Tag Archives: Ed Featherstone

Men’s Home Internationals – 2026 Preview & Results

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Friday 7th August 2026

RESULTS

Despite their disappointing final day performance ENGLAND pipped WALES to the Raymond Trophy on match points won – 20.0 v. 18.0. IRELAND finished 3rd and SCOTLAND 4th after they both recorded a single win over the three days.

England (Photo: England Golf)

DAY 3 STANDINGS

Click here to view the – 2026 Men’s Home Internationals Standings

Caolan BURFORD (WAL) was the star man at this year’s Home Internationals winning all six of his games.

Ben BOLTON (ENG), Dylan KEATING (IRL) and Chris SOMERS (SCO) produced the best performances for the other home nations.

DAY 3

ENGLAND 4.0 – 8.0 IRELAND

SCOTLAND 5.0 – 7.0 WALES 

All Graphics, Tables and Scoring shown are shared courtesy of Golf Ireland and Golf Genius.

Click here to view the – 2026 Day 3 Men’s Home Internationals Match Results

ME.

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Thursday 6th August 2026

DAY 2

ENGLAND, now two from two and clear favourites for the title, and SCOTLAND were victorious on Day 2 beating WALES and IRELAND respectively.

ENGLAND 8.5 – 3.5 WALES

IRELAND 5.0 – 7.0 SCOTLAND 

DAY 2 TEAM STANDINGS

All Graphics, Tables and Scoring shown are shared courtesy of Golf Ireland and Golf Genius.

Click here to view the – 2026 Day 2 Men’s Home Internationals Match Results

ME.

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Wednesday 5th August 2026

DAY 1

Day 1 saw wins for ENGLAND and WALES, both team’s winning 7.5-4.5 against SCOTLAND and IRELAND respectively.

ENGLAND 7.5 – 4.5 SCOTLAND

IRELAND 4.5 – 7.5 WALES

DAY 1 TEAM STANDINGS

All Graphics, Tables and Scoring shown will be shared courtesy of Golf Ireland and Golf Genius.

Click here to view the – 2026 Day 1 Men’s Home Internationals Match Results

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Monday 3rd August 2026

This year’s Men’s Home Internationals will be played at Woodbrook Golf Club in Ireland on 5th-7th August 2026.

ENGLAND will be defending the Raymond Trophy which they won at Woodhall Spa G.C. in Lincolnshire last year.

This article will focus on the Men’s Home Internationals and will be updated with score links and daily reports once the competition starts.

Combined Event

In 2022 The R&A and four Home Golf Unions decided to combine the Women’s and Men’s Home Internationals into one mixed event.

The R&A first introduced this type of change in August 2021 when they took control of and combined both the Boys’ and Girls’ Home Internationals and Senior Men’s and Women’s Home Internationals at Woodhall Spa.

Whilst the mixed R&A Women’s and Men’s Home Internationals are now given primary importance the International Trophy and Raymond Trophy are still presented to the leading country in the women’s and men’s matches.

The R&A stepped back from running all of the Home Internationals in 2024 returning their organisation to each host nation in turn.

I hope the organisers look to remove the mixed element completely in due course and return to the separate men’s and women’s competitions which have a lot of history and should never have been interfered with.

2026 Men’s Players

The four national golf unions have selected the following players to represent their countries this year. I have added their World Amateur Golf Rankings as at 29th July 2026 in brackets.

ENGLAND
Ben BOLTON – Enville (100)
Jenson BULL – Remedy Oak (488)
Ed FEATHERSTONE – Sheringham (231)
Dan HAYES – Bramhall (126)
Greg HOLMES – Royal Birkdale (832)
Lewy HAYWARD – Marlborough (369)
Max HOPKINS – Bishop Stortford (611)
Harley SMITH – The Rayleigh Club (120)
Jamie VAN WYK – Royal Lytham & St. Annes (673, won the English Amateur last week)

Tyler Weaver (2), Luke Poulter (4), Eliot Baker (18), Freddie Turnell (74), Sam Easterbrook (79), Jack Whaley (93), Zach Little (94), Josh Hill (96), Seb Cave (123), Tom Osborne (131), Matthew Dodd-Berry (163), Jack Bigham (174) and Frazer Jones (221) are WAGR top 250 English players who are not competing. 

