The Amateur Championship – 2023 Preview & Results

Posted on 14/06/2023 by Golf Bible

Saturday 24th June 2023

Christo LAMPRECHT (RSA), who is 22, won the 128th Amateur Championship at a sun-drenched Hillside G.C., beating Ronan KLEU (SUI), 23, 3&2 in the 36 hole Final.

As the lowest WAGR-ranked player in the field of 288 players and one of the obvious pre-Championship favourites Lamprecht (#6) did remarkably well to finish top of the pile.

Kleu, who is ranked 376th, will be disappointed not to have played a little better in the Final but a runner-up result and a third place seeding after the Stroke Play Qualifying represents an excellent week’s work for him and a real boost for golf in Switzerland.

Ronan Kleu and Christo Lamprecht (Photo: Octavio Passos / R&A / R&A via Getty Images)

Four birdies in the opening nine holes helped Kleu take an early 2Up lead but Lamprecht fought back strongly with a string of birdies to close out the opening 18 holes and turn the match around.

Heading into the afternoon session with a 2Up lead the giant South African never really looked like he would be caught as he continued to overpower the course with his driver off the tee.

To Kleu’s credit he finally started to apply some pressure when all seemed to be lost, producing some world class recoveries and finally holing a few putts.

However, the Georgia Tech student wasn’t to be denied and with a great pitch on 15 for birdie and solid long two putt for par on 16 the title was his.

Fellow South African player Christiaan Maas achieved a notable double too. Last year he missed the Match Play Stage cut and caddied for the eventual champion Aldrich Potgieter. This year the same thing happened and he picked up Lamprecht’s bag and ended up again helping a teammate to victory.

It was the third South African winner in the last 6 years; Jovan Rebula also won at Royal Aberdeen in 2018.

Talking to The R&A afterwards he said “I’m over the moon. I haven’t won something big in a long time and it’s one to definitely win for sure. I’m ecstatic. I cannot kind of comprehend my feelings right now. I’m guessing South Africans like playing links golf. We kind of like being creative so I guessed that flowed over into this Championship. It’s always nice to be part of history with South Africa and enrich it.”

Christo Lamprecht v. Ronan Kleu Final Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

With his win Lamprecht secured exemptions into The 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool G.C., the 2024 Masters Tournament at Augusta National G.C. and the 2024 U.S. Open Championship at Pinehurst No.2.

The 129th Amateur Championship will be played at Ballyliffin G.C. in County Donegal, Ireland on 17th-22nd June 2024.

Click here to view the – Match Play Draw / Scores

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Friday 23rd June 2023

Match Play Stage – Semi-Finals (4)

Perhaps unsurprisingly after his superb scoring and putting this morning TK CHANTANANUWAT (THA) was a bit flat this afternoon and certainly not as effective on the greens. Ronan KLEU (SUI) took advantage with an outstanding performance which included five birdies in the 12 holes completed at Hillside G.C.

In a long week of golf Kleu will be pleased to get through today playing just 26 holes. He will now be hoping that the second semi-final becomes a drawn out affair.

TK Chantananuwat v. Ronan Kleu Semi-Final Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

In a remarkable comeback Christo LAMPRECHT (RSA) fought back from 2Down with three holes to play to beat Frank KENNEDY (ENG) by 1 Hole on the 18th. It was hard on the Englishman who had played beautifully for most of the round and who has enjoyed great Championship. The Florida-based Kennedy will rue a clumsy putt from off the 16th green when he appeared to be on the verge of victory and a poor approach on the 18th which left him short-sided in a green side bunker. However, Lamprecht applied pressure just at the right time, finishing the round magnificently with a great up and down on 16, an eagle on 17 and a tap in par on the home hole.

Frank Kennedy v. Christo Lamprecht Semi-Final Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

Click here to view the – Match Play Draw / Scores

Match Play Stage – Quarter Finals (8)

You could have got very good odds on Switzerland being the most represented nation in the Quarter Finals at the start of this week. Well done to Max SCHLIESING and Ronan KLEU for flying the Swiss flag so proudly at The Amateur Championship.

Max SCHLIESING performed very well in the opening Quarter Final but despite dropping no shots and recording six birdies fell to an inspired TK CHANTANANUWAT. Nine birdies including three over the closing three holes at Hillside G.C. represented a superb effort, under pressure, from the Thai star.

Max Schliesing v. TK Chantananuwat Quarter Final Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

Schliesing’s compatriot Ronan KLEU fared better in his game against Tobias JONSSON (SWE). Kleu started well but it was Jonsson’s collapse on the back nine that ultimately handed him a comfortable victory.

Ronan Kleu v. Tobias Jonsson Quarter Final Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

The clash between two of our most in form players, Alex MAGUIRE (IRL) and Frank KENNEDY (ENG), was the highlight of the Quarter Finals from a GB&I perspective. Frank KENNEDY (ENG) won the game 3&2 with his steadier play. Given the performances and victories that Maguire has delivered in recent weeks it is perhaps no surprise that he tired a little coming down the stretch this morning.

Alex Maguire v. Frank Kennedy Quarter Final Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

Christo LAMPRECHT (RSA) went on his own birdie blitz to steam roller Richard TEDER (EST) who made few mistakes but simply couldn’t live with Lamprecht’s consistency and quality. Christiaan Maas, who caddied for last year’s champion Aldrich Potgieter, remains on course for a unique double having picked up Christo’s bag since his surprise early exit at the Stroke Play Qualifying stage.

Christo Lamprecht v. Richard Seder Quarter Final Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

Click here to view the – Match Play Draw / Scores

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Thursday 22nd June 2023

Match Play Stage – Round 4 (16)

The R&A start to provide hole-by-hole scoring from the Last 16 onwards which obviously helps us to better understand all of the games that are played.

Caolan BURFORD (WAL) struggled to get going this afternoon and as a result Max SCHLIESING (SUI) was able to see out a comfortable victory.

Caolan Burford v. Max Schliesing Round 4 Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

TH CHANTANANUWAT (THA) looks to have played a superb 16 holes of golf to see off Will HOPKINS by 3&2 after the Englishman had shocked him with a birdie-birdie start to go 2Up after two holes.

TK Chantananuwat v. Will Hopkins Round 4 Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

Ronan KLEU (SUI), who by way of reminder, shot the low round (64 -8) at Hillside in the Stroke Play Qualifying, continues to excel although Clément CHARMASSON (FRA) handed him the initiative this afternoon with some loose play on the opening nine.

Ronan Kleu v. Clément Charmasson Round 4 Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

After a slow start Tobias JONSSON (SWE) quickly found his form and after three late birdies got the better of Australia’s Josh GREER in a tight game.

Joshua Greer v. Tobias Jonsson Round 4 Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

Ireland’s Alex MAGUIRE must surely have secured his GB&I Walker Cup team selection with this dramatic victory over Daniel RODRIGUES (POR). 1Down with two holes to play he birdied the par 5 17th hole to take the match in to overtime. Two more birdies on par 5’s saw Maguire secure victory on the 5th extra hole.

Alex Maguire v. Daniel Rodrigues Round 4 Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

Marc BOUCHER (IRL) and Frank KENNEDY enjoyed an exciting rollercoaster of a match which the Englishman, winner of the Lytham Trophy earlier this year, came out on top in despite some nervous play from both players down the 18th.

Marc Boucher v. Frank Kennedy Round 4 Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

South Africa’s Christo LAMPRECHT was made to play his best golf to overcome Adam WALLIN (SWE), who clearly did very little wrong in the 17 holes that were played.

Adam Wallin v. Christo Lamprecht Round 4 Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

Richard TEDER (EST) and Tommy MORRISON (USA) played out a high quality encounter at the back of the Last 16 field with three of the opening eleven holes halved in birdie 4’s. The Estonian finally picked up the win with a par on the first hole as they started out again.

Tommy Morrison v. Richard Teder Round 4 Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

Click here to view the – Match Play Draw / Scores

Match Play Stage – Round 3 (32)

10 became 5 after a mixed morning for the GB&I players who had made it through to Match Play Round 3 at Hillside G.C. in the Amateur Championship.

Caolan BURFORD (WAL), Will HOPKINS (ENG), Alex MAGUIRE (IRL), Marc BOUCHER (IRL) and Frank KENNEDY (ENG) were all victorious.

Richard TEDER (EST), largely unknown on these shores, continues to shock and surprise us. In Round 3 he beat GB&I No. 1 John GOUGH (ENG) on the 18th hole.

From the overseas players TK CHANTANAUWAT (THA), Christo LAMPRECHT (RSA) and Tommy MORRISON (USA) all ominously advanced after good wins.

Here are the Round 3 results: –

Round 3 Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

Click here to view the – Match Play Draw / Scores

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Wednesday 21st June 2023

Match Play Stage – Round 2 (64)

Ben VAN WYK (RSA) suffered the infamous ‘curse of the medalist’ in his first match play game at this year’s Championship. Van Wyk is now the third medalist in the last four years to fall at the first match play hurdle. He lost by 2 Holes to Caolan BUFORD (WAL) who enjoyed his second win of the day on the 18th hole.

Dundalk’s Caolan RAFFERTY (IRL) enjoyed an impressive 4&3 win over Thom LINSSEN (NED) and continues to go from strength-to-strength.

Will HOPKINS (ENG) and Alex MAGUIRE (IRL) overcame Markus VARJUN (EST) and Jakob MELIN (SWE) respectively in tight 1 Hole contests which will hopefully have got them both fully battle ready. Maguire , who reached the semi-finals last year at Royal Lytham fought back from 3Down after 9 holes.

Arguably the best performance of the round came from James CLARIDGE (ENG) who thrashed the highly rated reigning Boys’ Amateur champion Albert HANSSON (SWE) by 5&4.

Marc BOUCHER (IRL) and Frank KENNEDY (ENG) were made to work hard for their wins over the front nines before pulling away nicely later on.

Eliot BAKER (ENG) continues to enjoy himself in Lancashire. After his strong qualification he claimed the scalp of Welsh Walker Cup hopeful James ASHFIELD by 3&2 this afternoon.

Mats EGE (NOR) finally got the better of Nicola GERHARDSEN (SUI) in a match that required 9 extra holes.

Jon HOPKINS (ENG) also required extra time beating Frenchman Paul BEAUVY on the 20th hole.

The highest ranked player in the field 22 year old Christo LAMPRECHT (RSA), now ranked 6th in WAGR, ominously remains ‘alive’ in the bottom half of the draw after getting past two strong players today.

24 year old John GOUGH (ENG) overcame 17 year old Ollie MUKHERJEE (SCO) after a slow start to secure game against stroke play runner-up Richard TEDER (EST). Mukherjee will hopefully be able to put the experience to good use as he continues to trend upwards.

Thailand’s TK CHANTANAUWAT and USA’s Tommy MORRISON also made it though the last 32 and will be difficult opponents as we now enter the business end of the Championship. Morrison, who is from Texas, said after his round “It’s my first time out of the country and my first time in England. I’ve enjoyed playing the bump and runs and am enjoying links golf short game.”

Round 2 Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

Click here to view the – Match Play Draw / Scores

Match Play Stage – Preliminary Round 1

With 85 players progressing from the Stroke Play Qualifying a Preliminary Round 1 was required.

