Quotable:
Murray Smit, Singapore Captain: “I think Hiroshi’s round was just out of this world, to shoot 7-under on this golf course, just shows why he’s one of the top amateurs in the world, and why he’s won some of the biggest events.”
Marcelo Treviño Derbez, Mexico Captain: “Well, honestly, I just let them play… These guys play at top schools, week in and week out… I don’t want to interfere that much. I just want to be there to help them if they need [it]… help with some planning of shots, course strategy. But at the end of the day, just give them some confidence and be with them along the way.”
Christian Maas, South Africa: “My teammates need to start stepping up. No, I’m just kidding. Daniel is with me on the team in Texas, and I know what he’s capable of. Charlie also very good, but if Daniel can step up to the way he plays in college, we should be good. So yeah, hopefully we can do that.”
Hiroshi Tai, Singapore: “I think the day I stop getting nervous before a round, I’ll probably stop playing golf. I’ll go do something else.”
Timotej Formanek, Czechia: “It’s the biggest honor [to represent Czechia]… we still have a lot of days to go. If we can keep it going, it would be nice so we’re in contention on the last day.”
Notable:
Singapore’s Hiroshi Tai had the honor of hitting the opening tee shot on Wednesday morning. Tai is a senior at Georgia Tech University, and he made history as the first player representing Singapore to compete in the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 a year ago. He also became the first player representing Singapore to compete in the Masters Tournament in April.
Tai’s first-round 65 was one stroke shy of matching the course record on Tanah Merah’s Tampines Course. The 8-under mark was set by David Puig, of Spain, during the Asian Tour’s 2023 International Series. Puig represented Spain in the 2022 WATC.
Twelve of 36 teams completed Round 1 under par.
2024 Latin America Amateur Championship winner Santiago De la Fuente, of Mexico, is on site at Tanah Merah this week supporting Team Mexico. He is currently competing on the Asian Tour, and after a week in Indonesia for the Jakarta International Championship, he made a stop in Singapore to help motivate his countrymen.
Defending champion United States of America turned in a first-round 6-over 150, with all three players posting scores of 3-over 75.
A total of 20 players in the field competed in the 2023 WATC at Abu Dhabi Golf Club. No country is fielding the same three players as two years ago.
Temperatures reached 33 degrees Celsius (91 degrees Fahrenheit) with a heat index of 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
What’s Next:
Round 2 begins Thursday at 7:15 a.m. with a two-tee start on the Tampines Course at Tanah Merah Country Club.
Results from Wednesday’s first round of the 2025 World Amateur Team Championships, played at par-72 Tanah Merah Country Club (Tampines Course), in Singapore.
1 Mexico – 137
Carlos Astiazaran – 68
Eduardo Derbez – 69
Gerardo Gomez – 73
2 South Africa – 139
Christiaan Maas – 66
Daniel Bennett – 73
Charl Barnard – 75
3 France – 140
Oscar Couilleau – 70
Hugo Le Goff – 70
Louis Anceaux – 73
T4 Singapore – 141
Hiroshi Hirahara Tai – 65
Brayden Lee – 76
Troy Storm – 84
T4 Australia – 141
Declan O’Donovan – 70
Harry Takis – 71
Billy Dowling – 71
T4 Sweden – 141
Filip Fahlberg Johnsson – 69
Simon Hovdal – 72
Alfons Bondesson – 76
T4 Czechia – 141
Timotej Formánek – 69
Filip Jakubčík – 72
Štěpán Plášek – 75
T8 England – 142
Eliot Baker – 71
Charlie Forster – 71
Tyler Weaver – 73
T8 Italy – 142
Michele Ferrero – 71
Filippo Ponzano – 71
Riccardo Fantinelli – 73
T8 Thailand – 142
Parin Sarasmut – 70
Pongsapak Laopakdee – 72
Arsit Areephun – 74
T8 Netherlands – 142
Nevill Ruiter – 70
Guus Lafeber – 72
Benjamin Reuter – 73
T8 Paraguay – 142
Erich Fortlage – 70
Franco Fernández – 72
Benjamin Fernandez – 75
T13 New Zealand – 144
Robby Turnbull – 71
Zackary Swanwick – 73
Cooper Moore – 76
T13 People’s Republic of China – 144
Zi Qin Zhou – 71
Qi You Wu – 73
Hao Yi Wang – 74
T13 Canada – 144
Ashton McCulloch – 70
Justin Matthews – 74
Isaiah Ibit – 75
T13 Denmark – 144
Oscar Holm Bredkjær – 71
Claes Borregaard – 73
Kristian Hjort Bressum – 75
T13 Spain – 144
Alejandro De Castro Piera – 71
Sergio Jimenez Romero – 73
Alvaro Pastor Roman – 74
T18 Japan – 145
Rintaro Nakano – 71
Taisei Nagasaki – 74
T18 India – 145
Rakshit Dahiya – 72
Deepak Yadav – 73
Arin Ahuja – 75
T20 Brazil – 146
Herik Oliveira – 73
Andrey Borges – 73
Eduardo Ferreira – 74
T20 Norway – 146
Michael Mjaaseth – 69
Emil Børrestuen Herstad – 77
Joachim Tegner – 77
T20 Wales – 146
Caolan Burford – 73
Jonathan Bale – 73
Tomi Bowen – 77
T20 Argentina – 146
Mateo Pulcini – 72
Juan Martín Loureiro – 74
Segundo Oliva Pinto – 74
T20 Guatemala – 146
Gabriel Palacios – 71
Sebastian Barnoya – 75
Alejandro Villavicencio – 75
T25 Scotland – 147
Niall Sheils Donegan – 73
Connor Graham – 74
Cameron Adam – 76
T25 Colombia – 147
Carlos Ardila – 73
Tomas Restrepo – 74
Emilio Velez – 76
T25 Morocco – 147
Adam Bresnu – 71
Hugo Mazen Trommetter – 76
Alex El Khomri – 81
T28 Ireland (Four Provinces) – 148
Stuart Grehan – 73
Caolan Rafferty – 75
John Doyle – 75
T28 Germany – 148
Tim Wiedemeyer – 73
Emil Riegger – 75
Wolfgang Glawe – 78
T30 Vietnam – 149
Nguyen Anh Minh – 73
Nguyen Duc Son – 76
Ho Anh Huy – 76
T30 Indonesia – 149
Amadeus Susanto – 74
Randy Bintang – 75
Asa Najib – 78
T32 United States of America – 150
Ethan Fang – 75
Preston Stout – 75
Mason Howell – 75
T32 Panama – 150
Raul Carbonell – 74
Miguel Ordoñez – 76
Omar Tejeira – 78
34 Estonia – 151
Mattias Varjun – 75
Kevin Jegers – 76
Richard Teder – 77
35 Zimbabwe – 155
Darlington Chikanyambidze – 75
Munesu Chimhini – 80
Elton Zulu – 83
36 Guam – 156
Markus Nanpei – 75
Ivan Sablan – 81
Redge Camacho – 82
