BERMUDA will put its faith in the youth when the World Amateur Team Golf Championships are played next month in Australia.

Nick Jones, Daniel Augustus and Jarryd Dillas will compete for the Eisenhower Trophy while Kim Botelho, Ebonie Burgess and Tariqah Walikraam will be competing for the Espirito Santo Trophy.

Of the six players, it is Botelho (formerly Marshall) who has the most experience ¿ and who is the oldest.

"It's great to see young girls out there playing more now ¿ it's wonderful," said 33-year-old Botelho this week. "We now have a team where I am the oldest ¿ I am usually the youngest so that is a bit strange. But it is great we have some young golfers. They have the drive and are all keen to play well."

Bermuda's men's and women's teams will be going up against players who in a few years time will probably be household names competing regularly on the PGA and LPGA tours.

Players who have competed at the World Amateur Team Championships in the past have included the likes of Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Bruce Fleisher, Tom Kite, Lanny Wadkins, Ben Crenshaw, Curtis Strange, Scott Hoch, Hal Sutton, Michael Campbell, Ben Curtis and Luke Donald.

On the women's side players like Annika Sorenstam, Se Ri Pak, Karrie Webb, Janice Moodie, Grace Park and Paula Creamer have all teed it up at the World Amateurs before going on to superb professional careers.

Botelho said: "I know that a lot of teams who will be there will have a lot of young girls. The US will probably have players who are in university and others will have young players."

Botelho, who earlier in her career turned pro and then eventually reverted back to amateur status, played in the 2004 World Amateurs in Puerto Rico despite being pregnant with her first child Owen. In 2006 she didn't play as she was pregnant again with her second child Chole.

Of 2004 she said: "A lot of the players I played against are now on the LPGA tour ¿ especially the Korean and Japanese players. Actually it is amazing how many good players South Korea produces ¿ you see them all on the LPGA tour ¿ they are obviously doing something right."

Before becoming pregnant in 2004 with her son Owen, Botelho was constantly on the golf course. Now with two small children (her daughter Chole is 17 months old) she is having to manage her time very carefully in order to get the most out of her game.

"I have been trying to manage my family and golf and it is not easy. I want to play a lot more and practice a lot more but sometimes it is impossible. I do try and practice and play more before a tournament like the (Bermuda) Stroke Play or Match Play. I try to get my game in shape as best I can but it is difficult. I cannot play as much as I would like ¿ certainly not nearly as much as I used to before having a family and it is a struggle to manage my time."

But Botelho also works at Belmont Hills and lives there as well so she can slip out and play and practice a bit easier.

"Most of my practice is at Belmont now but I do try and get out to my home course at Mid Ocean. But lately the majority of my practices have been at Belmont because I live there as well. Once I finish work and get the kids settled I can get out and play a couple of holes. It suits my schedule now. Also Belmont is very good to practice my short game and the range is also open at night which helps. But I do wish I could put more time in (on the course)."

Botelho would have also liked to play in a local tournament before going Down Under. "Practice only does so much ¿ it would be nice to have had a tournament before we set off for Australia," she said adding, "but I am very excited about going to Australia ¿ I have never been there. But I am not looking forward to the long air trip."

Of her two playing partners, Ebonie Burgess and Tariqah Walikraam, she said: "Ebonie has played in this event before but Tariqah hasn't. She is still quite young ¿ in fact I only met her for the first time in the Stroke Play Championships in June. She is a good player. Her game is strong and she hits the ball pretty long."

And don't be that surprised in years to come to see Botelho's son Owen playing for Bermuda. "He loves golf," said Botelho. "I got him some junior clubs and when we go to the range he hits ball after ball. You would think that at his young age he would get bored after a little while but I have to drag him away. He started getting blisters on his hands because he was hitting so many balls. I eventually had to get him a glove although it is too big for him!"

Bermuda Golf Association president Bob Legere said this week: "These championships are considered the Olympics of golf. In fact while the Olympics are pretty well professional now, these championships are strictly amateur ¿ while most sports have given up on amateur status now, golf has not ¿ we have an extremely strict code of amateurs."

The championships are over 72 holes stroke play and the top two scores out of the three-player team count every day.

It used to be four players to a team but that has now been reduced, said Legere. "They changed because it was becoming more and more difficult to get everyone finished."

In fact these championships in Australia this year are the biggest yet.

In 2000 in Germany there were 40 women's teams and 59 men's teams. Those numbers have slowly grown and next month there will be 54 women's teams and 72 men's teams.

Of picking Bermuda's teams Legere said: "The process is that during the course of the year the BGA conducts monthly medals and other events and we have points assigned to them. Players that are available get points and any of our university students that are not here are given the opportunity to maintain a resume with the BGA providing information of their accomplishments in golf because many play for college teams.

"If we feel that the resume is strong enough, then at our Stroke Play Championships ¿ usually held in June ¿ we invite the top 12 point earners and any overseas student who has maintained a resume. We use that tournament as the selection qualifier. The winners of the Stroke Play Championships ¿ the highest placements ¿ determines who competes for Bermuda."

The World Amateurs are held every two years.

Of the young players going this year Legere said: "A couple of players chose not to go and Jarryd (Dillas) was next in line. This is a young team. Jarryd has already played in a World Amateur but for Nick Jones and Daniel Augustus this will be their first time."

And he is happy that Botelho is back playing for Bermuda.

"I am excited that Kim is back because she is a very good golfer. Now that she has been through a motherhood stint she is back and playing well ¿ it is great for us and she is a leader and has huge experience. She was on the women's team at Wake Forest which is a known golf school and she has been a professional and worked on the LPGA in the US on the marketing side. I am really looking forward to her leadership although Ebonie also played last time in South Africa and has played in the Island Games as well. And then we have Tariqah Walikraam who is young and a very promising player ¿ she has a very good game and is a real competitor. I think if she sticks with it she could become another Kim Marshall (Botelho). She has a lot of talent. Ebonie is also a very gifted athlete and the women's team should do well."

Nick Jones, the son of pro Eardley Jones, said he is extremely excited about playing for Bermuda in the World Amateur Team Championships next month.

Before leaving recently to attend Stetson University in Florida where he is studying engineering as well as playing for the NCAA Division One school, Jones said: "This will be the first time I will be playing in the tournament and I am very excited. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to go to Australia and represent Bermuda and so many great players have competed in the World Amateurs ¿ players like Tiger Woods. My play over the last year managed to get me on the team. The experience will be great ¿ you can't beat it."

The women's competition will be staged from October 8-11 at The Grange Golf Club's East and West Courses and Bermuda's women will leave the island on October 1.

"We will have four practice rounds on the courses before the competition starts," said Botelho.

The men's competition will be held from October 16-19 at the Royal Adelaide Golf Club and The Grange Golf Club's West Course.

At the 2006 championships in South Africa, Holland won the men's competition while host South Africa won the women's championship.

The Royal Adelaide Golf Club (often referred to as Seaton) is a private golf club in Adelaide, South Australia. It is widely acknowledged as ranking with the best in Australia, and has a world ranking that fluctuates around 50.

Despite many alterations made since the first blow was struck on it 98 years ago, it retains its distinctive character of a comparatively open links course, an attribute by no means common in this country.