12th May 2024
France beat England 13.5.-10.5 in the 37th Men’s International Match played this year at Moortown G.C.
This was France’s sixth win in the biennial series and their first since 2010 at Chantilly.
France Team (Photo: Federation of French Golf
Four French and two English players won three of the four matches they played.
Click here to view the – England v. France Match Results
Day 2
Morning Foursomes
England and France again halved the Foursomes series 2.0-2.0.
Hugo LE GOFF & Noa AUCH-ROY were again in superb form as they blew away England’s star pairing of Dylan SHAW-RADFORD & Harley SMITH with a 3&2 win in the opening game.
Will HOPKINS & Zach CHEGWIDDEN secured England’s first point of Day 2 with a strong foursomes performance against Darren STRACHAN & Rafael BOBO-LLORET; hole wins on the 14th and 15th pushed the English pairing on to a 3&1 win.
Ben BOLTON & Ben BROWN came out on the wrong side of an exciting match against Oscar COUILLEAU & LOUKA MORIN, with plenty of birdies from both sides, by 1 Hole.
Eliot BAKER & James CLARIDGE beat Callixte ALZAS & Aaron VAN HAUWE by 2&1 to earn their first wins of the match.
Day 2 Foursomes Results (Graphic: England Golf / Golf Genius)
Afternoon Singles
France won the Day 2 Singles series 4.5-3.5 to complete a thoroughly deserved match win.
Hugo LE GOFF and Will HOPKINS again played each other in the top match. This time it was the turn of the Frenchman to earn the 1 Hole victory in another high class encounter.
Harley SMITH continued his good form with a comfortable 4&3 victory over Noa AUCH-ROY helped by a match play eagle and five birdies in the 15 holes they played.
Yorkshire’s Dylan SHAW-RADFORD wasn’t to be out done by his foursomes partner. Five birdies in his 14 holes enabled him to runaway from Louka MORIN by 5&4 in Game 3.
Rafael BOBO-LLORET easily saw off Ben BOLTON 6&5 after the Englishman got on the bogey train on the 6th hole and was unable to get off it.
Zach CHEGWIDDEN, who was 4Down after 11 holes after a sloppy front nine to Darren STRACHAN, fought back to 1Down by the 15th but a three putt bogey on 16 gave the Frenchman the breathing space he needed to secure a 2&1 win.
Ben BROWN got the better of Callixte ALZAS in a rollercoaster match where the home player took an early lead, let it slip around the turn, before finishing strongly, a long putt from off the green for birdie on the 18th being key, for a 1Hole win.
Aaron VAN HAUWE beat Devon’s Eliot BAKER by 2&1 in the penultimate Singles, the highlight being his eagle on the 519 yard 7th.
James CLARIDGE, who was behind for most of his match against Oscar COUILLEAU, showed good heart in winning the closing two holes to tie his game, albeit the Frenchman bogeyed both of them.
ME.
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11th May 2024
Day 1
Morning Foursomes
England and France halved the Day 1 Foursomes series 2.0-2.0.
In Game 1 Hugo LE GOFF & Noa AUCH-ROY were a match play 6-under par for the 15 holes they required to beat Will HOPKINS & Zach CHEGWIDDEN by 5&3.
Game 2 saw the victorious 2024 Sunningdale Foursomes pairing of Dylan SHAW-RADFORD & Harley SMITH overcome Oscar COUILLEAU & Darren STRACHAN, who had 5 bogeys in the 14 holes they played, by 5&4.
Ben BROWN & Ben BOLTON beat Rafael BOBO-LLORET & LOUKA MORIN by 2&1, the French pair unable to recover from losing the 5th, 6th, 8th and 9th holes, three of them to bogeys.
In the final game Callixte ALZAS & Aaron VAN HAUWE beat Eliot BAKER & James CLARIDGE by 3&1. The French pair were 3Up at the turn and saw out the match relatively comfortably thereafter.
