Golf: Fendt To Represent UL & Austria At WATC

Junior Philipp Fendt is set to represent Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns and his home country of Austria as he travels to Buenos Aires, Argentina to tee it up in the World Amateur Team Championship from Oct. 28-31.

Fendt will be one of three amateur golfers from Austria competing against teams from 70 countries across the globe.

"It means a lot to me," said Fendt. "This was a goal of mine for quite some time. To compete in the biggest amateur tournament and represent my country along with the University of Louisiana is a great honor."

UL golf coach Theo Sliman echoed Fendt’s sentiments.

"This is a great honor for Philipp," added Sliman. "He’s a Ragin’ Cajun through and through and he takes great pride in representing UL and Austria. This is a great payoff for the hard work and dedication he has put in over the past few years."

Teaming up alongside Fendt will be Georgia Southern’s Florian Sanders and fellow countryman, Lukas Nemecz.

The trio will play four rounds between two courses – the Buenos Aires Golf Club and the Olivos Golf Club. The two lowest scores from each day will count towards the team’s total tally.

The Buenos Aires course covers 6,962 yards and is a par-71. Olivios is a par-72 course that stretches 6,801 yards.

The World Amateur Team Championships (WATC) were founded in 1958. They are competitions that take place every two years. They are organized by the International Golf Federation (IGF) and the national federations of golf from the host nation in every edition. The IGF includes the national federations of golf in more than 110 countries and is the international federation for golf for the International Olympic Committee. It was founded to encourage the international development of this game and to use golf as a means to foster friendship and sportsmanship around the world.

The WATC is one of the means used to achieve this goal. Approved by the President of The United States of America, Dwight D. Eisenhower, the inaugural tournament took place in The Old Course, in St. Andrews in 1958. Having celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Eisenhower Trophy in Adelaide, Australia, the championships will visit Argentina in 2010.

Teams of men and women come from all over the world to compete for the Eisenhower Trophy (men) and Espirito Santo Trophy (women) within three different zones: Asia Pacific, America and Europe & Africa. Players must be amateur golfers and follow the rules of The R&A or United States Golf Association. They must also be citizens of the country they represent.