The 8th Annual World Club Championship Announces the 2011 International Field of 20 Participating Clubs From 15 Countries Selected from 2009 GOLF Magazine's Top 100 Courses in the World
April 1, 2011
Jeju Island, South Korea - The World Club Championship (WCC) Committee, consisting of Eddie Merrins, David V. Smith, Jay H. Lee, Tom Crow, John Davies, Terry Jastrow, Kelly Miller, David Bonsall and George Kim, is pleased to announce the participants in the 8th Annual World Club Championship which will be held May 16-20, 2011.
For the first time, the Championship will be hosted by two Korean Clubs; The Club at Nine Bridges on Jeju Island and Haesley Nine Bridges in Seoul. Haesley will host a member/player tournament along with the Opening Dinner at their award winning Club House. The 3 day tournament will be played at The Club at Nine Bridges.
The World Club Championship is one of the most coveted amateur events in golf and is often compared to the Walker Cup and Ryder Cup. For 2011, the top four teams in two rounds of 18 hole stroke play Qualifying will compete in the Championship Division Match Play and the remaining sixteen teams will compete in the Chairman's Division 18 hole stroke play completion. First, second and third place teams receive an automatic invitation to next year's Championship, plus the winner of the Chairman's Division. The Rules of Golf, as adopted by the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, will govern play.
The World Club Championship began in 2002 at Nine Bridges as a way to celebrate two of golf's greatest enduring traditions: Amateur golfers and the world class Clubs to which they belong. After three years at this location, the WCC Committee decided that the Championship and its participants would be best served by rotating courses, allowing the prospective field an opportunity to experience other clubs and countries such as the 2008 Host Reignwood Pine Valley Golf Club in Beijing China and the 2006 Host Sage Valley Golf Club in Georgia, USA.
The WCC Founder and Director David V. Smith said, "The Club at Nine Bridges is our home course and we are always happy to return. Jay Lee, the Founder of Nine Bridges, has a strong passion for amateur golf and without his dedication to WCC, we would not be so successful as we are today. That is why the teams play for the WCC trophy which has been named the Jay Lee Trophy."
In order to receive an invitation to this prestigious tournament, Clubs must have appeared on GOLF Magazine's 2009 list of the Top 100 Courses in the World. These clubs have the opportunity to send their club champion along with a player of his choice with a handicap of three or better.
The 2011 Clubs and Countries are: Australia's Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Canada's St. George's Golf & Country Club, China's Reignwood Pine Valley Golf Club (former host), England's Royal St. Georges Golf Club & Sunningdale Golf Club, France's Morfontaine Golf Club, Ireland's Lahinch Golf Club, Japan's Naruo Golf Club, Northern Ireland's Royal Portrush Golf Club, Portugal's Oitavos Dunes (future host), Scotland's Royal Troon Golf Club, South Africa's Durban Country Club, Spain's Valderrama Golf Club, United State's Los Angeles Country Club, Pine Valley Golf Club, Seminole Golf Club & Winged Foot Golf Club and the 2009 Hosts, South Korea's The Club at Nine Bridges and Haesley Nine Bridges.