Day 1 Foursomes Results (Graphic: England Golf / Golf Genius)
Afternoon Singles
France won the Day 1 Singles series 5.0-3.0.
Will HOPKINS, who won the Lytham Trophy last weekend, got the better of Hugo LE GOFF in the opening Singles. 2Down with four holes to plan Hopkins delivered two birdies, including one on the home hole with a 25 foot putt, to secure a memorable 1 Hole victory.
The second game was equally tight with Noa AUCH-ROY getting the better of Zach CHEGWIDDEN by 1 Hole.
Harley SMITH and Dylan SHAW-RADFORD both maintained their unbeaten match records with 5&4 and 2&1 wins against Darren STRACHAN and Rafael BOBO-LLORET respectively.
Ben BROWN and James CLARIDGE both got off to good starts in their games, Brown leading 2Up after 4 holes and Claridge 3Up after 5, but both were reeled in by Louka MORIN and Callixte ALZAS as they leaked bogeys as their rounds progressed.
Aaron VAN HAUWE outlasted Ben BOLTON in a competitive match which was All Square after 16 holes before the Enville player handed the initiative to the Frenchman with two badly timed bogeys on the 17th and 18th holes.
The biggest Singles win of Day 1 went to Oscar COUILLEAU who beat Eliot BAKER by 6&5. Couilleau was a match play 5-under par for the 13 holes he required to reach the winning line.
Day 1 Singles Results (Graphic: England Golf / Golf Genius)
ME.
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10th May 2024
England will play France this coming weekend in the 37th Men’s International Match between the two countries.
The last match, played at Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche near Paris in May 2022, was won by England.
Format
8 man teams from each country will play 4 foursomes and 8 single matches on both Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th May.
With a total of 24 points to play for the winning team needs to secure 12.5 points to win the match outright. As England won the 2022 match they will also retain the trophy in the event of a 12-12 tie. Having said that there has never previously been a tie in the history of the contest.
The biennial match is normally played on an alternate home and away basis.
Teams
The biennial playing of this fixture in mid-May hampers selection nowadays as both teams have an increasing number of potential players competing on the U.S. college circuit.
Here are the two eight man teams with each player’s current World Amateur Golf Ranking (as at 8th May) in brackets after their name: –
England
Eliot Baker (842)
Ben Bolton (708)
Ben Brown (1,089)
Zach Chegwidden (828)
James Claridge (202)
Will Hopkins (102)
Dylan Shaw-Radford (514)
Harley Smith (928)
Total WAGR = 5,213
Zach Chegwidden is the only returning England player from two years ago.
England Team (Photo: Golf England)
France
Noa Auch-Roy (1,067)
Callixte Alzas (977)
Rafeal Bobo-Lloret (1,993)
Oscar Couilleau (599)
Hugo Le Goff (323)
Louka Morin (2,791)
Darren Strachan (399)
Aaron Van Hauwe (2,337)
Total WAGR = 10,486
France have no returning players from the 2022 match.
France Team (Photo: Golf England)
England will start the match as favourites as is normally the case given past results and their greater strength in depth as a golf nation.
Tee Times
Click here to view the – England v. France Tee Times
Venue
Moortown Golf Club was designed by Dr Alister MacKenzie in 1909 across woodland and moorland on the northern outskirts of Leeds.
The club has long held a reputation as a venue for prestigious international championships and was the host of the first Ryder Cup match on British soil in 1929.
Off the Blue Championship Tees the courses measures 7,001 yards and plays to a par of 71.
The Gibraltar par 3 10th, shown below, is the Club’s signature hole.
Weather Forecast
Near perfect golfing weather is expected in Northern England over the coming days; warm sunshine with light breezes.
Sat 11th May – Sunny / Wind 11 mph SE / Temp. Min. 11°C / Max. 23°C.
Sun 12th May – Sunny / Wind 12 mph SE / Temp. Min. 13°C / Max. 22°C.
Match History
This International Match was first played in 1934, originally starting with 6 players per side before moving to 8 in 1949.
