31st August 2019

Continent of Europe beat Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) 15.5 – 9.5 to win the 43rd Jacques Léglise Trophy at Aldeburgh G.C. in England.

They won three out of the four series with GB&I halving the opening foursomes.

Continent of Europe Team (Photo: @EGA_golf)

It was Europe’s 13th win in the match which dates back to 1977. Interestingly nine of these have come away from home. GB&I have 29 wins with one match drawn.

Click here to view the full – 2019 Jacques Léglise Trophy Results

Daniel DA COSTA RODRIGUES and Bård Bjørnevik SKOGEN were both unbeaten for the Continent of Europe. Loïc ETTLIN also won three of his four matches for the winning team.

Ben SCHMIDT, Joe PAGDIN and Joshua HILL provided some consolation for GB&I with their positive individual contributions. Connor MCKINNEY can also be pleased with his two wins.

Jacques Léglise Trophy Individual performances (Photo: GolfBible)

Continent of Europe captain Joachim Fourquet said “I am very, very proud of my team. They showed that they are not just 16, 17 or 18 years old, they are real players – they know how to manage the course. The thing with the European team is you have 48 hours to create team spirit, it was better and better as the week went on. I could feel it last night, they were all talking and joking so I think today we are a real team, yesterday it was 75% and two days ago it was 50%. The attitude and team spirit was amazing today.”

GB&I captain Stuart Wilson said “There were a lot of positives. I think the guys changed their approach a little bit to put the challenge up to the European guys this afternoon but unfortunately they were just too strong for us. They keep the ball in play a little more than us and holed a few more putts and in the end that makes all the difference.”

GB&I will have to wait until 28-29 August 2020 to try and regain the trophy. The next Jacques Léglise Trophy match will be played at Blairgowrie G.C. in Scotland.

Day 2 Singles

The Continent of Europe won the Day 2 Singles 6 – 3.

After their strong performance in this morning’s Foursomes Continent of Europe needed only 3.5 points from this afternoon’s nine Singles to win the match. It didn’t take them long to achieve their goal.

Joe PAGDIN led GB&I out for the fourth time in the match. His opening hole birdie set the tone for a good afternoon for the Englishman who can be pleased with his two Singles wins. 3 Up at the turn Joe soon found himself back to 1 Up when Alvaro MUELLER-BAUMGART, who had been rested in the morning, hit back with two quick birdies on the back nine. The experienced Pagdin didn’t panic and his more consistent golf eventually saw him overcome the Spaniard 3&1.

Ben SCHMIDT got off to a great start against Charles LARCELET and was 3 Up after 5 holes. However, the impressive Frenchman slowly reeled the Yorkshireman back in eventually birdieing the 17th to take a 2&1 win.

Adam WALLIN overcame Connor MCKINNEY who fought to the end in a tight match.

Archie DAVIES lost his way on the back nine handing Norway’s Bård Bjørnevik SKOGEN a relatively straight forward 4&2 win in the end.

Playing captain Barclay BROWN redeemed himself with a 2&1 Singles win this afternoon after an uncharacteristic foursomes outing in the morning.

An out of sorts Aaron MARSHALL was saved from a heavier defeat by the relatively poor play of opponent David PUIG in a poor quality encounter.

Fellow Irishman Luke O’NEILL, who had been dropped from the morning foursomes by Captain Wilson, also struggled this afternoon gifting his game to Loïc ETTLIN with numerous errors evident.

Joshua HILL finished strongly to take advantage of a disappointing back nine from Frenchman Tom VAILLANT to win their game by 2 holes. Hill was unbeaten in his two Singles having drawn his first game yesterday afternoon.  An encouraging GB&I debut.

Tom MCKIBBIN played much better this afternoon but was still unable to secure his first point of the match losing 2&1 to Daniel DA COSTA RODRIGUES who proved to be one of the stars of the European team.

The Day 2 Jacques Léglise Trophy Singles Results (Photo: The R&A / Golfbox)

Day 2 Foursomes

Continent of Europe won the Day 2 Foursomes series 3 – 1 and will now take a 9.5 – 6.5 lead into the final Singles series this afternoon.