England (Photo: Golf Ireland / Info)

IRELAND
Fionn DOBBIN – Malone (966)
John DOYLE – Fota Island (192)
Gerard DUNNE – County Louth (1,837)
Keith EGAN – Carton House (986)
Thomas HIGGINS – Roscommon (211)
David HOWARD – Fota Island (900)
Dylan KEATING – Seapoint (1,579)
David KITT – Athenry (1,116)
Gavin O’NEILL – Malahide (875)

Stuart Grehan (22), Caolan Rafferty (183) and Gavin Tiernan (205) are WAGR top 250 Irish players who are not competing.

Ireland (Photo: Golf Ireland / Info)

SCOTLAND
George CANNON – Glenbervie (626)
Andrew DAVIDSON – Crail (355)
Alexander FARMER – Kilmacolm (1,564)
Finlay GALLOWAY – St. Andrews (2,130)
Ross LAIRD – Glenbervie (909)
Oliver MUKHERJEE – Gullane (2,254)
Sam MUKHERJEE – Gullane (1,436)
Ben MURRAY – Portlethan (2,681)
Chris SOMERS – Murcar Links (948)

Niall Sheils Donegan (19) and Connor Graham (23) are WAGR top 250 Scottish players who are not competing.

Scotland (Photo: Golf Ireland / Info)

WALES
Theo BAKER – Celtic Manor (2,603)
Jonathan BALE – Royal Porthcawl (300)
Tomi BOWEN – Welshpool (232)
Caolan BURFORD – Rhuddlan (951, won the Welsh Amateur last week)
Sean DAVID – Pyle & Kenfig (727)
Alex JAMES – Royal Lytham & St. Annes (1,957)
Tom PEET – Pyle & Kenfig (NR)
Ioan ROWE – Royal Porthcawl (1,055)
Bryn THOMAS – Cardigan (NR)

Wales (Photo: Golf Ireland / Inpho)

Venue – Woodbrook G.C.

Woodbrook, a parkland course located next to the sea in Bray to the south of Dublin, is celebrating it’s centenary this year.

Peter McEvoy re-designed the course in 1998 when USGA standard greens were laid in preparation for the Irish Seniors Open being staged there.

It plays to a maximum distance of 7,016 yards and has a par of 72. It has a Course Rating of 74.3 and a Slope Rating of 131 off these back tees.

Match Format

Following the move to a combined Home Internationals event the men’s teams were reduced from 11 to 9 players.

Each country plays every other team over the three competition days.

Men’s matches now consist of 4 foursomes and 8 singles. This is 1 foursomes and 2 singles less than the historic format.

One point is awarded for a win in each foursomes and singles with a half point for a tied match. Each team will be awarded one match point for winning an overall match and a half point for a tie.

The final team positions are determined according to the highest number of match points earned. Ties are broken by reviewing the total number of individual game points.

The winning team receives the Raymond Trophy.  

The Raymond Trophy

The Men’s Home Internationals were first played in 1932 and this year’s staging will be the 84th playing of this prestigious event.

Since 1952 the winning team has received The Raymond Trophy which is named after its donor, the late Raymond Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer was an English administrator, golfer and team captain who was very prominent in the amateur game in the 1940’s and 1950’s.

In the 84 competitions played to date England have won 41, Scotland 21, Ireland 14 and Wales 1. The remaining 7 were tied before it was decided that ties would be resolved by using game points.

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The Raymond Trophy (Photo: Ayrshire Golf Blog)

2026 Weather Forecast (as at 3rd August 2026)

The forecast is currently looking very good for the three competition days: –

Wed. 6th Aug. – Sunny / Wind 9 mph W / Temp. Min 13º, Max 22º
Thurs. 7th Aug. – Sunny Intervals / Wind 14 mph SW / Temp. Min 13º, Max 24º
Fri. 8th Aug. – Sunny / Wind 11 mph W / Temp. Min 12º, Max 24º

2025 R&A Men’s Home Internationals

ENGLAND won the 2025 Men’s Home Internationals completing a clean sweep against the other home nations over the three days.

England Men’s Team (Photo: England Golf)

Individual Performances

Eliot BAKER (ENG), Alexander FARMER (SCO), Caolan BURFORD (WAL) and Gavin TIERNAN (IRL) were the leading performers for each home nation at Woodhall Spa G.C.

Click here to view the – 2025 Men’s and Women’s Home Internationals Scores

Historic Results

Click here to view all of the – Men’s Home Internationals Historic Results

ME.

