in 15 USGA championships, including the U.S. Women’s Amateur, U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. Myhrum is the owner and president of Organized By Court, a consulting firm that offers custom solutions for individuals, families and small businesses to achieve greater productivity and efficiency.
"It is a tremendous honor to be asked to captain the USA Women’s Team, and I look forward to leading these young women in Abu Dhabi as we compete for the gold,” said Myhrum. “I have had a front-row seat to women’s amateur golf for many years, and captaining this team will certainly be the pinnacle of my career."
Both championships, which are conducted by the International Golf Federation (IGF), consist of 72 holes of stroke play (18 holes a day over four days). In each round, the total of the two lowest scores by the three players from each team constitutes the team score for that round. The four-day total is the team’s score for the championship. Among the players who have competed in these two championships are: Jack Nicklaus, Nick Price, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Nancy Lopez, Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb, Se Ri Pak, Lorena Ochoa and Lydia Ko.
The World Amateur Team Championships will be held in the Middle East for the first time in 2023 and hosted by the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) and Abu Dhabi Sports Council. The National Course at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, which was designed by Peter Harradine in 1998, hosted the DP World Tour’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship from 2006-2021 and the 2023 Hero Cup.
The 2022 championships were played at Le Golf National and Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche in Paris, France. Sweden won the Espirito Santo Trophy for the third time in a tiebreaker over the American side of Rachel Heck, Rachel Kuehn and Rose Zhang. In the men’s championship, Italy claimed its first Eisenhower Trophy, finishing one stroke ahead of Sweden and four strokes ahead of the third-place United States team of Austin Greaser, Gordon Sargent and Michael Thorbjornsen.
The World Amateur Team Championship was founded in 1958, followed by the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship in 1964. Following a decision by the IGF Administrative Committee in 2020, the 2023 championships will be the first to be held in an odd-numbered year to avoid conflicting with the Summer Olympic Games. The 2025 championships in Singapore will be hosted by the Singapore Golf Association and the 2027 championships in Morocco will be hosted by the Royal Moroccan Golf Federation.
The IGF was founded in 1958 as the World Amateur Golf Council to encourage the international development of golf through friendship and sportsmanship. Today, the IGF, whose name was changed in 2003, consists of 152 national governing bodies of golf representing 149 countries, and 22 international professional tours and organizations conducting major championships. The IGF is recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the international federation for golf. In addition to the World Amateur Team Championships, the IGF also organizes the golf competitions at the Olympic Games and the Youth Olympic Games.