Play started at 8.30am with GB&I led off by Ben SCHMIDT and Archie DAVIES in the morning Foursomes. On the front nine holes were exchanged freely with pars normally good enough to secure a win. After allowing the French pair to draw level on the 10th Schmidt and Davies powered in front with three quick birdies, seeing out the game 4&3.

Barclay BROWN and Joe PAGDIN were unfortunately unable to put up much resistance in a game GB&I would have been hoping to take against Adam WALLIN and Loïc ETTLIN.

Connor MCKINNEY and Aaron MARSHALL were unable to deliver a second foursomes win but Europe’s Bård Bjørnevik SKOGEN and Matteo CRISTONI were clearly in sparkling form. Seven birdies is always going to take some stopping in foursomes.

In a tight game the Irish pairing of Tom MCKIBBIN and Joshua HILL lost out to the Iberian pairing of Daniel DA COSTA RODRIGUES and David PUIG. I think it is fair to say McKibbin does not like the closing holes at Aldeburgh.

The Day 2 Jacques Léglise Trophy Foursomes Results (Photo: The R&A / Golfbox)

ME.

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30th August 2019

Day 1 Singles

The eight afternoon singles started at 1.30pm with Europe taking the series honours 4.5 – 3.5.

Continent of Europe therefore lead GB&I 6.5 – 5.5 at the end of Day 1 of the 43rd Jacques Léglise Trophy match.

Joshua HILL came in to the GB&I Singles line up in place of Aaron MARSHALL whilst Matteo CHRISTONI replaced Bård Bjørnevik SKOGEN for the Europeans as both Captains ensured all nine of their players saw action on Day 1.

Captain Wilson led off with his strongest match player Joe PAGDIN. Whilst not at his best on a windy afternoon in Suffolk the Florida-based Englishman still had an enough to see off Spain’s David PUIG. Match play is all about finding a way to win.

Connor MCKINNEY was sent out second and soon found himself 3 Down after five holes to Charles LARCELET who had been part of the outstanding French foursomes pairing earlier in the day. Then somewhat inexplicably Larcelet proceeded to collapse losing six of the next seven holes, with only one being to a birdie from the young Scotsman. Connor saw out the game with little trouble.

Joshua HILL will be a little disappointed with his finish but can be pleased with a half against Spaniard Alvaro MUELLER-BAUMGART on his GB&I debut.

Ben SCHMIDT played the best of all of the GB&I players this afternoon. Never falling behind his consistent play helped him see off the more experienced Adam WALLIN.

At this point in proceedings everything appeared to be going nicely for GB&I. Unfortunately the tide started to turn as the remaining games came down the closing holes.

Matteo CRISTONI got the better of Archie DAVIES in a tight match thanks primarily to two birdies on the back nine.

Tom MCKIBBIN sadly let his match get away from him on Aldeburgh’s back nine. Two pars on the final two holes ended up being good enough for Loïc ETTLIN to completely turn around what looked to be a certain point for GB&I for much of the afternoon.

Having taken a 1 Up lead into the back nine Luke O’NEILL was unable to stop Tom VAILLANT from securing his second win of the day on a topsy turvy back nine.

Daniel DA COSTA RODRIGUES was given the initiative early on in his match against Barclay BROWN and comfortably saw out the game with a string of pars. The Portuguese player was one of just four players, two on each side, to end the day with a 100% win record.

The Day 1 Jacques Léglise Trophy Singles Results (Photo: The R&A / Golfbox)

Day 1 Foursomes

The Day 1 morning Foursomes started at 9.00am and were shared 2 – 2 by GB&I and Continent of Europe.

GB&I’s opening pair of Barclay BROWN and Joe PAGDIN got off to a poor start falling 4-Down after 4 holes and simply never recovered against their French opponents, who were holing putts from everywhere.

Connor MCKINNEY and Aaron MARSHALL faired much better. This new foursomes pairing took the lead and built on it nicely until the match had been won on the 14th green.

The final two games were much tighter affairs both being decided in the final holes. Ben SCHMIDT and Archie DAVIES won the 18th after a superb approach by the Welshman to 4 feet was converted by his partner. However, Tom MCKIBBIN and Luke O’NEILL lost both the 16th and 17th holes to allow the Europeans a late win.

The Day 1 Jacques Léglise Trophy Foursomes Results (Photo: The R&A / Golfbox)

No hole-by-hole scores were provided by The R&A for the Day 1 Foursomes.