Copyright © 2014-2026, Mark Eley. All rights reserved.

The European Amateur Championship – 2026 Preview & Results

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27th June 2026

Final Round

Tim WIEDEMEYER (GER) won the 39th European Amateur Championship with a 271 (-13) total at Vanajanlinna G.&C.C.

Tim Wiedemyer (Photo: EGA)

Wiedemyer needed to be on his game on the final day with a 3-under 68 required to maintain his 2-shot advantage.

The victory comes with an exemption into the 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale G.C.

Nevill RUITER (NED) shot 68 on Saturday to finish 2nd on 273 (-11).

Riccardo FANTINELLI (ITA) produced a best of the week 64 on the final day to jump up 33 places on the leaderboard to claim 3rd on -7 count back.

Ed FEATHERSTONE (ENG), the best GB&I player, finished 4th and Arthur CARLIER (FRA) 5th after they tied Fantinelli’s 277 (-7) total.

After starting with a 6-over 77 in Round 1 Eliot BAKER (ENG) showed his class to finish 9th on -6 after rounds of 68, 68 and 66.

Looking at the other leading GB&I players, Ben BOLTON (ENG) came home in 13th, Mark STOCKDALE (ENG) 16th, Sebastian DESOISA (ENG) 19th, all on -3, and Sam EASTERBROOK (ENG) 20th, Jack BIGHAM (ENG) 21st, John DOYLE (IRL) 23rd and Connor GRAHAM (SCO) 24th, all on -2.

Lev GRINBERG‘s (FRA) 6th place finish was good enough to take him top of The Open Amateur Series Leaderboard, based on WAGR points awarded for performances in the St. Andrews Links Trophy, the Amateur Championship and the European Amateur Championship, and to secure a spot in the field at Royal Birkdale.

The 60 players who made the 54 hole cut managed an average final round score of 71.85 (+0.85).

Final Results (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Click here to view the – European Amateur Championship Leaderboard

ME.

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26th June 2026

Round 3

A second consecutive 65 around Vanajanlinna lifted Tim WIEDEMEYER (GER) into the solo lead at the European Amateur on 203 (-10). Having foregone his exemption into next Tuesday’s Final Qualifying for The Open the German looks well placed to book his ticket to Royal Birkdale anyway.

After third rounds of 67 and 71 Aaron POUNDS (USA) and Nevill RUITER (NED) will head into the final day 2 shots back on -8.

Thomas HIGGINS (IRL), who posted a 66 in Round 3, Mark STOCKDALE (ENG) and Connor GRAHAM (SCO), tied 11th, are the best of the GB&I contingent with a 210 (-3) 54 hole total.

Sam EASTERBROOK (ENG), Jack BIGHAM (ENG), John DOYLE (IRL) and Sebastian DESOISA (ENG), tied 15th on -2, will be hoping to break into the top 10 on the final day.

60 players made the top 60 and ties 54 hole cut which fell at 216 (+3).

The 98 players who made the 36 hole cut produced an average Round 3 score of 72.07 (+1.07).

Round 3 Leaderboard (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

ME.

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25th June 2026

Round 2

Neville RUITER (NED) and Louis ANCEAUX (FRA) both shot their second 67’s of the Championship to share the halfway lead on 134 (-8).

Jack BUCHANAN (RSA), Arthur CARLIER (FRA), Sebastian DESOISA (ENG) and Lev GRINBERG (FRA) are all 2 shots further back, tied 3rd on -6.

Looking at the other leading GB&I players, Connor GRAHAM (SCO), Tomi BOWEN (WAL) and Seb CAVE (ENG) are all tied 15th on -2 with Jack WHALEY (ENG), John DOYLE (IRL) and Ed FEATHERSTONE (ENG) tied 26th on -1.

The average Round 2 score was 73.30 (+2.30). 98 players made the 36 hole cut (top 96 and ties) which fell at 147 (+5). Just 40 players finished Day 2 on Even par or better.

Round 2 Leaderboard (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

ME.

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24th June 2026

Round 1

Lev GRINBERG (FRA) leads the European Amateur at Vanajanlinna after a bogey-free 6-under 65 which included a 5 birdie opening nine.

Grinberg finished the day 1-shot ahead of his compatriot Arther CARLIER and Sebastian DESOISA (ENG), the leading GB&I player in the Championship, who birdied his final four holes in his 66 -5.