To ensure 64 players could contest Round 2 the lowest finishing 42 players in Qualifying were needed to participate in this Round. The 24 players who finished on -2 were joined by 18 from the 22 who finished on -3 to create the necessary field.

In a potentially long week the fact that 42 of the 85 players who qualified are having to play an extra game seems a little unfair to me but then I am a long time advocate of the play-off option at this point in proceedings. Of course the winners of these early games do have the advantage of having played and seen the course ahead of their Round 2 games which immediately follow on.

A 24 players-for-3 spots play-off at Hillside would have added an exciting and interesting spectacle to the middle of the Championship.

For reasons I don’t fully understand The R&A don’t seed the Preliminary Round draw either. This means that the 18 players on -3 that are involved in the Preliminary Round will all be playing each other, which hardly seems equitable, and at the other end of the spectrum the two players seeded 84th and 85th will are drawn together.

GB&I players Caolan BURFORD (WAL), Liam NOLAN (IRL), who beat young KRIS KIM (ENG) by 2&1, James CLARIDGE (ENG), who required 20 holes in his game, Marc BOUCHER (IRL), who got the better of Jack BIGHAM (ENG), James ASHFILED (WAL), Calum SCOTT (SCO) and Charlie CROCKETT (ENG) were our morning success stories.

Preliminary Round 1 Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

Click here to view the – Match Play Draw / Scores

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Tuesday 20th June 2023

Stroke Play Qualifying – Round 2

Round 2 of The Amateur Championship’s Stroke Play Qualifying competition again started at 7.00am with the final three-balls heading out at 3.52pm. Each competitor moved across to the other qualifying course for their second round, i.e. if they played at Hillside G.C. yesterday they would face the challenge of Southport & Ainsdale G.C. (S&A) today and vice versa.

The forecast rain arrived at 8.15am and whilst it was heavy until 10.15am thankfully abated earlier than expected, giving way to sunny intervals for the rest of the day.

Medalist honours 132 (-11) went to Ben VAN WYK (RSA), who teed off at S&A at 7.33am and therefore had to play through all of the heavy rain. He backed up his great first round with a very creditable 68, holding on to his card through the bad weather before finishing strongly when the sun came out.

Following Jonathan Broomhead’s success last year it is the second year running that a South African has won the Stroke Play Qualifying at The Amateur Championship. Wilcon Nienaber in 2018 is the only other South African medalist since this stage was introduced in 1983.

Ben Van Wyk’s Scorecard (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

Richard TEDER (EST) also maintained his form into Round 2. Helped by his late 2.46pm tee time at Hillside his 69 took him on to -10 and secured the 2nd seed, which is where he had started the day.

Eliott BAKER (ENG), who fired eight birdies in his 64 at S&A today, was GB&I’s leading qualifier in 3rd place. His 64 was the joint best round at S&A, matched only by Teder’s Round 1 effort. Baker finished on 133 (-10), like Teder one shot back of Van Wyk.

Eliot Baker’s Scorecard (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

Ronan KLEU (SUI) moved into 4th place, also on on -10, after he recorded an unblemished 64 (-8) at Hillside, the best round in Stroke Play Qualifying at this course.

Ronan Kleu’s Scorecard (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

Caolan RAFFERTY (IRL), despite his limited playing schedule in 2023, continues to put his best foot forward in the race for a spot in GB&I’s Walker Cup team. One bogey in 36 holes around these two championship links courses and an 8th place seeding certainly won’t have gone unnoticed by the selectors.

Caolan Rafferty’s Scorecard (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

Ollie LEWIS-PERKINS (ENG) -6 16th, Jon HOPKINS (ENG) -6 18th, Matthew DODD-BERRY (ENG) -5 23rd, Mark STOCKDALE (ENG) -5 30th, John GOUGH (ENG) -4 31st, Oliver MUCKHERJEE (SCO) -4 34th and Frank KENNEDY (ENG) -4 35th.

Will HOPKINS (ENG) bounced back well with a Round 2 65 at S&A to finish on -3 and 41st. His round included eight birdies including three in his closing three holes.

The average Round 2 score at Hillside G.C. and Southport & Ainsdale G.C. was 72.23 (+0.23), almost identical to yesterday’s 72.26 (+0.26).

The average Round 2 score at Southport & Ainsdale G.C. was 72.10 (+1.10), just a little lower than Round 1’s 72.19 (+1.19).

The standard of play remained high with 122 under par rounds produced today from the field of 288 competitors.

85 players made the top 64 and ties cut, finishing on -2 or better, to progress to the Match Play Stage. 26 of these are from GB&I, albeit 15 of this number will be starting their journey’s in the Preliminary Round 1.

Ties for the match play seedings are resolved by reference to the combined back nines (then six, three and one) from each course.

Matteo CRISTONI (ITA) and James ASHFIELD (WAL), who holed a 35 foot putt having driven on to the front of the green, both eagled S&A’s 352 yard par 4 18th hole to finish on -2 and jump into the Match Play stage in style.

However, perhaps the best finish in the Stroke Play Qualifying belonged to Alex MAGUIRE (IRL). The recent East of Ireland Amateur and St. Andrews Links Trophy champion stood on the 15th tee on +1, 3-shots adrift of the anticipated -2 cut mark. He then completed his round with a birdie, eagle, par, birdie to finish tied 40th and claim the 43rd seed. Little did he know at the time that this finish would also make him the lowest seeded player to avoid the Preliminary Round 1 – which may prove to be a big bonus.

Here is the Stroke Play Qualifying leaderboard (upper half): –

Stroke Play Qualifying Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

Paul CONROY (IRL) -1, Harrison CROWE (AUS) -1, Max KENNEDY (IRL) Ev, Connor GRAHAM (SCO) Ev, Sean KEELING (IRL) Ev, Hugh FOLEY (IRL) Ev, Gregor TAIT (SCO) +1, Matt ROBERTS (WAL) +1, Christiaan MAAS (RSA) +1, Archie DAVIES (WAL) +2, Robert MORAN (IRL) +2 and Peter O’KEEFFE (IRL) +2, were amongst the more notable players to miss the match play cut.

Click here to view the – Stroke Play Qualifying Leaderboard

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Monday 19th June 2023

Stroke Play Qualifying – Round 1

It was a lovely day in Southport on Monday with the sun shining brightly for most of it and only light winds being seen.

The 288 players were allocated to either Hillside G.C. or Southport & Ainsdale G.C. for their opening rounds, 144 playing each.

Ben VAN WYK (RSA) leads the Stroke Play Qualifying after shooting an impressive 64 (-8) opening round at the par 72 Hillside G.C. Only in his wildest dreams could he have imagined firing seven birdies in his opening nine holes of The Amateur.

Ben Van Wyk’s Round 1 Scorecard (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

However, arguably the best round of the day came from 2nd placed Richard TEDER (EST) who posted a flawless 64 (-7) at the par 71 Southport & Ainsdale G.C. Five 3’s in his last six holes certainly tidies your card up.

Richard Teder’s Round 1 Scorecard (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

Calum SCOTT (SCO) -6 tied 3rd, Ben BROWN (ENG) -5 tied 5th, Jack BIGHAM (ENG) -5 tied 5th, John GOUGH (ENG) -4 tied 10th, Paul CONROY (IRL) -4 tied 10th, Oliver MUKHERJEE (SCO) -4 tied 10th and Thomas CRAIG (SCO) -4 tied 10th were GB&I’s best Day 1 scorers at Hillside.

Liam NOLAN (IRL) -3 tied 19th, Matty DODD-BERRY (ENG) -3 tied 19th, Jack MURPHY (IRL) -3 tied 19th, Jon HOPKINS (ENG) -2 tied 43rd, Caolan RAFFERTY (IRL) -2 tied 43rd and LUKE O’NEILL (IRL) -2 tied 43rd were GB&I’s best Day 1 scorers at the slightly tougher Southport & Ainsdale.

The average Round 1 score at Hillside G.C. and Southport & Ainsdale G.C. was 72.26 (+0.26) and 72.19 (+1.19) respectively.

On a great day for scoring the standard of play was high. 99 players out of the 288 starters broke par with a further 39 achieving it.

If the top 64 and ties cut was made after Day 1 68 players would progress on -2 or better. Here is the Round 1 leaderboard showing the players in prime position:-

Round 1 Leaderboard (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox)

Amongst the more notable players Aaron EDWARDS-HILL (ENG) +1 (SA), Charlie CROCKETT (ENG) +1 (SA), Connor GRAHAM (SCO) +2 (H), Robert MORAN (IRL) +2 (SA), Sean KEELING (IRL) +2 (H), Alex MAGUIRE (IRL) +2 (H), Hugh FOLEY (IRL) +2 (SA), Will HOPKINS (ENG) +3 (H), Archie DAVIES (WAL) +3 (H), Max KENNEDY (IRL) +3 (H), Christiaan MAAS (RSA) +3 (H) and Matt ROBERTS (WAL) +6 (H) will all need a spectacular Round 2 to continue their Championships into the Match Play Stage.

Click here to view the – Stroke Play Qualifying Leaderboard

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Saturday 17th June 2023

Stroke Play Qualifying

288 competitors from 39 different countries will start the event. England are the best represented country with 62 players in the field. Ireland have 22 and Scotland 20.

Scotland’s number was boosted today by the inclusion of First Reserve Thomas CRAIG. This increases the number of players in the Championship field to 34 that contested Pre-Qualifying on Friday.

The R&A have this afternoon released the draw for the Stroke Play Qualifying Stage of The 128th Amateur Championship.

Click here to view the – Stroke Play Qualifying Tee Times

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Friday 16th June 2023

Pre-Qualifying

The 18 hole Amateur Championship Pre-Qualifying event was played today at a sunny Southport & Ainsdale G.C.

A field of 72 players teed off between 8.00am and 12.46pm.

Whilst 10 spots were originally on offer from Pre-Qualifying 23 withdrawals from the Championship field since entries closed on 25th May meant a total of 33 players (46% of the starters) had the opportunity to advance to the main event.

Kristoffer MAX (DEN), George HOLLAND (ENG) and Matthew LEVER (ENG), who all shot 4-under 67’s, were the leading qualifiers.

In form pair Andrew HASWELL (ENG) -2 and Tomi BOWEN (WAL) -1 also finished in the top 10.

Liam GOBIN (ENG), Henry DALY (ENG), Kipp POPERT (ENG) and Ben QUICK (ENG) came through a 9-for-4 sudden death play-off to finalise the 33 qualifiers.

Further withdrawals from the existing Championship field over the weekend may also open the door to one or two of the reserves (determined by count back rather than play-off) that are shown in the second graphic below. Thomas CRAIG (SCO) Res 1, Harry WATKINS (WAL) Res 2 and Harry UZZELL (ENG) Res 3 will certainly be hoping this comes to pass.

Pre-Qualifying Results (Graphic: The R&A / Golfbox)

Pre-Qualifying Play-Off Results (Graphic: The R&A / Golfbox)

Click here to view the – Pre-Qualifying Results

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14th June 2023 (last updated 17th June 2023)

The 128th Amateur Championship will be played at Hillside G.C. and Southport & Ainsdale G.C. in England between Monday 19th and Saturday 24th June 2022.

The Amateur is the most prestigious amateur golf event played outside of the United States and without question the highlight of the Great British and Irish (GB&I) amateur season.

