World No 1 amateur Lydia Ko headlines the New Zealand team named to contest the Espirito Santo World Amateur Teams Championship in Turkey in September.  

The team, which will represent New Zealand at the tournament from September 27-30, consists of Ko, Mun Chin Keh and Emily Perry and they will be managed by non-playing captain Libby Steele.  

"These three players have been standout performers in the past two years leading into this selection," said New Zealand Golf chief executive Dean Murphy.

"At only 15 Lydia has an exceptional track record. Her experience and composure on the international stage belies her age.

"We expect that she will lead from the front and we have chosen two players in Emily and Mun Chin who have plenty of quality to back her up for a good all-round team effort. We think this New Zealand team will be very competitive in Turkey."

Ko, who finished as the leading amateur in her major debut at the US Open, was an obvious frontrunner. In the past two years she has been without peer in the women's amateur game.

New Zealand Stroke Play champion Perry has a proven track record of success in the past two years in national events.

She defeated Ko in a playoff at Hastings to secure the NZ Stroke Play title and ahead of that birdied three of the final four holes at her home club Lochiel to win the North Island Stroke Play.

Mun Chin Keh has been the one of the form golfers in the local scene this year. She has won five titles in all in 2012 including the New Zealand Amateur Championship.

New Zealand has never won the Espirito Santo and the best results remain a runner-up finish at the championship in 1982 and 1990.

The Espirito Santo Trophy is a biennial world amateur team golf championship for women.  It is a stroke play event where the best two scores from three players count toward the team's score for each round.

The New Zealand's men's team to contest the Eisenhower World Amateur Teams Championship in Turkey will be named the week of Monday July 23.

- © Fairfax NZ News