World Golfers Championship 2005 - Summary
November 19-26 at Gloria Golf Resort, Antalya, Turkey.
Played at Gloria New Course, Old Course and the National GC.
 Click here for 2005 Venue Description!
The
11th Annual World Golfers Championship
This year we stayed at
the luxurious 5 star Gloria Golf Resort in beautiful Turkey. The tournaments were played at Gloria New Course, Gloria Old Course and at the magnificent National Golf Course.
This year we had a total of 23 National Teams with 6 players each in the WGC.
Arrival and Registration
Participants arrived at Antalya airport where they were greeted by Bilyana Golf Holidays, our handling partner.
Transfer to the hotel took about 40 minutes.
At the hotel teams registered and received information about the tournament, hotel, as well as a range of side-excursions organized by Bilyana.
Amongst these were Perge Antique City & Kursunlu Waterfall, Antalya By Night, Shopping Tours, etc.
These were popular amongst accompanying spouses and non-golfers, as well as golfers staying a few extra days.
Practice Rounds
 WGC participants now got their two practice rounds.
It rained heavily the first part of each practice day. Most players managed to play though, but not in the best of conditions.
Tee times were distributed so that all national teams had two players per 4-ball. Example: 2 Germans + 2 Italians.
Also taken into consideration was that the people who received early tee times one day would receive later tee times next practice day.
Welcome Dinner and Flag Ceremony
The Welcome Dinner was arranged so that there were a few VIP tables and many tables with nations seated together. The food was a superb buffet with many items to choose from. Seated in the middle were VIP’s, celebrities, etc.
Before the dinner was served the Flag Ceremony began.
Mr. Kepplinger, defending champion, walks in with the Austrian flag.
 The Flag Ceremony
Mr. Kjell Johansson, our Master of Ceremony and Mr. Gunnar Mattsson (who as far as we know is the only Swede that has been in every country of the World) announced each participating country in alphabetical order.
When a country was announced, a fanfare sounded and the Captain of the Team walked into and around the room carrying his flag.
One could see the pride shining on their faces.
Once they reached the stage the national team was asked to stand up and show themselves.
Everyone felt proud to be a part of it.
This can be witnessed by the many testimonials we already received. A true “Olympic” feeling was achieved!
It was a total success!
Captains Meeting (WGC)
 Mr. Thorsten Hellmark, our Tournament Director, gathered all the Team Captains for a briefing of the WGC Rules and Conditions. When not working with WGC he is the head of the Tournament Office of the Swedish Golf Federation and the European Golf Association.
The Agenda of the Captains Meeting was the following:
• Presentation
• General Information
• Rules and Conditions
• The Scorecard
• Local Rules
• Other Matters
Mr. Hellmark held the meeting in a very professional manner with a projector and PowerPoint Presentation and began by introducing the Members of the Championship Committee:
• Stefan Tumba - Chairman
of the Championship Committee
• Thorsten Hellmark - Tournament Director
• Kjell Nilsson - Referee
• Lennart Larsson - Referee
• Fredrik Hansson - Director of Golf, Gloria Golf Resort
The commitment of the Championship Committee was to run the World Final for the Good of the Game and in the Spirit of the Game!
The Captains meeting covered everything from Form of Play, Playing in Flights, Adjustments of Handicaps to Championship and Prizes.
The meeting concluded with a Q&A session.
Invitational Meeting (WGI)
After the Captains Meeting there was a briefing for the WGI participants.
As WGI is less strict than WGC the explanations and presentations were over much faster.
WGI participants are much more relaxed and target high level VIP's, executives and sponsors from participating nations.
One example of being more "relaxed" is that WGI players are paired in a “match-making” style, where sponsors meet sponsors and many other “non-championship items” are taken into consideration.
 Competition Day 1
Finally the sun was shining and the courses dried off.
The Referees were up early and the Scoring Area set up. The tournament had now begun!
As the players approached the first tee, they were each announced by the starter:
“Representing India in Flight 0-5, Amit Luthra!”
(see picture)
This contributed highly to the feeling of international competition and one could see that the nerves were tense, the players serious and concentrated.
