ABU DHABI - United States, South Africa and Italy are among the leading contenders for the World Amateur Team Championships, the most prestigious event for non-professionals in the globe, and which tees off in Abu Dhabi from Wednesday. 

A total of 36 countries will be fighting for the Eisenhower Trophy for men at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club. The defending champions Italy are aiming to become the first team to win consecutive WATC titles since the USA did so in 2012 and 2014.

The 33rd edition of the Eisenhower Trophy is being held for the first time in the Middle East.

Ahmad Skaik will lead the way for the UAE team, with the Emirati making his fourth consecutive WATC start for the UAE. Skaik, the UAE's top amateur golfer, has played in the DP World Tour's Abu Dhabi Championship three times, which was previously held at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, and is a three-time UAE Presidents Cup champion.

Rayan Ahmed and Thomas Nesbitt complete the UAE trio, with the latter the two-time reigning club champion at Abu Dhabi Golf Club. 

The Emirates Golf Federation, in collaboration with Abu Dhabi Sports Council and the Department of Culture and Tourism, are the hosts for the four-day event. It will be followed by the women's Espirito Santo Trophy on October 25-28. 

USA once again boast a strong lineup with their trio of Nick Dunlap, David Ford and Gordon Sargent all part of the victorious 2023 USA Walker Cup team that defeated Great Britain and Ireland last month at The Old Course at St Andrews.

Dunlap won the 123rd US Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club in August, joining Tiger Woods as the only players to win both the US Junior Amateur and US Amateur events. Sargent, the low amateur at the 2023 US Open at The Los Angeles Country Club, was awarded the Mark McCormack medal in August as the world's top-ranked amateur. 

However, the top-ranked player heading into the biennial contest is South African Christo Lamprecht, who won the 2023 Amateur Championship at Hillside and was the low amateur at the 2023 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.

He will be joined by Altin van der Merwe and Christiaan Maas, who was the runner-up in the 2023 Western Amateur and won the 2022 English Open Stroke Play (Brabazon Trophy) by five strokes, becoming the sixth South African to win the coveted title.

"The Championship Committee along with the Local Organising Committee has been working hard over the past 12 months to ensure the UAE is fully prepared to become the first country in the Middle East to host the prestigious WATC," said General Abdullah Alhashmi, Vice Chairman of the Emirates Golf Federation.

Antony Scanlon, Executive Director of the International Golf Federation (IGF), added: "The World Amateur Team Championships carry such a rich competitive history and give players from around the world the opportunity to join together in celebration of this game we all love.

"On behalf of the IGF, the USGA and the R&A, we thank the Emirates Golf Federation and Abu Dhabi Sports Council for their outstanding efforts in hosting the first playing of these championships in the Middle East and look forward to the impact and development of future opportunities for golf in the UAE. We know that Abu Dhabi will provide a superb and inspiring stage for the world's leading amateurs over the next two weeks." 

Play will begin at 6:30am, with Skaik (UAE), Markus Luoma (Finland) and David Amm (Zimbabwe) teeing off from the first hole while Juan Ricardo Davila (Guatemala), Bastien Amat (France) and Callum Scott (Scotland) start from the 10th.