I will be updating this article as more information comes to hand and providing daily reports throughout the Championship.

Championship Format

Stroke Play Qualifying

Two rounds of stroke play will be completed on Monday 19th June and Tuesday 20th June to determine the match play field.

Each contestant will play 18 holes at Hillside G.C. and Southport & Ainsdale G.C. with three-ball tee times between 7.00am and 3.52pm on both days.

The 64 lowest scores and ties for 64th place will advance to the match play stage.

Match Play Stage

The Match Play stage will be played between Wednesday 21st and Saturday 24th June and held exclusively at Hillside G.C.

The decision to again take all ties through to match play will almost certainly necessitate a Preliminary Round 1 so that a proper 64 player Round 2 can take place.

I believe a play-off, as used in the U.S. Amateur Championship, to determine a clean 64 for Round 1 would be a more efficient solution.

Each match will consist of one round of 18 holes except the Final which will be played over 36 holes. Any tied matches will continue into sudden death extra holes to determine a winner.

Field

288 male amateur golfers will contest the Championship.

An international field will gather in Lancashire with competitors coming from 39 different countries. As at 17th June 2023 the countries represented are England (62), Ireland (22), Scotland (20), Spain (17), France (16), Australia & Sweden (14), USA (13), Netherland & Norway (11), South Africa (10), Germany (9), Wales (7), Italy & Switzerland (6), Estonia (5), Belgium, Finland, Iceland & Japan (4), Argentina, Austria & India (3), Denmark, New Zealand, Portugal & Turkey (2) and Bahamas, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Egypt, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Pakistan, Poland, Slovenia & Thailand (1).

278 competitors were offered places in the Championship when entries closed on 25th May 2023. These were drawn from 1) a number of exempt categories covering various historic Championship performances and representative team selections and 2) allocated to those highest ranked players 1st-2,000th in the WAGR as at Week 20 2023 (i.e. the Wednesday 17th May release), and then via WHS Handicap index at the date of entry.

Players that didn’t make the original line-up were offered the opportunity to play in a Pre-Qualifying (PQ) event (see below) for which the remaining 10 spots were allocated. Additional places in the Championship also become available as players withdraw before and after the PQ event has been played.

The WAGR split (based on the 14th June 2023 release) for the 288 competitors is as follows – 9 players from the top 50, 21 from the top 100, 54 from the top 250, 103 from the top 500, 145 from the top 750, 194 from the top 1,000, 235 from the top 1,250, 256 in the top 1,500 and 279 in the top 4,000. 9 players do not have a WAGR ranking.

The defending champion Aldrich POTGIETER (RSA) is unable to compete as he is playing in the conflicting U.S. Open Championship using his exemption from his win at Royal Lytham & St. Annes last year.

Pre-Qualifying

For the second time The R&A ran a Pre-Qualifying (PQ) event to offer some of the players not allocated an original place in the field an opportunity to earn one.

Whilst many more players are interested The R&A limits the PQ field to 72. The event was played over 18 holes of stroke play at Southport & Ainsdale G.C. on Friday 16th June. This field is made up of the 15 highest ranked WAGR players (1,347th – 1,661st) not originally accepted into the Championship field followed by a lowest handicap ballot for the remainder (cut off +3.8).

Whilst 10 places are guaranteed from PQ significantly more players ultimately advance. By the 16th June when the PQ was played there had already been 23 withdrawals from the original Championship field since the close of entries. This meant that 33 spots need to be filled. The final 2022 Amateur Championship field ultimately included 38 players who had competed in the prior PQ competition so I assume come next Monday we will be well into the 30’s this year too.

Ties for the last qualifying place from PQ are resolved via a sudden death play-off.

However, withdrawals following PQ and before the Championship commences will be handed to players on a card count back rather than via the play-off results.

Click here to view the full – Amateur Championship Terms of Competition

Leading Players

The home GB&I players that I will be keeping a close eye on are James ASHFIELD (WAL), Jack BIGHAM (ENG), James CLARIDGE (ENG), Charlie CROCKETT (ENG), Archie DAVIES (WAL), Arron EDWARDS-HILL (ENG), Hugh FOLEY (IRL), John GOUGH (ENG), Connor GRAHAM (SCO), Sean KEELING (IRL), Frank KENNEDY (ENG), Max KENNEDY (IRL), Alex MAGUIRE (IRL), Robert MORAN (IRL), Liam NOLAN (IRL), Peter O’KEEFFE (IRL), Caolan RAFFERTY (IRL), Matt ROBERTS (WAL) Calum SCOTT (SCO) and Gregor TAIT (SCO).

Local Lancashire players Jack BROOKS (ENG / Mere), Matthew DODD-BERRY (ENG / Royal Liverpool) Jack MCPHAIL (ENG / S&A) and James NASH (WAL / Ormskirk) will all have familiarity on their side. We may also be able to add in-form Andrew HASWELL (ENG / Ormskirk) to this list if (when) he comes through Pre-Qualifying on Friday.

The overseas entries that I fancy to do well include Jose BALLESTER (ESP), Nicola GERHARDSEN (SUI), Albert HANSSON (SWE), Christo LAMPRECHT (RSA), Christiaan MAAS (RSA) and Luis MASAVEU (ESP).

6ft 9″ tall Tommy MORRISON from Texas is the standout entry from the United States along with Matthew KRESS who was part of Florida’s NCAA Division I Championship winning team just a few weeks ago.

Host Courses

The two courses are situated in Southport on ‘England’s Golf Coast’.

It is the first time that these two courses have been combined by The R&A to co-host the Amateur Championship.

Hillside G.C.

7,091 yards (Black) / Par 72 / Slope Rating 138 / Course Rating 75.2

The 18 hole championship links course was built in 1923/24. It was fully renovated in the 1960’s by Fred Hawtree and in recent years the front nine has been transformed by Martin Ebert.

The front nine covers level ground before the back nine enjoys the hillier dune land for which the course is renowned.

Hillside has previously hosted the Amateur Championship in 1979, 1989 and 2011. It was the primary course in 1979 and 2011, when Jay Siegel (USA) and Greg Eason (ENG) won, and supported Royal Birkdale in 1989 when Stephen Dodd (WAL) came out on top.

The club has also recently hosted The British Masters (2019) and The Cazoo Classic (2022) on the DP World Tour.

Hillside’s club house is circled in yellow and S&A’s in red. Hillside sits to the west of the railway line, with Royal Birkdale located adjacent to it’s north, and S&A to the east of the track.

Southport & Ainsdale G.C.

6,912 yards (Black) / Par 71 / Slope Rating 145 / Course Rating 75.6

Founded in 1906, Southport & Ainsdale (S&A) is another excellent links course on England’s north west coast. It is a challenging course with heather, gorse and superb bunkering all featuring highly.

S&A supported Formby G.C. and Royal Birkdale G.C. in hosting the Amateur Championship’s stroke play qualifying in 1984 and 2005. Jose Maria Olazabel (ESP) and Brian McElhinney (IRL) were the winners in these years.

The club has famously hosted two Ryder Cup matches in 1933 and 1937.

Schedule

The R&A have laid out the following provisional schedule for the Championship: –

2023 Amateur Championship Schedule (Graphic: The R&A)

Weather Forecast (as at Friday 16th June)

The weather forecast is good with largely dry conditions and light breezes expected: –

Fri 16th – Sunny. Wind 6mph SE. Temp. Min. 13°C / Max. 25°C.
Mon 19th – Sunny Intervals. Wind 9mph SW. Temp. Min. 13°C / Max. 24°C.
Tues 20th – Showers. Wind 9mph SW. Temp. Min. 12°C / Max. 23°C.
Wed 21st – Sunny Intervals. Wind 8mph SW. Temp. Min. 12°C / Max. 23°C.
Thu 22nd – Sunny. Wind 9mph W. Temp. Min. 13°C / Max. 24°C.
Fri 23rd – Sunny Intervals. Wind 7mph W. Temp. Min. 13°C / Max. 25°C.
Sat 24th – Sunny Intervals. Wind 8mph W. Temp. Min. 13°C / Max. 24°C.

Click here to view the – Latest BBC Weather Forecast For Southport

Tee times between 7.00am and 3.52pm mean changes in the weather during the opening two days can have a material impact on the stroke play qualifying competition.

Prizes / Exemptions

A momento (a framed championship flag) is presented by The R&A to the leading player in the stroke play qualifying competition, with any ties for this prize decided on the lowest aggregate score for the second nine holes on both courses (or the last six or three or one if necessary).

The winner of the match play stage will become the Amateur Champion receiving the Championship Trophy and a Gold Medal.

The runner-up receives a Silver Medal and each losing semi-finalist a Bronze Medal.

The winner of The Amateur Championship, on the basis they remain an amateur, will receive the following exemptions / invitations into: –

a) the 151st Open Championship being staged a few miles south of Hillside and S&A at Royal Liverpool G.C., England in July 2023;

b) the 2024 Masters Tournament at Augusta National G.C.;

c) the 2024 U.S. Open Championship which will be held at Pinehurst No.2, North Carolina; and

d) a DP World Tour event to be determined.

The Runner-Up and two losing Semi-Finalists, on the basis they are still an amateur, will receive an invitation to compete in a Challenge Tour event to be determined and will be exempt into the Final Qualifying for the 2023 Open Championship.

The losing Quarter Finalists, on the basis they are still an amateur, will also receive exemptions into Final Qualifying for The Open.

The Open Championship Amateur Series Winner

In a further boost to this year’s Amateur Championship The R&A announced a new exemption category for the 2023 Open Championship back in February.

The player who gains the most WAGR points in the St. Andrews Links Trophy, the Amateur Championship and the European Amateur Championship will earn a spot at Royal Liverpool G.C.

2023 Walker Cup

Should a Great Britain & Ireland player win the Amateur Championship they are guaranteed a place on this year’s GB&I Walker Cup team.

More Information

Click here to view the – R&A Amateur Championship Official Website

2022 Amateur Championship

Match Play Stage

Aldrich POTGIETER (RSA) won the 127th Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham & St. Annes G.C., beating Sam BAIRSTOW (ENG) 3&2 in the 36 hole Final.

Potgieter became the third South African winner after Bobby Cole at Carnoustie in 1966 and Jovan Rebula at Royal Aberdeen in 2018. He was also the second youngest winner in history after Matteo Manassero’s win at Formby in 2009 when he was just 16.

Aldrich Potgieter (Photo: The R&A / Getty Images)

The 17 year old South African built a 7Up lead in the morning round with a near flawless display of golf and despite not playing as well in the afternoon was sufficiently composed to see out the match. On the few occasions he got out of position his short game and putting quickly got him back on track.

Bairstow v. Potgieter Hole-by-Hole Scores (Graphic: The R&A / Golfbox Scoring)

Please click here to view the – Golfbox Match Play Results

Stroke Play Qualifying

Jonathan BROOMHEAD (RSA) earned medalist honours at the 2022 Amateur Championship with a 36 hole score of 135 (-7).

Jonathan Broomhead’s Stroke Play Qualifying Scorecard

Barclay BROWN (ENG) finished on the same score after a 65 (-7) at St. Annes Old Links, taking second place on count back. After their last nine holes on both courses were the same (aggregate 69) it came down to the last six holes. Broomhead recorded a total score of 46, two better than Brown’s 48.

