22nd July 2022
Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) won the 33rd St. Andrews Trophy match in Slovakia, beating Continent of Europe by 14.5-10.5.
GB&I have now won the St. Andrews Trophy 26 times with Continent of Europe having six outright wins to their name.
Great Britain & Ireland (Photo: The R&A)
I would imagine that both sides are relatively pleased with the outcome. GB&I obviously because they won but Continent of Europe because they were competitive throughout despite fielding by no means their strongest potential team.
Click here to view the full – 2022 St. Andrews Trophy Results
Arron EDWARDS-HILL (ENG), Mark POWER (IRL) and Calum SCOTT (SCO) were unbeaten for GB&I whilst Anton ALBERS (GER) was the best performer for the Continent of Europe.
Day 2 PM Singles
GB&I headed into the final series with an 11-5 advantage and therefore simply needed just two wins from the nine singles to regain the trophy.
Whilst they achieved this modest feat it was Continent of Europe who got the better of the Singles winning it 5.5-3.5.
Only Mark POWER (IRL), Calum SCOTT (SCO) and Arron EDWARDS-HILL (ENG) were able to deliver a full point for the visitors in the afternoon games.
Day 2 PM Singles Results (Graphic: European Golf Association / Golfbox)
Day 2 AM Foursomes
The GB&I team won the Day 2 Foursomes series 3-1 to put themselves firmly in the box seat in the St. Andrews Trophy match.
GB&I’s habit of winning or at least not losing close foursomes games, often on the 18th hole, has been a feature of the match and may ultimately prove to be the difference between the two sides.
GB&I captain Stuart Wilson re-jigged his order and introduced Archie DAVIES (WAL) to his line-up this morning. However, the Davies and John GOUGH (ENG) pairing was not successful with the Swedish pair of Adam WALLIN and David LUNDGREN taking the spoils in the opening game.
The Continent of Europe went with the same players but swapped their first and third pairs from Day 1 around.
GB&I won the other other three games with Sam BAIRSTOW (ENG) and Matthew MCCLEAN (IRL) again winning their foursomes on the 18th green.
Captain Wilson will be pleased to see that the Mark POWER (IRL) & Barclay BROWN (ENG) and Arron EDWARDS-HILL (ENG) & Calum SCOTT (SCO) pairings came through unbeaten for him over the two days. Both tied their games yesterday but won today.
Day 2 AM Foursomes Results (Graphic: European Golf Association / Golfbox)
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21st July 2022
Day 1 PM Singles
GB&I won the afternoon Singles series 6-2 to take an overnight 8-4 lead over Continent of Europe into the final day.
There were wins for John GOUGH (ENG), Mark POWER (IRL), Barclay BROWN (ENG), Sam BAIRSTOW (ENG) and Arron EDWARDS-HILL (ENG).
Archie DAVIES (WAL), who debuted for GB&I this afternoon in place of Matt MCCLEAN (IRL), tied his match as did CALUM SCOTT (SCO), who won the 18th to secure an important half-point for the visitors.
Martin COUVRA (FRA), who lost to John Gough in the opening game, came into the Continent of Europe’s line up with Laurenz SCHIERGEN (GER) stepping down.
Day 1 PM Singles Results (Graphic: European Golf Association / Golfbox)
Day 1 AM Foursomes
GB&I were a little fortunate to come out of the opening foursomes series with a 2-2 scoreline and no doubt will take heart from a good comeback.
The Continent of Europe looked on course for a comfortable overall victory, 3-1 at worse, across the four games for much of the round. GB&I unusually mixed the home nations up with no players from the same country paired together. Only the Bairstow and McClean pairing appeared to gel with the others all struggling for long periods.
However, Europe slipped up down the home stretch and a battling GB&I team were good enough to take advantage in the final three games, halving two and winning the final one.
David LUNDGREN (SWE), who replaced Kiet VAN DER WEELE (NED) on the eve of the match, was brought straight into the Continent of Europe’s starting line up.
Archie DAVIES (WAL) and Martin COUVRA (FRA) were left out of the opening Foursomes by the respective GB&I and Europe captains.
Day 1 AM Foursomes Results (Graphic: European Golf Association / Golfbox)
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20th July 2022
The 33rd St. Andrews Trophy match will be contested on Thursday 21st and Friday 22nd July at Penati Golf Resort in Slovakia.
This amateur men’s team match has been played biennially between Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) and the Continent of Europe since 1956.
It was originally established by The R&A to give more European players the chance to play at the highest level and GB&I players more team match play experience for the Walker Cup which is held in alternate years with this competition.
The St. Andrews Trophy was put forward for the match by the Royal and Ancient G.C. of St. Andrews in 1963.
I will be updating this article with daily reports and results once play commences.
2022 Teams
Each team has nine players.
The golfing calendar is extremely busy at this time of year and therefore player availability can be impacted by other opportunities. Recent history shows that this is a particular issue on the Continent of Europe’s side.
Continent of Europe
Yves HOFSTETTER (Switzerland) will be the Non-Playing Captain of the European team for the second match.
His team was announced by the European Golf Association (EGA) on 13th July and is listed below. Each player’s nationality, their current SPWAR and their regional position is also provided.
Anton ALBERS – Germany #88 (15th)
Pietro BOVARI – Italy #184 (44th)
Martin COUVRA – France #93 (20th)
Daniel DA COSTA RODRIGUES – Portugal #205 (49th)
David LUNDGREN* – Sweden #309 (72nd)
Luis MASAVEU RONCAL – Spain #122 (29th)
Laurenz SCHIERGEN – Germany #145 (34th)
Max STEINLECHNER – Austria #118 (28th)
Adam WALLIN – Sweden #247 (58th)
* David Lundgren replaced Kiet Van Der WEELE, Netherlands #92 (17th), on the eve of the match.