It lapsed after the 1962 match at Ganton Golf Club but was resurrected in 1982 at Chantilly with a new format which has been retained to this day.
Frilford Heath Golf Club, hosts of the 1984 match, donated a silver salver which the winning team retains.
England v. France Match Salver (Photo: Alexis Orloff / FFGolf)
To date England have won 31 of the matches with France winning just 5, the last one being in 2010 at Chantilly.
2022 International Match
England beat France 13.5-10.5 in the 2022 Men’s International Match at Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche, finally overcoming their stubborn opponents in the final Singles session.
The Winning England Team (Photo: England Golf)
French pair Julien Sale and Oihan Guillamoundeguy were the star performers in the match delivering the two only unbeaten records.
John Gough, Arron Edwards-Hill, Jack Bigham and Sam Bairstow crucially won both of their Singles for the English.
Past Results
The overall match record is Played 36, England 31 Wins and France 5 Wins.
| Match |
Year |
Venue |
England |
France |
Winner |
| 37 | 2024 | Moortown | 10.5 | 13.5 | France |
| 36 | 2022 | St-Nom-la-Bretèche | 13.5 | 10.5 | England |
| 2020 | Cancelled | ||||
| 35 | 2018 | Vidauban | 13 | 7 | England |
| 34 | 2016 | Formby | 14 | 10 | England |
| 33 | 2014 | Fontainebleau | 13 | 11 | England |
| 32 | 2012 | Roch. & Cobham | 15 | 9 | England |
| 31 | 2010 | Chantilly | 11 | 13 | France |
| 30 | 2008 | Frilford Heath | 14 | 10 | England |
| 29 | 2006 | Golf du Medoc | 16.5 | 7.5 | England |
| 28 | 2004 | Royal St. George’s | 11.5 | 12.5 | France |
| 27 | 2002 | Chantilly | 17.5 | 6.5 | England |
| 26 | 2000 | Chart Hills | 17.5 | 6.5 | England |
| 25 | 1998 | Les Bordes | 11.5 | 12.5 | France |
| 24 | 1996 | Sunningdale | 9 | 15 | France |
| 23 | 1994 | Nimes | 17 | 7 | England |
| 22 | 1992 | Royal Lytham | 18 | 6 | England |
| 21 | 1990 | Morfontaine | 16.5 | 7.5 | England |
| 20 | 1988 | Berkshire | 16 | 8 | England |
| 19 | 1986 | Hossegor | 14.5 | 9.5 | England |
| 18 | 1984 | Frilford Heath | 16 | 8 | England |
| 17 | 1982 | Chantilly | 13 | 11 | England |
|
1963-1981 No matches were played |
|||||
| 16 | 1962 | Ganton | 7.5 | 4.5 | England |
| 15 | 1960 | Chantilly | 7.5 | 4.5 | England |
| 14 | 1959 | West Hill | 8.5 | 3.5 | England |
| 13 | 1956 | Chantilly | 10 | 2 | England |
| 12 | 1954 | Berkshire | 11 | 1 | England |
| 11 | 1952 | Deal | 8 | 4 | England |
| 10 | 1950 | Morfontaine | 8.5 | 3.5 | England |
| 9 | 1949 | Deal | 5 | 4 | England |
| 8 | 1948 | St. Cloud | 5.5 | 3.5 | England |
| 7 | 1947 | Wentworth | 8 | 1 | England |
|
1940-1946 No matches were played |
|||||
| 6 | 1939 | Morfontaine | 5 | 4 | France |
| 5 | 1938 | Sunningdale | 8.5 | 0.5 | England |
| 4 | 1937 | Chantilly | 7 | 0 | England |
| 3 | 1936 | Deal | 5.5 | 3.5 | England |
| 2 | 1935 | St. Germain-en-Laye | 5.5 | 3.5 | England |
| 1 | 1934 | Wentworth | 5.5 | 3.5 | England |
N.B. Matches 1–8 had 6 players and matches 9-35 had 8 players
ME.
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