79 players on 143 (+1) or better made the 64 lowest scores and ties cut to advance to the match play stage.

The lowest 30 players, i.e. those finishing in 50th to 79th place, were required to play in a Preliminary Round 1. The 15 winners of this Preliminary Round 1 then joined the highest finishers, i.e. those finishing in 1st to 49th place, in Round 2.

Here is the 2022 Stroke Play Qualifying leaderboard: –

Stroke Play Qualifying Results (Graphic: The R&A / Golfbox Scoring)

Please click here to view the – Golfbox Stroke Play Qualifying Results

Pre-Qualifying

Gregor TAIT (SCO) won the inaugural 18 hole Pre-Qualifying (PQ) competition which was played at St. Annes Old Links. His 67 (-5) included eight birdies and three bogeys.

A minimum of 10 places were originally allocated to PQ by The R&A. However, as there had been 20 withdrawals from the main field, after the close of entries and prior to PQ starting, this number increased to 30 on the day of PQ.

31 players ultimately finished on 73 (+1) or better. As eight of them were on +1 there was an 8-for-7 play-off to determine which player missed out.

Following further withdrawals prior to the Championship starting an additional eight players were called up from the Reserve List. So in the end the final field included 38 players who had competed in the PQ event.

Here is the 2022 Pre-Qualifying competition leaderboard: –

img_1848-1

Pre-Qualifying Results (Graphic: The R&A / Golfbox Scoring)

For more information on this championship please click here – The Amateur Championship – 2022 Preview & Results Article

A Short History of The Amateur

The Amateur Championship was first played in April 1885 at Royal Liverpool G.C. Allan Macfie (SCO) was the first champion beating Horace Hutchinson (ENG) 7&6 in the Final.

Up until the Second World War it was a hugely prestigious event and in many of these early years was afforded a much higher standing in the game than The Open Championship. Players like Johnny Ball (ENG), Harold Hilton (ENG) and Freddie Tait (SCO) were all amateurs and as good if not better than most of the professionals of the day.

With only modest rewards available in the professional game many of the better players simply stayed amateur. The great American Bobby Jones, who won The Amateur in 1930 on the way to his Grand Slam, remains the most well known career amateur.

Even after the war players remained amateur for much longer and famous names like Frank Stranahan (USA), Joe Carr (IRE), Sir Michael Bonallack (ENG) and Peter McEvoy (ENG) all built their reputations on Amateur Championship wins.

With the growth and transformation of the professional game from the early 1980s onwards both the better players and the media increasingly started to turn their backs on the amateur game.

Save for exceptional cases like Gary Wolstenholme (ENG) all continuity has been lost over the last 30 years and most of the young golfing stars of today rarely play any more than 2 or 3 Amateurs before being lured into the pro ranks by the potentially huge rewards on offer.

Past Winners

The greatest player in the history of The Amateur is Johnny Ball. The Hoylake man won the Championship a record 8 times between 1888 and 1912.

Only three other players have won the competition more than twice; Sir Michael Bonallack (5), Harold Hilton (4) and Joe Carr (3). Bonallack amazingly won it three years in a row between 1968-1970. The last person to retain The Amateur was Peter McEvoy in 1977 and ’78.

Prior to Aldrich Pogieter’s win in 2022 the previous 10 winners of The Amateur Championship were: –

2021 Laird Shepherd (ENG) – Nairn G.C.
2020 Joe Long (ENG) – Royal Birkdale G.C.
2019 James Sugrue (IRL) – Portmarnock G.C.
2018 Jovan Rebula (RSA) – Royal Aberdeen G.C.
2017 Harry Ellis (ENG) – Royal St. George’s G.C.
2016 Scott Gregory (ENG) – Royal Porthcawl G.C.
2015 Romain Langasque (FRA) – Carnoustie G.L.
2014 Bradley Neil (SCO) – Royal Portrush G.C.
2013 Garrick Porteous (ENG) – Royal Cinque Ports G.C.
2012 Alan Dunbar (IRL) – Royal Troon G.C.

A great achievement and honour for all of the players listed above. However, looking through the names reminds us of how incredibly tough golf is and that wins in the biggest amateur events are no guarantee of success in the professional game.

Click here to view a complete list of – Past Amateur Championship Winners

Click here to view a complete list of – Past Amateur Stroke Play Qualifying Medalists

ME.

The St. Andrews Links Trophy – 2023 Preview & Results

Posted on 05/06/2023 by Golf Bible

11th June 2023

Alex MAGUIRE (IRL) won the St. Andrews Links Trophy by 5-shots with rounds of 70, 66, 66 and 64 and a 266 (-21) total.

Maguire’s -20 total for the final 54 holes on the host course, let alone his strong run of recent results, must bode well for his chances of being selected for the GB&I Walker Cup team.

The winner said “It feels absolutely amazing to be able to call myself the St. Andrews Links champion. What a place to win. You couldn’t pick a better place to have a victory than the Old Course. I’m absolutely delighted.”

The Laytown & Bettystown member became the fourth Irish winner following in the footsteps of Alan Dunbar (2009), Connor O’Rourke (2016) and John Murphy (2018).

Alex Maguire (Photo: St. Andrews Links Trust)

Round 4

Starting the final round tied for the lead the Irishman quickly got into his stride and pulled away from the field with an outward 31 (-5). It is to his huge credit that he was able to add three more birdies on the back nine to complete a flawless final round of 64, the lowest score seen at the tournament.

Alex Maguire’s Scorecards (Graphic: St. Andrews Links Trust / Golf Genius)

Albert HANSSON (SWE) -16 finished 2nd, Calum SCOTT (SCO) -15 3rd, Harry CROCKETT (ENG) -15 4th and Paul BEAUVY (FRA) -12 5th.

It was a welcome return to form for Calum Scott who chose not to take up his WAGR Top 50 exemption into U.S. Open Final Qualifying and come home in good time to prepare for the St. Andrews Links Trophy and The Amateur Championship.

Markus LUOMA (FIN) -12 bounced back well from a disappointing 72 in the morning to finish 6th with Caolan RAFFERTY (IRL) -12 again reminded us of his class with another top ten result.

Frank KENNEDY (ENG) -11 finished 8th and Charlie CROCKETT (ENG) -11, who had carried the burden of the lead for much of the tournament, 9th after he fell back with a closing 74.

26 of the 42 players broke par and 4 shot the par of 72 in Round 4.

Round 4 Results (Graphic: St. Andrews Links Trust / Golf Genius)

Click here to view the – 2023 St. Andrews Links Trophy Results

Round 3

Alex MAGUIRE (IRL) moved into a tie for the 54 hole lead on -13 after a morning 66 which included seven birdies.

Charlie CROCKETT (ENG) showed no signs of nerves, going out in 31 which included an eagle 2 on the par 4 3rd. However, he was unable to make further in roads on the back nine and as such his 68 saw him fall into a tie for 1st.

Charlie’s brother Harry CROCKETT (ENG) matched Maguire’s 66, the best achieved in this round, to move into tied 3rd with Albert HANSSON (SWE).

Caolan RAFFERTY (IRL) and Jack BIGHAM (ENG) both posted morning 67’s to move nicely up the leaderboard.

22 of the 42 players broke par and 8 shot par in Round 3 re-affirming how easy the 7,171 yard Old Course is to play when the weather is pleasant.

Round 3 Leaderboard (Graphic: St. Andrews Links Trust / Golf Genius)

ME.

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10th June 2023

Round 2

Charlie CROCKETT (ENG), playing in his first home event since returning from Missouri where he enjoyed a very good collegiate season, shot a 7-under 65 on the Old Course to take the 36-hole lead in the St. Andrews Links Trophy. The obvious highlights were his opening three birdies and his eagle two on the short par 4 10th hole.

Charlie Crockett’s Rounds 1 and 2 Scorecards (Graphic: St. Andrews Links Trust / Golf Genius)

Markus LUOMA (FIN), Jerry JI (NED), Albert HANSSON (SWE) and Rob MORAN (IRL) are all one short further back of the Surrey man after rounds of 66, 67, 68 and 69 respectively.

In form Alex MAGUIRE (IRL), who won the East of Ireland title earlier this week, matched Luoma’s 66 to finish the day tied 6th alongside Paul BEAUVY (FRA), Calum SCOTT (SCO) and Jack INGHAM (NED).

Charlie’s younger brother Harry CROCKETT (ENG), who is now at Nebraska in the States, is tied 10th on -6. I was writing about successful brothers at the Brabazon Trophy a few weeks ago and here we are again with another pair.

The international nature of this event is clear when one sees that there are twelve different nationalities represented in the current top 20.

42 players made the top 40 and ties cut, which fell at 141 (-2), ensuring themselves a further 36 holes on the Old Course on Sunday. They are all shown below:-

Round 2 Leaderboard (Graphic: St. Andrews Links Trust / Golf Genius)

Luis MASAVEU (ESP) -1, Matt ROBERTS (WAL) -1, Arron EDWARDS-HILL (ENG) -1, James CLARIDGE (ENG) Ev, Josh BERRY (ENG) Ev, Tyler WEAVER (ENG) Ev, Peter O’KEEFFE (IRL) Ev, James ASHFIELD (WAL) +1, Harley SMITH (ENG) +1, Liam NOLAN (IRL) +3, Connor GRAHAM (SCO) +4, Hugh FOLEY (IRL) +4 and John GOUGH (ENG) +4 were amongst the group of 102 players who missed the cut.

ME.

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9th June 2023

Round 1

Jack INGHAM (NED), Ronan KLEU (SUI), Erik JANSSON (SWE), Robert MORAN (IRL) and Peter O’KEEFFE (IRL) all recorded opening rounds of 65 (-5) on the New Course to share the 18 hole lead.

Most of these players made good starts but none better than O’Keeffe who was 5-under after 3 holes, helped considerably by an albatross on the par 5 3rd hole.

Round 1 Leader Scorecards (Graphic: St. Andrews Links Trust / Golf Genius)

Frank KENNEDY (ENG), with Fanny Sunesson on the bag again, Altin VAN DER MERWE (RSA), Ben VAN WYK (RSA) and R&A Boys’ champion Albert HANSSON (SWE) are all one shot further back after posting 67’s.

Calum SCOTT (SCO), Tomi BOWEN (WAL), Colm CAMPBELL (IRL) and Harry CROCKETT (ENG) are amongst a group of eight players tied 10th on -3.

On a lovely day in Fife 51 players broke par on the New Course with a further 20 achieving a par score of 71.

Round 1 Leaderboard (Graphic: St. Andrews Links Trust / Golf Genius)

ME.

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5th June 2023

144 golfers will tee off on Friday 9th June in the 34th St. Andrews Links Trophy.

This event has become one of the ‘majors’ in men’s amateur golf helped by its venue and timing.

This year it is even more important for the GB&I players who are competing as the Old Course in St. Andrews will also be hosting the 49th Walker Cup match in September.

Competition Format

The Links Trophy is a 72 hole scratch stroke play competition played annually over the St. Andrews Links in early June.

The field is primarily determined by reference to the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and finished off with various National Golf Union and St. Andrews Links Trust nominations.

This year Round 1 will be played on the New Course and Round 2 on the Old Course. In non-Open Championship year’s the Jubilee Course normally alternates with the New for Round 1.