Tomi BOWEN (WAL) and Seb CAVE (ENG) 68 -3, tied 10th, and Harley SMITH (ENG), Oli BLACKADDER (SCO), Patrick KEELING (IRL), Ben BOLTON (ENG), Sam EASTERBOOK (ENG), Mark STOCKDALE (ENG), Ed FEATHERSTONE (ENG) and Connor GRAHAM (SCO) 69 -2, tied 19th, are also well placed heading into Day 2.

The 144 players managed an average Round 1 score of 72.52 (+1.52). 63 players finished the day on Even par or better.

Round 1 Leaderboard (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

ME.

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23rd June 2026

The 39th European Amateur Championship will be played at Vanajanlinna G.& C.C. in Finland between 24th-27th June 2026.

This prestigious Championship is run by the European Golf Association (EGA), assisted each year by the host nation; this year being the Finnish Golf Union.

This will be the third occasion that Finland has hosted the European Amateur. It has previously been staged at Aura G.C. (1994) and Vanajanlinna G.&C.C. (2010).

I will be updating this article with daily scoring reports throughout the Championship.

Vanajanlinna G. & C.C. (Photo: linnagolf.fi)

Competition Format

The European Amateur is a 72-hole stroke play competition with 18-holes played daily over four days.

There will be two cuts applied to the field during the Championship. After 36 holes only players with the 96 lowest scores and ties will progress and then after 54 holes only the 60 lowest scores and ties will qualify for the final round.

A 3 hole aggregate score play off will decide the winner in the event of a tie. If this doesn’t separate the players then a sudden death play-off will commence over the same holes.

A card count-back (last 36, then 18, then 9, etc,) will be used to resolve a tie for 2nd and 3rd place.

Entries

144 players from 41 countries will contest the 2026 Championship.

All of the players in the field must have handicaps of 0.0 or better with the entry ballot applied based on the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

Exemptions were available to the defending champion, highly ranked players in the European Amateur Order of Merit (EAOM), a single nomination from each EGA member nation, four nominated players from the host nation, Finland, competitors in the 2025 Bonallack Trophy, St. Andrew’s Trophy and Jacques Léglise Trophy matches, the 2025 South American Amateur champion and the 2025 European Mid-Amateur champion.

There are 35 GB&I entries, namely Eliot BAKER (ENG) #25, Tom BASTOW (WAL), Jack BIGHAM (ENG), Oli BLACKADDER (SCO), Ben BOLTON (ENG), Tomi BOWEN (WAL), Seb CAVE (ENG), Sebastian DESOISA (GIB), John DOYLE (IRL), Sam EASTERBROOK (ENG), Ed FEATHERSTONE (ENG), Jenson FORRESTER (ENG), Connor GRAHAM (SCO) #26, Daniel HAYES (ENG), Lewy HAYWARD (ENG), Josh HILL (ENG), Thomas HIGGINS (IRL), Patrick KEELING (IRL),  Zach LITTLE (ENG), Matt MCCLEAN (IRL), Dominic MCGLINCHEY (SCO), Jack MURPHY (IRL), Tom OSBORNE (ENG), Caolan RAFFERTY (IRL), Dion REGAN (WAL), Niall SHEILS DONEGAN (SCO) #21, Harley SMITH (ENG), Jake SOWDEN (ENG), Luke STOCK (ENG), Mark STOCKDALE (ENG), Drew SYKES (ENG), Gavin TIERNAN (IRL), Jamie VAN WYK (ENG) and Jack WHALEY (ENG) #98.

The leading international entries (WAGR Top 100) are Tim WIEDEMEYER (GER) #18, Oscar COUILLEAU (FRA) #39, Segundo OLIVA PINTO (ARG) #43, Lev GRINBERG (FRA) #45, Sergio JIMENEZ (ESP) #50, Wilhelm RYDING (SWE) #64, Hugo LE GOFF (FRA) #65, Alejandro DE CASTRO (ESP) #68, Alfons BONDESSON (SWE) #70, Louis KLEIN (CZH) #77, Albert HANSSON (SWE) #79, Wolfgang GLAWE (GER) #84 and Aaron POUNDS (USA) #89.

Vanajanlinna G. & C.C., Finland

Vanajanlinna or Linna Golf is considered Finland’s best course.

It hosted the European Amateur in 2010, the St. Andrews Trophy match in 2018 and the European Young Masters in 2022.