After each player completed the round they went to the scoring area where our staff made sure they signed the scorecards and each score carefully calculated.
The scores were then sent to the tournament office that was set up at the hotel.
As the scores came in the scoreboard was being built, both for individual standings and for the team event, both for WGC and WGI.
The WGC Scoreboard (after round 1)
Golf Club Inauguration and Buffet
After the first round most players came back to the hotel and got some rest.
The evening followed with the Golf Club Inauguration where Gloria presented their new club house and golf course.
The course has a world record in the speed in which it was build. It took only 10 month from scratch to a playable course. Not only is it playable, it is in pristine condition.
We congratulate Gloria for this remarkable achievement!
Competition Day 2
The tournament continued with beautiful weather and great golf and it was nice to see such a vast group of different nationalities meet in the name of golf.
WGC Standings After Round 2:
• Flight 0-5: Marcus Erneborn, Sweden
• Flight 6-10: Mukesu Kapur, India
• Flight 11-15: Peter Reed, England
• Flight 16-20: Jerry Stern, Mexico
• Flight 21-25: Ms. Yu Peng, Malaysia
• Flight 26-30: Umesh Jaiswal, India
Competition Day 3
The nice weather continued although it was quite cold in the early mornings.
The referees had their work cut out to make sure all the various nations had an eye on them.
This is one of the big challenges with WGC, there are so many different nations meeting in a serious competition.
WGC Standings After Round 3:
• Flight 0-5: Soon Thai, Malaysia
• Flight 6-10: Mukesu Kapur, India
• Flight 11-15: Beng Yee Chew, Malaysia
• Flight 16-20: Jerry Stern, Mexico
• Flight 21-25: Pavel Vapenka, Czech Republic
• Flight 26-30: Umesh Jaiswal, India
Competition Day 4
Groupings for Round 4 were as follows:
• National GC:
- WGC Flights 0-5, 6-10 and 11-15
• Gloria New Course:
- WGC Flights 16-20, 21-25 and 26-30
• Gloria Old Course:
- WGI all flights
Before round 4 the spirits were high and players went to bed early. This was it, one round left until the tournament was over, the winning team would be decided.
The Captains were informed that film crews would be placed on strategic places on the golf courses, after the 9th hole. They were to inform their players that it was entirely possible that they would be approached for a quick interview.
As the leader balls approached the 10th hole the film crew approached them for some simple questions. The film crews then followed the leader balls (at a respectable distance) to the final hole.
Back at the hotel the Tournament Office was working hard to triple check each scorecard, to make sure there was absolutely no errors made. The prize ceremony was rapidly approaching.
Banquet and Gala Dinner
The evening was spent in celebration with good food, many prizes (48 in total!) from the renown glass-maker Orrefors and Kosta Boda.
The winning team was decided.
Congratulations to the Malaysian Team!
Winners of World Golfers Championship 2005
WGC Final Top 3 Teams
| • World Champions |
Malaysia |
387 |
358 |
359 |
353 |
1457 |
| • Runner-up |
Czech Republic |
396 |
376 |
348 |
352 |
1472 |
| • Third Place |
Poland |
423 |
380 |
347 |
327 |
1477 |
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(note that the scores equals the best five rounds per day.
WGC Individual Champions
• Flight 0-5: Amit Luthra, India
• Flight 6-10: Ryszard Sobiesiak, Poland
• Flight 11-15: Beng Yee Chew, Malaysia
• Flight 16-20: Noraizidi Mohamed Taib, Malaysia
• Flight 21-25: Pavel Vapenka, Czech Republic
• Flight 26-30: Stefan Thyr, Sweden
WGI Final Top 3 Teams
WGI Individual Champions
• Flight 0-5: Jörgen van Vuuren, Los ecA
• Flight 6-10: Paul Leopold, The Dutch Boys
• Flight 11-15: Ola Blomberg, Skandia
• Flight 16-20: Erich Schenk, ÖSFA Sport Messe Austria
• Flight 21-25: Manori Saroja Jayakoddy, Sri Lanka
• Flight 26-30: Stefano Benet, Italian Team
After the celebrations all participants were transferred to their various destinations.
See you in 2006!
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