The New Course plays 6,681 yards to a par of 71. The front nine is 3,302 yards long with a par of 36 whilst the tougher back nine is slightly longer at 3,379 yards but has a lower par of 35.

Following a top 40 and ties cut on Saturday the leading players will play a final 36 holes on the Old Course on Sunday.

The Old Course has been set up at 7,171 yards for the event and has a par of 72. Both nines have a par of 36 and have similar yardages – the front is 3,535 yards long whilst the back is longer at 3,636 yards.

The winner will be the player who returns the lowest 72 hole aggregate score.

In the event of a tie a sudden death play-off will be held over holes 1 and 18 on the Old Course.

Ties for other places will be decided by the lowest score for the last 18 holes or the last 9 or 6 or 3 or 1 hole if necessary.

The Field

As this is the first event that takes place in Great Britain & Ireland after the U.S. college season has ended the field is stronger than we have seen in recent weeks.

GB&I Walker Cup squad members James ASHFIELD (WAL), Josh BERRY (ENG), Archie DAVIES (WAL), Arron EDWARDS-HILL (ENG), Hugh FOLEY (IRL), Connor GRAHAM (SCO), John GOUGH (ENG), Frank KENNEDY (ENG), Robert MORAN (IRL), Liam NOLAN (IRL), Peter O’KEEFFE (IRL), Mark POWER (IRL), Calum SCOTT (SCO), Dylan SHAW-RADFORD (ENG), Harley SMITH (ENG), Gregor TAIT (SCO) and Tyler WEAVER (ENG) are all competing.

The missing squad members are Barclay BROWN (ENG), Josh HILL (ENG) and Matthew MCCLEAN (IRL). Brown chose to play in U.S. Open Final Qualifying in California on Monday 5th June (he finished tied 2nd to progress), Hill withdrew having originally entered and McClean is travelling over to the U.S. Open to take up his 2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion exemption.

Max KENNEDY (IRL), who won the Ulster Men’s Amateur Championship last week, had planned to play but withdrew when he was selected for the International Team at the Arnold Palmer Cup, which is also being played this week. Max, who is at Louisville, was our leading player on the U.S. college circuit this season.

Other GB&I players who have been showing some recent form are Jack BIGHAM (ENG), Tomi BOWEN (WAL), Seb CAVE (ENG), Zach CHEGWIDDEN (ENG), James CLARIDGE (ENG), Paul CONROY (IRL), Will COXON (ENG), Charlie CROCKETT (ENG), Matthew DODD-BERRY (ENG), Zach LITTLE (ENG), Sean KEELING (IRL), Alex MAGUIRE (IRL), James NASH (WAL), Matt ROBERTS (WAL) and Caolan RAFFERTY (IRL); all of them should be competitive this week.

In recent weeks Liam Nolan has won the Brabazon Trophy at Sunningdale, Connor Graham the Scottish Men’s Open Championship at Meldrum House and Alex Maguire the East of Ireland Amateur Open at County Louth so all three of them will arrive with their confidence high.

The overseas players in the field that stand out to me are Harrison CROWE (AUS), Quentin DEBOVE (FRA), Albert HANSSON (SWE), Elias HAAVISTO (FIN), David LUNDGREN (SWE), Louis MASAVEU (ESP), Laurenz SCHIERGEN (GER) and Altin VAN DER MERWE (RSA).

Players from 22 countries will be competing at St. Andrews this year.

Weather Forecast (as at Wenesday 7th June)

The current weather forecast looks very good with sun and gentle breezes expected.

Friday 9th June – Sunny Intervals. Wind 14 mph E. Temp. Min. 6°C / Max. 14°C.
Saturday 10th June – Sunny. Wind 14 mph E. Temp. Min. 10°C / Max. 16°C.
Sunday 11th June – Sunny Intervals. Wind 11 mph E. Temp. Min. 12°C / Max. 18°C.

Tee times in Rounds 1 and 2 will start at 7.00am and end at 3.10pm so as with any links course the draw could play a part in proceedings.

Prizes

The winner receives The St Andrews Links Trophy and a commemorative medal.

The runner-up and third place finisher also receive medals.

Reducing voucher prizes are also awarded to the top 10 finishers.

In addition to the main prizes The Ian Forbes Memorial Cup is awarded for the best aggregate score on the first two days of the Championship.

The Open Championship

In a boost to this year’s St. Andrews Links Trophy the R&A announced a new exemption category for the 2023 Open Championship a few months ago.

The player who gains the most WAGR points in the St. Andrews Links Trophy, the Amateur Championship and the European Amateur Championship will earn a spot at Royal Liverpool G.C.

Competition Website

Click here to view the – 2023 St. Andrews Links Trophy Tournament Website

2022 St. Andrews Links Trophy

19 year old Connor MCKINNEY (AUS) won the 2022 St. Andrews Links Trophy beating compatriot Adam BRADY by 2-shots.

McKinney produced 23 birdies and just seven bogeys in his 72 holes around the Jubilee and Old Courses.

Connor McKinney (Photo: St. Andrews Links Trust)

Robert MORAN (IRL) and Arron EDWARDS-HILL (ENG) finished third and fourth on countback with Frenchman Paul BEAUVY claiming 5th.

Connor GRAHAM (SCO) 9th, Charlie CROCKETT (ENG) 12th, Matthew MCCLEAN (IRL) 13th and Matt GAUNTLETT (ENG) 15th were the other leading GB&I players.

Final Results (Photo: St. Andrews Links Trust / OCS Sport)

51 players made the top 40 and ties cut which eventually fell at 144 (Ev).

Past Winners

Click here to view a full list of the – St Andrews Links Trophy Past Winners

Only Craig WATSON (1992 and 1998), the former GB&I Walker Cup captain, and Barclay HOWARD (1994 and 1996) have won the title twice.

The most famous winner is Justin ROSE who won in 1997.

Interestingly given the normally cosmopolitan nature of the fields the Links Trophy has only been won by players from outside GB&I on four occasions – Australia’s Stuart BOVIER (1990), Daan HUIZING from The Netherlands (2012), Federico ZUCCHETTI from Italy (2015) and Connor MCKINNEY (AUS) from Australia (2022).

Huizing, who had won the 2012 Lytham Trophy by 11 shots just a few weeks earlier, set a scoring record of -23 in 2012 (65 New, 64, 68 and 67 all Old) and won by an astonishing 14 shots.

ME.

NCAA Division I Men’s National Championship – 2023 Preview & Results

Posted on 23/05/2023 by Golf Bible

31st May 2023

Final

FLORIDA (2) beat GEORGIA TECH (5) 3-1-0 in the 2023 NCAA Men’s Division I National Championship Final.

It was the program’s fifth national title and first since 2001 and coach JC Deacon’s first since taking over responsibility for the team from Buddy Alexander in 2014.

The Gators enjoyed a strong post-season, winning the SEC Championship before qualifying 4th in their Bath NCAA Regional Championship.

Florida (Photo: Gators Golf)

Here are the full game scores: –

Match Play Final Results (Graphic: GolfStat)

Click here to view the – GOLFSTAT 2023 MATCH PLAY RESULTS – TEAM

ME.

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30th May 2023

Match Play Semi-Finals

FLORIDA (2) and GEORGIA TECH (5) overcame FLORIDA STATE (6) and NORTH CAROLINA (1) respectively to claim their place in tomorrow’s Championship match.

England’s Jack Bigham enjoyed a 6&5 win against Yuxin Lin, the 2017 and 2019 Asia-Pacific Amateur champion, but it proved to be in vain.

Florida State took a 2-0 lead after Frederik Kjettrup and Bigham won early. Cole Anderson and Luke Clanton then narrowly lost their games bringing the scores back level. In the final decisive game Brett Roberts, who was 2Up with three holes to play, succumbed to Ricky Costello on the third extra hole.

Match Play Semi-Final Results (Graphic: GolfStat)

Match Play Quarter Finals

FLORIDA (2), NORTH CAROLINA (1), FLORIDA STATE (6) and GEORGIA TECH (5) were all victorious in this morning’s Quarter Final matches.

Jack Bigham’s FLORIDA STATE (6) beat ILLINOIS (3) 3-2-0 albeit Jack lost his game to Tommy Kuhl (USA).

Kuhl was the player who received a lot of publicity earlier in May after he shot a course record 62 at Illini Country Club in U.S. Open Local Qualifying only to then disqualify himself after realising he had been repairing aerated marks on the greens throughout his round.

Match Play Quarter Finals Results (Graphic: GolfStat)

Click here to view the – GOLFSTAT 2023 MATCH PLAY RESULTS – TEAM

ME.

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29th May 2023

Stroke Play Round 4

Team

An impressive final round team score of -7 helped NORTH CAROLINA secure medalist honours with a 1,114 (-6) total after the completion of the four stroke play rounds at Greyhawk G.C.

The Top 8 teams shown in the table below qualified for the Team Match Play Stage which will determine this year’s champions.

FLORIDA STATE, with Jack Bigham (ENG) in their line-up, finished 6th on +6 after they matched North Carolina’s final day score of -7.

VANDERBILT, the number 1 ranked team heading into the Nationals, were the surprise casualties of the final round as they fell out of the Match Play qualifying spots with a disappointing +8 final round.

Stroke Play Team Results (Graphic: GolfStat)

Barclay Brown’s STANFORD missed out on qualification after they lost an 8th Seed Team Play-Off with ARIZONA STATE by 1-shot. After being the Californian team’s leading player throughout the Stroke Play Barclay will have been disappointed to have played his two holes in 1-over par.

8th Seed Play-Off Results (Graphic: GolfStat)

Individual

Senior Fred BIONDI (BRA / Florida) won the NCAA Division 1 Men’s National Championship after a final round of 67 lifted him past a stumbling Ross STEELMAN (USA / Georgia Tech) who could only manage a 73. Steelman ended up finishing tied 2nd with Jackson BUCHANAN (USA / Illinois) who matched Bondi’s 67.

Biondi, the first South American to win the Individual title, earned an exemption in to the 2023 U.S. Open and 2024 Masters, subject to him remaining amateur. The former, being played in a couple of weeks, won’t be a problem but the latter may be because Biondi’s win also secured 2nd place in the PGA TOUR University Final Ranking which guaranteed a number of Korn Ferry Tour starts this season as well as unlimited sponsor exemptions on the same circuit. It will be interesting to see if he is prepared to give these latter opportunities up by staying an amateur so that he can play in The Masters next April.

Fred Biondi (Photo: Gators Golf)

Here are the leading Individual results: –

Stroke Play Individual Results (Graphic: GolfStat)

Jack Bigham will be the only GB&I player who participates in the Match Play Stage on the back of his Florida State team’s performance.

Here are the final Individual results / finishing positions for all of the GB&I players: –

Jack BIGHAM (ENG / Florida State) 70-76-71-68 (+5) Tied 36th

Missed 72 Holes Stroke Play Cut
Barclay BROWN (ENG / Stanford) 68-71-67-69 (-5) Tied 4th

Missed 54 Holes Stroke Play Cut
Matty DODD-BERRY (ENG / ETSU) 76-73-70 (+9) Tied 74th
Luke O’NEILL (IRL / Kansas State) 75-72-74 (+11) Tied 94th
Calum SCOTT (SCO / Texas Tech) 76-72-74 (+12) Tied 106th
Paul CONROY (IRL / Chattanooga) 70-78-75 (+13) Tied 111th
Ben PARTRIDGE (ENG / San Francisco) 76-76-77 (+19) 146th
Archie DAVIES (WAL / ETSU) 83-76-76 (+25) 151st

Click here to view the – GOLFSTAT 2023 STROKE PLAY RESULTS – TEAM and INDIVIDUAL

ME.