The course opened in August 2005 and was designed by Tim Lobb of European Golf Design. It is set in the grounds of an old hunting lodge which was built in 1924 with the routing through a pine and birch forest.

Linna plays to 7,192 yards and a par of 71. It has a Course Rating of 75.5 and a Slope Rating of 146.

Weather Forecast (as at 23rd June)

Conditions are expected to be generally good, albeit with a small chance of rain on every day.

Weds 24th June – Showers (30%). Wind 5 mph SE. Min. 11°C / Max. 19°C.
Thurs 25th June – Showers (20%). Wind 8 mph NW. Min. 11°C / Max. 19°C.
Fri 26th June – Cloudy (5%). Wind 11 mph NW. Min. 13°C / Max. 21°C.
Sat 27th June – Cloudy (20%). Wind 15 mph S. Min. 14°C / Max. 24°C.

Prizes

Gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded to the top 3 finishers.

The silver Championship Trophy, shown below, is held by the winning player’s national golf authority.

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The European Amateur Championship Trophy (Photo: EGA)

The Open Championship

The champion earns an exemption into The Open Championship in a few weeks time, this year being played at Royal Birkdale G.C. in England.

The Open Amateur Series Winner – the player who gains the most WAGR points in the St. Andrews Links Trophy, the Amateur Championship and the European Amateur Championship – (as long as they don’t win either the Amateur or European Amateur) will also earn a spot at Royal Birkdale.

Players who finish in 2nd to 4th places in this year’s European Amateur will also be offered a place in Final Qualifying which takes place next Tuesday, the 30th June. Any ties for 2nd-4th will be decided in favour of the highest ranked player in WAGR.

Other Championships

The USGA also grants exemptions to the winner into the U.S. Amateur Championship, the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship (if U19) and into Final Qualifying for the 2027 U.S. Open Championship (subject to remaining an amateur).

Further Information

Click here to view the – EGA European Amateur Championship Website

2025 European Amateur Championship

Filip JAKUBČÍK (CZH), 21 at the time, won the 2025 European Men’s Amateur Championship by 3-shots at Vasatorp G.C. in Sweden. His 280 (-8) total saw him become the first Czech player to win the title. Jakubčík turned pro in June 2026 after finishing his collegiate career at the University of Arizona.

Filip Jakubčik (Photo: European Golf Association)

Kristin BRESSUM (DEN) earned the silver medal on 283 (-5) and Sakke SILTALA (FIN) the bronze medal on 284 (-4). Wolfgang GLAWE (GER) and Matteo CRISTONI (ITA) tied 4th after finishing on 285 (-3).

Cameron ADAM (SCO) was the leading GB&I player finishing tied 9th on 287 (-1). Zach LITTLE (ENG), Charlie FORSTER (ENG) & Stuart GREHAN (IRL) all finished tied 12th on 288 (Ev), Jenson FORRESTER (ENG) & Seb CAVE (ENG) 290 (+2) tied 18th and Freddie TURNELL (ENG) & Eliot BAKER (ENG) 291 (+3) tied 21st.

Click here to view the – EGA / Golfbox 2025 European Amateur Championship Leaderboard

History

The competition was first contested in 1986 at Eindhoven G.C. Initially it was held biennially before moving to an annual fixture from 1990.

Former winners who have gone on to enjoy successful professional careers include Stephen GALLACHER (1994), Sergio GARCIA (1995), Gregory HAVRET (1999), Carl PETTERSSON (2000), Rory MCILROY (2006), Victor DUBUISSON (2009), Nicolai HØJGÅRD (2018) and Matthias SCHMID (2019 & 2020) and Jose Luis BALLESTER BARRIO (2023)

In addition to Gallacher and McIlroy other GB&I past winners include Jim PAYNE (1991), Paddy GRIBBEN (1998), Stephen BROWNE (2001), Brian MCELHINNEY (2003), Matthew RICHARDSON (2004), Rhys PUGH (2012) and Ashley CHESTERS (2013 and 2014) and Alfie PLANT (2017).

Ashley Chesters and Matthias Schmid are the only two-time winners and the only players to have retained the trophy.

Click here to view the – European Amateur Championship Past Winners and Venues

Rory McIlroy – 2006 Champion (Photo: European Golf Association)

ME.

Copyright © 2014-2026, Mark Eley. All rights reserved.