Continent of Europe Team (Photo: European Golf Association)
It is disappointing that none of the team are in the SPWAR’s Continent of Europe top 10 and surprisingly just four of the final team are in the current top 30. It is clear that the EGA are increasingly struggling to attract their very best players to the match.
The leading European players in the SPWAR, none of whom are playing, are Ludvig ABERG (Sweden) #1, Julien SALE (France) #14, Adrien Dumont De CHASSERT (Belgium) #18, Tom VAILLANT (France) #22, Jiri ZUSKA (Czech Republic) #27 , David PUIG (ESP) #30, Filipo CELLI (Italy) #37, Hamish BROWN (Denmark) #44, Jose BALLESTER (Spain) #60 and Hugo TOWNSEND (Sweden) #65.
Great Britain & Ireland Team
The R&A Selection Committee, including Non-Playing Captain Stuart WILSON (Scotland), announced their nine man team on 12th July. Each player’s nationality, their current SPWAR and their GB&I regional position is also provided.
Sam BAIRSTOW (24) – England #3 (1st)
Barclay BROWN (21) – England #54 (5th)
Archie DAVIES (21) – Wales #72 (7th)
John GOUGH (24) – England #13 (2nd)
Arron EDWARDS-HILL (23) – England #42 (3rd)
Matthew MCCLEAN (29) – Ireland #59 (6th)
Robert MORAN (23) – Ireland #52 (4th)
Mark POWER (22) – Ireland #193 (20th)
Calum SCOTT (19) – Scotland #74 (8th)
Non-Travelling Reserves
James ASHFIELD (21) – Wales #175 (19th) and Olly HUGGINS (24) – England #126 (15th)
Great Britain & Ireland Team (Photo: European Golf Association)
Unlike the European Team above it is hard to argue with The R&A’s GB&I selection. Mark POWER is at face value a current ranking anomaly but he has a lot of goodwill on his side given previous Boys’ and Men’s GB&I team performances.
Match Format
The St. Andrews Trophy is played over two days and consists of a number of match play foursomes and singles games.
Thursday 21st July AM – Foursomes x 4
Thursday 21st July PM – Singles x 8
Friday 22nd July AM – Foursomes x 4
Friday 22nd July PM – Singles x 9
The additional Singles on Day 2 was first played in 2016.
With a maximum total of 25 points available and one point awarded for each match a team will be required to accumulate 13 points to secure an outright victory. As the holders Continent of Europe can retain the Trophy by reaching 12.5 points.
The St. Andrews Trophy (Photo: Suomen Golfliitto / Finnish Golf Union)
Venue – Penati Golf Club, Slovakia
Penati Golf Resort was opened in 2012 near the town of Senica in western Slovakia. It is now a 36-hole golf resort with a Legend Course and Heritage Course.
The Legend Course, designed by Jack Nicklaus and built to USGA specifications, is the one being used this week. It cuts through forests of scots pines and silver birch.
Summary: Yards 7,151 / Par 72 / Course Rating 74 / Slope 145
The 15th, a par 6, is noteworthy as it has eleven different tees and can be stretched out to around 780 yards. The par 4 18th, shown above, plays to an island green situated in front of the clubhouse and is the course’s signature hole.
Penati has hosted a number of Championships in the recent past; the European Mid-Amateur (2013), D+D REAL Slovakia event on the Challenge Tour (2014-16), European Men’s Amateur (2015) and European Ladies Amateur (2018).
Penati Golf Club
Weather Forecast
The weather forecast for Slovakia looks very good for both competition days, albeit the afternoon sun may prove problematic: –
Thur 21st July – Sunny. Wind 5mph E. Temp. Max. 39°C / Min 19°C.
Fri 22nd July – Sunny. Wind 10mph E. Temp. Max. 39°C / Min 20°C.
2020 Match – Royal Porthcawl, Wales
The 2020 St. Andrews Trophy match, scheduled to be played at Royal Porthcawl G.C. in South Wales, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Porthcawl will now host the next match on 25th and 26th May 2024.
2018 Match – Linna Golf, Finland
The Continent of Europe beat Great Britain and Ireland (GB&I) 15.5 – 9.5 in the 32nd St. Andrews Trophy match played in 2018 at Linna Golf in Finland.
GB&I entered the final day leading 7 – 5 but were comprehensively outplayed by an inspired European team who won the Day 2 games 10.5 – 2.5. GB&I were thrashed 7.5 – 1.5 in the Singles.
This was just the sixth time Europe had won the match and the 6 point margin represented their biggest ever victory.
Looking at the individual performances Matias HONKALA (FIN) was the star man for Europe winning all four of his matches. Stefano MAZZOLI (ITA) didn’t play in the Day 1 Singles but won all three of the other matches he was selected for.
Matthew JORDAN (ENG) was comfortably GB&I’s star man winning three of his four games.
Click here to view the – 2018 St. Andrews Trophy Match Results
The Continent of Europe Team (Photo: European Golf Association)
Past Results
To date GB&I have won the St. Andrews Trophy 25 times. However, their last outright win came in 2014.
Europe now have six wins to their name with three of them coming recently in 2010, 2012 and 2018.
2016 was the first time the match had been halved. This arguably represents another win for GB&I, who were the trophy holders, but I have excluded it from the above numbers.
Europe have won only once on GB&I soil in the history of the match, at Portmarnock GC in 2012.
Click here to view a summary of the – Historic St. Andrews Trophy Results
ME.
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