ME.

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29th August 2019

The 43rd Jacques Léglise Trophy match between Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) and Continent of Europe will take place at Aldeburgh Golf Club in Suffolk, England on Friday 30th and Saturday 31st August.

This annual match is contested by two nine-player U18 boys’ teams. It is essentially a junior equivalent of the biennial men’s St. Andrews Trophy match also played between these two regions.

The Jacques Léglise Trophy (Photo: European Golf Association) 

2019 Teams

The R&A have selected the following team to represent GB&I: –

Barclay BROWN (18) – England
Archie DAVIES (18) – Wales
Joshua HILL (16) – Ireland
Aaron MARSHALL (18) – Ireland
Tom MCKIBBIN (16) – Ireland
Connor MCKINNEY (17) – Scotland
Luke O’NEILL (18) – England
Joseph PAGDIN (17) – England
Ben SCHMIDT (17) – England

For the third time Scotland’s Stuart WILSON, who won The Amateur Championship in 2004, is GB&I’s Captain.

Four players will be making their GB&I debuts in Suffolk. The remainder of the team, Barclay Brown, Archie Davies, Tom McKibbin, Connor Mckinney and Joe Pagdin, all played last year.

The 2019 Continent of Europe team, selected by the European Golf Association, consists of: –

Matteo CRISTONI – Italy
Daniel DA COSTA RODRIGUES – Portugal
Loïc ETTLIN – Switzerland
Charles LARCELET – France
Alvaro MUELLER-BAUMGART LUCENA – Spain
David PUIG – Spain
Bård Bjørnevik SKOGEN – Norway
Tom VAILLANT – France
Adam WALLIN – Sweden

Europe will be led for the first time by Captain Joachim FOURQUET of France. He succeeds Jeroen Stevens (NED) who captained the team to two wins and a loss during his three year term of office.

Daniel Da Costa Rodrigues, Loïc Ettlin, David Puig, and Adam Wallin all return having played last year in Finland.

Format

Four foursomes games are played each morning.

Singles are then played in the afternoon; eight on Day 1 and nine on Day 2.

As there will be 25 points to play for each team will require 13.0 points to claim outright victory.

Click here to view the – 2019 Jacques Léglise Trophy Start Sheets

Venue

The match will be played on Aldeburgh’s Championship Course. This heathland layout beside the River Alde measures 6,603 yards and, with no par 5’s, plays to a demanding par of 68.

Aldeburgh G.C. was founded in 1884 and is therefore one of the oldest clubs and courses in the world.

It’s original course was laid out by Scottish professionals John Thomson and Willie Fernie. Subsequent changes were made by Willie Park Jnr. and J.H. Taylor in 1907 and finally by Harry Colt and Hugh Alison in 1922.

 4th Green, Aldeburgh G.C. (Photo: aldeburghgreenkeeping.blogspot.com)

The 2018 Jacques Léglise Trophy Match

GB&I won the 2018 Jacques Léglise Trophy match against Continent of Europe 15.5 – 9.5.

GB&I won three of the four series and halved the other in what was a comprehensive victory.

It was GB&I’s first outright win since 2014 at Barsebäck in Sweden, albeit the 2015 match at Royal Dornoch in Scotland did finish in a 12.5 – 12.5 tie.

The Great Britain and Ireland Team With The Jacques Léglise Trophy

Conor GOUGH, Robin WILLIAMS and Barclay BROWN were the star men for GB&I last year. Gough and Williams won both of their singles and halved their two foursomes games where they played together. Brown won his two singles and one foursomes match.

Click here to view the detailed – 2018 Jacques Léglise Trophy Results

Previous Matches

This junior match was first played in 1958 but only became the Jacques Léglise Trophy in 1977 when Jean-Louis Dupont donated a trophy in memory of Jacques Léglise, a former President of both the French Golf Association and the European Golf Association. Leglise was also a past French amateur champion and national team captain.

GB&I won all of the original 9 matches played between 1958 and 1966. Since becoming the Jacques Léglise GB&I have won 29 of the matches with the Continent of Europe claiming 12 victories with one match tied.

Originally played in a single day the match moved to two in 1996.

Click here to view all of the – Jaques Léglise Trophy Historic Results

ME.

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