Sept. 27, 2012

TUCSON, Ariz. - University of Arizona men's golfer Gabo Ormachea will compete for Bolivia in the World Amateur Team Championship, Oct. 4-7, in Antalya, Turkey.

A record 72 countries are scheduled to compete for the Eisenhower Trophy at the 2012 World Amateur Team Championship. The 72-hole, stroke-play event will be played Thursday-Sunday, Oct. 4-7. Each nation is represented by a three-man team with the two lowest scores counting towards the team total each day.

"It's a huge honor to represent my country," said Ormachea. "Nothing is better than that. We have a good, young team and we're all capable of posting low scores. I'm really excited to be a part of this event."

It is the first competition for Ormachea since enrolling at Arizona in August. The freshman from Aventura, Fla., ranked fifth nationally on the 2012 Future Collegians World Tour All-America points list, posting seven top-10 finishes in 10 FCWT starts and earned Golfweek magazine junior golf Player-of-the-Week honors in May 2012.

The four-day event will be contested over two different Turkish courses. The Cornelia Golf Course is a par 72, 6,886-yard layout, while the Antalya Golf Course is a par 71, 6,954-yard layout. Live tournament scoring will be available at www.golfstat.com.

Ormachea is the seventh University of Arizona men's golfer to compete in the World Amateur Team Championship, and the first since Ricky Barnes in 2002. Barnes led the U.S. to victory that year. The U.S. has won 13 of the previous 27 World Amateur Team Championships.

"Gabo has been working very hard to prepare to represent Bolivia this week in the World Amateur," said Jim Anderson, UA head coach. "Anytime you have the opportunity to compete for your country, it is a terrific honor. Gabe will certainly be playing for something bigger than himself in Turkey and his teammates and coaches at home will be cheering him. The very best amateur golfers will compete this week and having our team represented demonstrates the quality of play we have on our team."

Additionally, current Wildcat women's head coach Laura Ianello competed in the 2002 Women's World Amateur Team Championship, helping the United States to a fifth-place finish.

Sponsored by the International Golf Federation, which comprises national governing bodies of golf in more than 90 countries, the World Amateur Team Championship is a biennial international amateur golf competition which is rotated among three geographic zones: Australasian, American, and European-African.