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28th May 2023

Stroke Play Round 3

Team

ILLINOIS produced another under par round to maintain their lead in the Team Stroke Play Qualifying competition at Greyhawk.

PEPPERDINE moved up three places to 2nd on Day 3 after a record breaking Greyhawk one round -11 contribution to their Team score.

FLORIDA are 3rd on -1, NORTH CAROLINA (+1) 4th and GEORGIA TECH (+2) 5th.

The 54 hole cut saw the top 15 teams, and nine individuals not on one of those teams, progressing to the final stroke play round.

Of the teams with GB&I representation only STANFORD (+10) and FLORIDA STATE (+13) progressed.

TEXAS TECH (+26) lost in a play-off to OHIO STATE for the final spot on Monday morning and therefore followed SAN FRANCISCO (+33), CHATTANOOGA (+39) tied 23rd and EAST TENNESSEE STATE (+46) 29th out of the Championship.

Defending champions TEXAS missed the 54 hole cut.

Stroke Play Round 3 Team Scores (Graphic: GolfStat)

Individual

Ross STEELMAN (USA / Georgia Tech) continues to deliver. A third round 68 has taken him to -9 and leaves him with a four shot lead with 18 holes to play over Neal SHIPLEY (USA / Ohio State) and Dylan MENANTE (USA / North Carolina).

After a lacklustre season by his high standards Barclay BROWN (ENG) continues to excel for Stanford in the Arizona desert. A 3-under 67 has moved him into tied 4th place on -4.

Barclay Brown’s Round 3 Scorecard (Graphic: GolfStat)

Matthew ANDERSON (CAN / San Francisco) -1 T13, Ludvig ABERG (SWE / Texas Tech) +1 T19, Matthew WATKINS (USA / New Mexico) +1 T19, Drew GOODMAN (USA / Oklahoma) +3 T28, Ian SIEBERS (USA / Duke) +4 T32, Johnny KEEFER (USA / Baylor) +4 T32 and Jase SUMMY (USA /Oklahoma) +4 T32 were the seven Individuals who qualified after 54 holes.

Mateo FERNANDEZ DE OLIVEIRA (ARG / Arkansas) and Dylan MCDERMOTT (USA / Colorado) subsequently came through a 2-from-3 Individual play-off on Monday morning to join them. Matthew COMEGYS (USA / Texas Tech) bogeyed the first hole to miss out.

The Individual champion now receives an exemption into the following year’s Masters Tournament so tomorrow’s final round will be important for all of the leading players.

Here are the Round 3 Individual scores / positions for all of the GB&I players who are competing this week: –

Barclay BROWN (ENG / Stanford) 68-71-67 (-4) Tied 4th
Jack BIGHAM (ENG / Florida State) 70-76-71 (+7) Tied 55th

Stroke Play Round 3 Leading Individual Scores (Graphic: GolfStat)

The third round scoring average was 72.26, which was a full stroke lower than Saturday’s second round mark of 73.29 and Friday’s 73.24.

Click here to view the – GOLFSTAT 2023 STROKE PLAY RESULTS – TEAM and INDIVIDUAL

ME.

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27th May 2023

Stroke Play Round 2

Team

First out ILLINOIS took advantage of their early morning tee time to move to the top of the Team leaderboard on -2. Their 273 -7 round score was the first under par one this week and moved them up eight places in the standings. It was also the second best round recorded at Greyhawk in the three years that the NCAA Men’s National Championship has been staged there. Pepperdine’s Round 4 271 -9 in 2021 being the best.

FLORIDA, who teed off five hours later when the conditions were much tougher, showed their class by delivering a -2 round score which lifted them five places into 2nd.

NORTH CAROLINA and GEORGIA TECH (+6) are tied 3rd after they recorded a +4 and +6 Round 2 score respectively.

Of the teams with GB&I representation, FLORIDA STATE (+11) are tied 7th, STANFORD (+16) are tied 13th, TEXAS TECH (+17) are 16th, SAN FRANCISCO (+19) tied 17th, CHATTANOOGA (+34) 27th and EAST TENNESSEE STATE (+40) 29th.

After 54 holes the first cut takes place with only the top 15 teams, and nine individuals not on one of those teams, progressing to the final stroke play round. After 72 holes only the top 8 teams qualify for the Championship match play stage.

At the moment there are 15 teams on +16 or better so all of the teams that matter to us will be under pressure to deliver a low scoring day tomorrow.

Screenshot 2023-05-28 at 05.05.07

Stroke Play Round 2 Team Scores (Graphic: GolfStat)

Individual

Ross STEELMAN (USA / Georgia Tech) produced a second under par round of 69 to move on to -7 and extend his lead in the Individual competition to 3-shots.

Two Europeans, Daniel DA COSTA RODRIGUES (POR / Texas A&M) and Adrien DUMONT DE CHASSART (BEL / Illinois), are tied 2nd on -4 with Brazil’s Fred BIONDI (Florida) -3 4th.

The Individual champion now receives an exemption into the following year’s Masters Tournament so I am sure the pressure will start to build on these leading players.

Stating on the 10th Barclay BROWN (ENG) posted a rollercoaster 71 in Round 2 to remain in the Individual top 10.

Screenshot 2023-05-28 at 05.37.03

Barclay Brown’s Round 2 Scorecard (Graphic: GolfStat)

Here are the Round 2 Individual scores / positions for all of the GB&I players who are competing this week: –

Barclay BROWN (ENG / Stanford) 68-71 (-1) Tied 8th
Jack BIGHAM (ENG / Florida State) 70-76 (+6) Tied 67th
Luke O’NEILL (IRL / Kansas State) 75-72 (+7) Tied 84th
Calum SCOTT (SCO / Texas Tech) 76-72 (+8) Tied 96th
Paul CONROY (IRL / Chattanooga) 70-78 (+8) Tied 96th
Matty DODD-BERRY (ENG / ETSU) 76-73 (+9) Tied 108th
Ben PARTRIDGE (ENG / San Francisco) 76-76 (+12) Tied 127th
Archie DAVIES (WAL / ETSU) 83-76 (+19) Tied 154th

Screenshot 2023-05-28 at 05.06.58

Stroke Play Round 2 Leading Individual Scores (Graphic: GolfStat)

After 36 holes only 12 golfers in the 156-player field are under par. The average Round 2 score was 73.29, slightly higher than Friday’s average of 73.24.

Click here to view the – GOLFSTAT 2023 STROKE PLAY RESULTS – TEAM and INDIVIDUAL

ME.

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26th May 2023

Stroke Play Round 1

Team

ACC and NCAA Salem Regional champions GEORGIA TECH (Ev) lead the Team standings after the opening 18 holes by 1-shot from PEPPERDINE and ARKANSAS.

Scoring conditions were tough on Friday with the course playing firm and fast. As per normal the afternoon wave had it harder with the course drying out and temperatures rising well into the 90’s.

TEXAS TECH (+2 Tied 4th), FLORIDA STATE (+4 8th) and SAN FRANCISCO (+5 Tied 9th), all teams with GB&I representation, are currently in the Top 15 – the 54 hole stroke play cut mark.

TEXAS (+15 27th) made a disappointing start to their title defence, albeit with four new players, including three freshman, in their line up this year’s trip to Greyhawk was always likely to be a challenge.

Screenshot 2023-05-27 at 05.39.34

Stroke Play Round 1 Team Scores (Graphic: GolfStat)

Individual

Ross STEELMAN (USA / Georgia Tech) leads the Individual standings at the the end of Round 1 after the senior used his course knowledge well to fire a bogey free 64 (-6).

Barclay BROWN (ENG) made the best start from a GB&I perspective. The Stanford senior posted a 68 (-2) to finish the day tied 6th.

Here are the Round 1 Individual scores / positions for all of the GB&I players who are competing this week: –

Barclay BROWN (ENG / Stanford) 68 (-2) Tied 6th
Paul CONROY (IRL / Chattanooga) 70 (Ev) Tied 19th
Jack BIGHAM (ENG / Florida State) 70 (Ev) Tied 19th
Luke O’NEILL (IRL / Kansas State) 75 (+5) Tied 104th
Calum SCOTT (SCO / Texas Tech) 76 (+6) Tied 115th
Ben PARTRIDGE (ENG / San Francisco) 76 (+6) Tied 115th
Matty DODD-BERRY (ENG / ETSU) 76 (+6) Tied 115th
Archie DAVIES (WAL / ETSU) 83 (+13) Tied 156th

Screenshot 2023-05-27 at 05.40.28

Stroke Play Round 1 Leading Individual Scores (Graphic: GolfStat)

18 players are under par after the opening round which saw an average score of 73.24 from the 156-player field.

Click here to view the – GOLFSTAT 2023 STROKE PLAY RESULTS – TEAM and INDIVIDUAL

ME.

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23rd May 2023

The 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s National Championship starts on Friday 26th May at Greyhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Greyhawk has staged the National Championships in each of the last two years and has in the last week hosted the 2023 NCAA Division I Women’s event. The men’s Raptor Course is 7,289 yards long and plays to a par of 70. With a firm and fast set up most players struggle to break par over the 72 holes.

30 5-man teams and 6 individuals not on those teams qualified to play through six Regional events played on 15th-17th May. To learn more about these Regionals please read my earlier article – NCAA Division I Men’s Regionals – 2023 Preview & Results.

At the National Championship 54 holes of stroke play will be played on 26th-28th May. A cut will then take place which will see the top 15 teams and nine individuals not on those teams play a final 18 holes on 29th May. After 72 holes an Individual champion is crowned with the leading 8 teams progressing to a match play stage. Seeded match play will then take place on 30th-31st May and will be used determine the Team national champions.

Team scores in the stroke play stage are based on a best four from five players cumulative total.

There are eight GB&I players competing this year; they are Jack BIGHAM (ENG / Florida State), Barclay BROWN (ENG / Stanford), Paul CONROY (IRL / Chattanooga), Archie DAVIES (East Tennessee State), Matthew DODD-BERRY (ENG / East Tennessee State), Luke O’NEILL (IRL / Kansas State), Ben PARTRIDGE (ENG / San Francisco) and Calum SCOTT (SCO / Texas Tech).

Here is a list of the 30 competing teams and 6 individuals, along with their current Golfweek / Sagarin national ranking and earlier Regional site results in brackets.

The 8 players from Great Britain & Ireland are shown in blue below.

