The team of Cameron Smith, Jake Higginbottom, Rika Batibasaga and Daniel Bringolf have been selected to represent Australia at the Nomura Cup in Fiji from August 16-19 2011. Held biennially, Australia boasts an impressive track record in the championship having retained the trophy five consecutive times before Korea won in 2009. Smith (QLD) is the current Srixon Australian Men’sStroke Play and Australian Boys Amateur champion and also won the Victorian Junior Masters earlier this year. Higginbottom (NSW) is the reigning China Amateur champion and recently won three consecutive tournaments at the Queensland Stroke Play Championship, Queensland Amateur and Keperra Bowl. Bringolf (NSW) won the Malaysian Amateur Championship earlier this year and has had three top 10 finishes in the last 12 months. He also represented Australia at The Ashes. Batisbasaga (QLD) is a two time Fiji Open champion and a past winner of the Queensland Amateur Championship and the Gary Player Classic. Matt Cutler will be the Team Captain and South Australia s Gareth Jones will be the Team Coach. Golf Australia High Performance Director Brad James said the championship was an excellent chance for the Australians to measure themselves against the best players in the region. Australia has a very good recent history at the Nomura Cup and the team will be fighting to get the trophy back, James said. The more international events that Australian amateur players can participate in, the better their overall development will be. Held since 1963, the Asia Pacific Teams Championship rotates around member countries of the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC). The format is 72 holes Stroke Play with the best three scores to count each day.
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