TEAMS

Alabama 16 (Norman Oklahoma, 1st)

Arizona State 5 (Las Vegas Nevada, 1st)

Arkansas 34 (Salem South Carolina, 2nd)

Auburn 10 (Auburn Alabama, 1st)

Baylor 32 (Morgan Hill California, 4th)

Brigham Young (BYU) 38 (Morgan Hill California, 2nd)*

Chattanooga 39 (Auburn Alabama, 3rd) – PAUL CONROY (IRL) #1

Colorado 56 (Norman Oklahoma, 3rd)

Colorado State 28 (Auburn Alabama, 5th)

Duke 25 (Norman Oklahoma, 5th)

East Tennessee State 29 (Las Vegas Nevada, 5th) – ARCHIE DAVIES (WAL) #3, MATTHEW DODD-BERRY (ENG) #4

Florida 6 (Bath Michigan, 4th)

Florida State 7 (Morgan Hill California, 3rd) – JACK BIGHAM (ENG) #4

Georgia 22 (Bath Michigan, 1st)

Georgia Tech 4 (Salem South Carolina, 1st)

Illinois 2 (Bath Michigan, 2nd)

Mississippi State 18 (Morgan Hill California, 1st)

New Mexico 42 (Salem South Carolina, 4th)

North Carolina 3 (Salem South Carolina, 3rd)

Ohio State University 30 (Auburn Alabama, 4th)

Oklahoma 8 (Norman Oklahoma, 2nd)

Oregon 19 (Bath Michigan, 3rd)

Pepperdine 12 (Morgan Hill California, 5th)

San Francisco 47 (Las Vegas Nevada, 4th) – BEN PARTRIDGE (ENG) #2

Stanford 11 (Las Vegas Nevada, 2nd) – BARCLAY BROWN (ENG) #3

Texas 14 (Bath Michigan, 5th)

Texas A&M 13 (Salem South Carolina, 5th)

Texas Tech 9 (Norman Oklahoma, 4th) – CALUM SCOTT (SCO) #2

Vanderbilt 1 (Auburn Alabama, 2nd)

Virginia 17 (Las Vegas Nevada, 3rd)

INDIVIDUALS

Jonas Baumgartner – Oklahoma State (Las Vegas Nevada, T5)

Will King – Kansas (Norman Oklahoma, T4)

Sam Lape – Furman (Salem South Carolina, T2)

Riley Lewis – Layola Marymount (Morgan Hill California, T2)

LUKE O’NEILL (IRL) – Kansas State (Bath Michigan, T2)

Drew Salyers – Indiana (Auburn Alabama, T4)

Click here to view the – GOLFSTAT 2023 STROKE PLAY RESULTS – TEAM and INDIVIDUAL

Click here to view the – GOLFSTAT 2023 MATCH PLAY RESULTS – TEAM

*BYU will play their Sunday 3rd round on Thursday 25th (the practice day) due to their school’s long-established religious policies.

PGA TOUR University Ranking

The stroke play stage of the NCAA Division I Men’s National Championship is the final tournament for the 2023 PGA Tour University ranking.

The PGA TOUR University ranks Senior players based on performances during the last two years of their collegiate careers.

The No. 1 player in the final PGA TOUR University Ranking will earn PGA TOUR membership for the remainder of this season and all of next and players 1-5 (fully exempt) and 6-10 (conditional) earn Korn Ferry Tour membership. Additionally, players finishing 6th through 20th will earn fully exempt status on PGA TOUR Canada.

Ludvig ABERG (SWE / Texas Tech) enjoys a near unassailable lead in the ranking and in all likelihood will next week graduate to the PGA TOUR making his debut iat the RBC Canadian Open.

The current PGA TOUR University Ranking is shown below and was updated on the back of the 24th May 2023 WAGR release.

The Current PGA TOUR University Ranking (Graphic: PGA Tour)

Mark POWER (IRE / Wake Forest) 46th and Will HOPKINS (ENG / Kansas State) 77th are the highest ranked GB&I players in this ranking. Neither of whom have qualified to play in the National Championships.

2022 Results

TEXAS beat ARIZONA STATE 3-2 at the Greyhawk Golf Club in Arizona to win the 2022 NCAA Division I Men’s National title.

Texas University (Photo: NCAA)

Texas finished fourth in the stroke play qualifying and beat Oklahoma State and Vanderbilt in the earlier match play rounds.

The Texas team consisted of Cole HAMMER, Parker COODY, Pierceson COODY, Mason NOME and Travis VICK.

Arizona State finished seventh in the stroke play qualifying and took out Oklahoma and Pepperdine in match play.

TEXAS TECH, with Calum SCOTT and Sandy SCOTT in their line up, lost to Vanderbilt in the Quarter-Finals.

Gordon SARGENT of Vanderbilt won the Individual title at the NCAA Division I Men’s Championship. He is the ninth freshman to accomplish this feat and the first since Jamie Lovemark in 2007. He beat Eugenio LOPEZ-CHACARRA (Oklahoma State), Parker COODY (Texas) and Ryan BURNETT (North Carolina) with a birdie three on the opening play-off hole after all four of them had finished their 72 holes on 280 (Ev).

Not that he knew it at the time but Sargents’s victory would earn him a special invitation to The 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National, the first amateur to receive one from the club since Aaron Baddeley in 2000.

Gordon Sargent (Photo: NCAA)

A summary of the GB&I player performances is provided below: –

GB&I Round 4 Individual Results

Sandy Scott 75-71-72-74 (+12) T43
Callum Bruce 71-70-78-74 (+13) T47
Dan Bradbury 73-75-71-78 (+17) T61
Calum Scott DNP-75-70-70

Missed 54 Holes Stroke Play Cut
Barclay Brown 76-72-75 (+13)
Archie Davies 75-76-78 (+19)
Mark Power 78-73-81 (+22)
Ben Carberry 75-77-82 (+24)
Alex Fitzpatrick DNP-65-71

Click here to view the – GOLFSTAT 2022 MATCH PLAY RESULTS – TEAM

Click here to view the – GOLFSTAT 2022 STROKE PLAY RESULTS – TEAM and INDIVIDUAL

ME.

NCAA Division I Men’s Regionals – 2023 Preview & Results

Posted on 04/05/2023 by Golf Bible

17th May 2023

Here is my summary of the results from the six 54-hole NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Regional Championships which were played on 15th-17th May 2022.

The low five teams (30 in total) and the low individual (6 in total) not on those teams from each Regional advanced to the National Championships.

For more background information on these Regional Championships please read the Preview article lower down this page.

The 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship will be played on 26th – 31st May 2023 at Greyhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.

[Teams are listed below with their Golfweek / Sagarin national ranking in brackets]

AUBURN, ALABAMA

CLICK HERE FOR THE GOLFSTAT RESULTS – TEAM and INDIVIDUAL

TEAM QUALIFIERS: 1st Auburn (10) -1, 2nd Vanderbilt (1) Ev, 3rd Chattanooga (45) +2, 4th Ohio State (34) +8, 5th Colorado State (30) +10

INDIVIDUAL MEDALIST: Maxwell Moldovan (Ohio State University) & Christoph Bleier (Colorado State) -7

INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIER: T4 Drew Salyers (Indiana) -4

GB&I PLAYERS:
Qualified – T7 PAUL CONROY (IRL / CHATTANOOGA) -2
Non-Qualified – T47 KILLIAN MCGINLEY (IRL / FAIRFIELD) +12, T59 JOSH ROBINSON (IRL / MARQUETTE) +15

Ireland’s Paul Conroy enjoyed a strong top 10 performance in Alabama and helped Chattanooga surprise a number of more highly ranked teams such as Tennessee (13), Washington (36) and TCU (43).

EAST LANSING, BATH, MICHIGAN

CLICK HERE FOR THE GOLFSTAT RESULTS – TEAM and INDIVIDUAL

TEAM QUALIFIERS: 1st Georgia (26) -29, 2nd Illinois (2) -21, 3rd Oregon (21) -14, 4th Florida (7) -12, 5th Texas (15) -10

INDIVIDUAL MEDALIST: Ben Van Wyk (Georgia) -10

INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIER: T2 LUKE O’NEILL (IRL / KANSAS STATE) -7

GB&I PLAYERS:
Qualified – T2 LUKE O’NEILL (IRL / KANSAS STATE) -7
Non-Qualified – T25 WILL HOPKINS (ENG / KANSAS STATE) Ev, T54 ARCHIE SMITH (ENG / LITTLE ROCK) +7

Whilst his Kansas State team came up short in 6th place, 3 shots behind Texas, Luke O’Neill’s tied 2nd finish, the best by a GB&I player across the six Regionals, means he will progress as an Individual to Greyhawk. He becomes just the fourth player in the program’s history to advance to the National Championships.

Luke O’Neill (Photo: Kansas State Men’s Golf Team)

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

CLICK HERE FOR THE GOLFSTAT RESULTS – TEAM and INDIVIDUAL

TEAM QUALIFIERS: 1st Arizona State (4) -59, 2nd Stanford (12) -57, 3rd Virginia (17) -49, 4th San Francisco (52) -45, 5th ETSU (29) -43 [they beat Northwestern (32) after a five hole team play-off]

INDIVIDUAL MEDALIST: Ben James (Virginia) & Matthew Anderson (San Francisco) -20

INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIER: T5 Jonas Baumgarter (Oklahoma State) -15 [he beat Daniel Svard (Northwestern) on the 4th play-off hole]

GB&I PLAYERS:
Qualified – T14 BARCLAY BROWN (ENG / STANFORD) -11, T25 MATTHEW DODD-BERRY (ENG / ETSU) -8, T25 BEN PARTRIDGE (ENG / SAN FRANCISCO) -8, T66 ARCHIE DAVIES (WAL / ETSU) +5
Non-Qualified – T20 CAMERON ADAM (SCO / NORTHWESTERN) -10

Whilst there were no standout GB&I Individual performances top 5 team results from Stanford, San Francisco and ETSU, who came through a play-off with Northwestern for the final spot, means Las Vegas proved to be our most fruitfiul Regional event.

MORGAN HILL, CALIFORNIA

CLICK HERE FOR THE GOLFSTAT RESULTS – TEAM and INDIVIDUAL

TEAM QUALIFIERS: 1st Mississippi State (20) -1, 2nd Brigham Young (44) +4, 3rd Florida State (6) +7, 4th Baylor (31) +9, 5th Pepperdine (11) +11

INDIVIDUAL MEDALIST: Luke Clanton (Florida State) -6

INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIER: T2 Riley Lewis (Loyola Marymount) -4 [he beat Maximilian Steinlacher (Loyola Marymount) in the 3-hole play-off]

GB&I PLAYERS:
Qualified – T37 JACK BIGHAM (ENG / FLORIDA STATE) +7
Non-Qualified – T4 CHARLIE CROCKETT (ENG / MISSOURI) -1, T24 CONOR GOUGH (ENG / CHARLOTTE) +5, T32 SAM MURPHY (IRL / GRAND CANYON) +6, T45 MAX KENNEDY (IRL / LOUISVILLE) +10, DNS CRAIG PASSMORE (ENG / GRAND CANYON)

Sometimes a player doesn’t progress to the National Championships when arguably they deserve to. Charlie Crockett can consider himself unfortunate not to having finished tied 4th on -1 in the Individual standings. Jack Bigham, who came home tied 37th on +7, contributed three scoring rounds for Florida State to help them finish 3rd to earn a starting berth in Arizona. The biggest disappointment from a GB&I perspective was the performance of Max Kennedy, who has enjoyed an excellent Spring season in the States, but came up well short in California.

NORMAN, OKLAHOMA

CLICK HERE FOR THE GOLFSTAT RESULTS – TEAM and INDIVIDUAL

TEAM QUALIFIERS: 1st Alabama (16) -28, 2nd Oklahoma (9) -25, 3rd Colorado (66) -23, 4th Texas Tech (8) -22, 5th Duke (25) -21

INDIVIDUAL MEDALIST: Ludvig Aberg (Texas Tech) -14

INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIER: T4 Will King (Kansas) -9 [he beat Hugo Townsend (Ole Miss) on the 8th play-off hole]

GB&I PLAYERS:
Qualified – T23 CALUM SCOTT (SCO / TEXAS TECH) -3
Non-Qualified – T21 JAMES SWASH (ENG / LOUISIANA TECH) -4, T35 MARK POWER (IRL / WAKE FOREST) -1

Calum Scott battled hard all week and his final round 68 proved all important in getting his Texas Tech team over the qualifying line. Of course it also helps if you have World No. 1 Ludvig Aberg in your line-up. James Swash, playing as an Individual, did well and Mark Power fought back strongly after a disappointing 77 on Day 1 but both saw their college seasons end in Oklahoma.

SALEM, SOUTH CAROLINA

CLICK HERE FOR THE GOLFSTAT RESULTS – TEAM and INDIVIDUAL

TEAM LEADERS: 1st Georgia Tech (5) -53, 2nd Arkansas (35) -45, 3rd North Carolina (3) -43, 4th New Mexico (46) -42, 5th Texas A&M (14) -29 [they beat Clemson (50) after a five hole team play-off]

INDIVIDUAL LEADER: Ryan Burnett (North Carolina) -17

INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIER: 2nd Sam Lape (Furman) -15

GB&I PLAYERS:
Qualified – None
Non-Qualified – 63rd THOMAS HIGGINS (IRL / CLEMSON) +4

Thomas Higgins didn’t make much of an impression but his Clemson team probably should have progressed taking him with them. A slightly disappointing final day -13 score and then a play-off loss to Texas A&M, led by their star player Sam Bennett, saw them just miss out on the Nationals.

ME.

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4th May 2023

The six 54 hole NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Regional Championships will be played on 15th-17th May 2023.

81 teams and 45 individuals, from non-qualifying teams, were selected on 3rd May 2023 to compete at these competitions.

Local Conference Championships were played across the country in April with 30 Conference team champions granted automatic qualification into the 2023 Regionals. The remaining teams progressed based on their performances throughout the season.

13 teams and 10 individuals were allocated to three of the Regional venues with the remaining sites hosting 14 teams and 5 individuals. As always the draw has been made in such a way that all of the fields are of a similar strength.

Teams of five players play 72 holes of stroke play with their best four scores counting towards their team’s total score. Players, who play in each round, are also eligible for a separate Individual competition.

National Championships

5 teams and the top individual (not on one of those teams) from each Regional event will progress to the National Championship which will be played at Grayhawk G.C. in Scottsdale, Arizona on 26th-31st May 2023.

The National Championships start with 54 holes of stroke play. The top 15 teams and 9 individuals, not on an advancing team, then progress to a final 18 holes of stroke play. After these 72 holes have been played an Individual champion is determined and the top 8 teams advance to a match play stage to establish the Team champions.

Texas is the defending champion after they defeated Arizona State 3-2 in the 2022 Championship Final.

Details of the six Regional Championships are shown below with each team listed in seed order with their Golfweek / Sagarin national ranking in brackets and, if they earned automatic qualification, the Conference Championship they recently won to do so.

GB&I players attached to the qualifying colleges are highlighted in bold blue type. Each team is now allowed to take a Reserve to the event so it is possible some may not play or be subbed in and out during the week.

20 GB&I players will be competing in the Regional Championships on Day 1.

AUBURN, ALABAMA
Course: Auburn University Club / Host: Auburn
CLICK HERE FOR THE GOLFSTAT SCORES – TEAM and INDIVIDUAL

Graphic- The Haskins Award

Teams
1. Vanderbilt (1)
2. Tennessee (13) – JOSH HILL (ENG) NS
3. Auburn (10)
4. Colorado State (30)
5. Ohio State (34)
6. Washington (36) – ROBERT GALLIGAN (IRL) NS, AIDAN O’HAGAN (SCO) NS
7. TCU (43)
8. Chattanooga (45) – PAUL CONROY (IRL) #1
9. Houston (53) – American Athletic Conference
10. Marquette (69) – Big East Conference – JOSH ROBINSON (IRL) #5
11. Indiana (60)
12. Augusta (123) – Southland Conference
13. Sienna (222) – Atlantic Athletic Conference

Individuals
Alex Goff, Kentucky
Brantley Scott, Troy
Erik Jansson, Jacksonville State
Tobias Jonsson, Mercer
Cameron Clarke, Southern Miss.
Brian Ma, Harvard
Jackson Skeen, Tennessee Tech
Luke Naglic, Arkansas State
Hugo Thyr, South Alabama
KILLIAN MCGINLEY (IRL), Fairfield

EAST LANSING, BATH, MICHIGAN
Course: Eagle Eye Golf Club / Host: Michigan State
CLICK HERE FOR THE GOLFSTAT RESULTS – TEAM and INDIVIDUAL

Graphic- The Haskins Award

Teams
1. Illinois (2) – Big Ten Conference
2. Florida (7) – Southeastern Conference – JOE PAGDIN (ENG) NS, LUKE POULTER (ENG) NS
3. Texas (15)
4. Oregon (21) – DANIEL BULLEN (SCO) NS
5. Kansas State (27) – WILL HOPKINS (ENG) #1, LUKE O’NEILL (IRL) #4
6. Georgia (26)
7. Liberty (37) – ASUN Conference
8. San Diego (57)
9. Little Rock (47) – Ohio Valley Conference – ARCHIE SMITH (ENG) #3
10. Michigan State (65)
11. Wisconsin (62)
12. Illinois State (108) – Missouri Valley Conference
13. Pudue Fort Wayne (209) – Horizon League

Individuals
Barend Botha, Toledo
Ben Warren, Minnesota
Tyler Goecke, Wright State
Palmer Jackson, Notre Dame
Nathan Han, Columbia
Mikkel Mathiesen, Wright State
Caleb van Arragon, Valparaiso
Nate Stevens, Notre Dame
Anthony Delisanti, Valparaiso
Jack Simon, St. John’s (New York)

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
Course: Bear’s Best Las Vegas / Host: University of Nevada
CLICK HERE FOR THE GOLFSTAT RESULTS – TEAM and INDIVIDUAL

Graphic- The Haskins Award

Teams
1. Arizona State (4)
2. Stanford (12) – Pac-12 Conference – BARCLAY BROWN (ENG) #4
3. Virginia (17)
4. Oklahoma State (18)
5. Northwestern (32) – CAMERON ADAM (SCO) #5
6. East Tennessee State (29) – Southern Conference – BEN CARBERRY (SCO) NS, ARCHIE DAVIES (WAL) #3, MATTHEW DODD-BERRY (ENG) #4, JENSON FORRESTER (ENG) NS, JOSHUA PRITCHETT (ENG) NS
7. Cincinnati (40)
8. San Francisco (52) – BEN PARTRIDGE (ENG) #2
9. UNC Greensboro (51)
10. Long Beach State (58) – Big West Conference
11. Oregon State (61)
12. Davidson (99) – Atlantic 10 Conference – MEL DEASY (IRL) NS
13. Kansas City (149) – The Summit League
14. Lehigh (194) – Patriot League

Individuals
Caden Fioroni, UNLV
Mac McClear, Iowa
Aidan Thomas, New Mexico State
Garrison Smith, New Mexico State
Brady McKinlay, Utah Valley

MORGAN HILL, CALIFORNIA
Course: The Institute Golf Club / Host: San Jose Sports Authority
CLICK HERE FOR THE GOLFSTAT RESULTS – TEAM and INDIVIDUAL

Graphic- The Haskins Award

Teams
1. Pepperdine (11)
2. Florida State (6) – JACK BIGHAM (ENG) #4
3. Mississipi State (20)
4. Arizona (19)
5. Louisville (33) – MAX KENNEDY (IRL) #1
6. Baylor (31)
7. Missouri (39) – CHARLIE CROCKETT (ENG) #1
8. Brigham Young University (BYU) (44) – West Coast Conference
9. NC State (48)
10. California (49)
11. Charlotte (80) – CONOR GOUGH (ENG) #1
12. Grand Canyon (110) – Western Athletic Conference – SAM MURPHY (IRL) #4, CRAIG PASSMORE (ENG) #6
13. Northern Colorado (189) – Big Sky Conference

Individuals
Matthew Manganello, Fresno State
Matthew Sutherland, Fresno State
Riley Lewis, LMU
Javier Barcos, Utah
Mahanth Chirravuri, Southern California
Julien Paltrinieri, Santa Clara
Caleb Shelter, San Jose State
Pono Yanagi, Washington State
Jackson Rivera, Southern California
Casey Leebrick, Sacramento State

NORMAN, OKLAHOMA
Course: Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club / Host: University of Oklahoma
CLICK HERE FOR THE GOLFSTAT RESULTS – TEAM and INDIVIDUAL

Graphic- The Haskins Award

Teams
1. Texas Tech (8) – CALUM SCOTT (SCO) #2
2. Oklahoma (9) – Big 12 Conference
3. Alabama (16)
4. Ole Miss (23)
5. Wake Forest (22) – MARK POWER (IRL) #2
6. Duke (25)
7. LSU (38)
8. North Florida (42)
9. Colorado (66)
10. Kansas (55)
11. University of North Carolina – Wilmington (71) – Colonial Athletic Association
12. University of Louisiana – Lafayette (140) – Sun Belt Conference
13. Princeton (167) – The Ivy League
14. Arkansas – Pine Bluff (274) – Southwestern Athletic Conference

Individuals
Luke Gutschewski, Iowa State
Nathan Petronzio, SMU
Bret Gray, Sam Houston
Vicente Marzilio, North Texas
JAMES SWASH (ENG), Louisiana Tech

SALEM, SOUTH CAROLINA
Course: The Cliffsat Keowee Falls / Host: Clemson
CLICK HERE FOR THE GOLFSTAT RESULTS – TEAM and INDIVIDUAL

Graphic- The Haskins Award

Teams
1. North Carolina (3)
2. Georgia Tech (5) – Atlantic Coast Conference
3. Texas A&M (14)
4. San Diego State (24) – Mountain West Conference
5. Georgia Southern (28)
6. Arkansas (35) – ENRIQUE DIMAYUGA (ENG) NS
7. Purdue (41)
8. New Mexico (46)
9. Clemson (50) – THOMAS HIGGINS (IRL) #5
10. Furman (56)
11. Middle Tennessee State (70)
12. Northern Illinois (121) – Mid-American Conference
13. Long Island (186) – Northeast Conference
14. Longwood (199) – Big South Conference

Individuals
Kieron van Wyk, Charleston
Luis Carrera, Central Florida
Johnny Travale, Central Florida
Seth Taylor, Coastal Carolina
Bryce Corbett, Radford

NS – Not Selected

ME.

Jones Cup Invitational – 2023 Preview & Results

Posted on 04/01/2023 by Golf Bible

8th January 2023 – Round 3

David FORD (USA) holed an 18 foot downhill birdie putt on the 18th hole to complete a wire-to-wire win at the 19th Jones Cup Invitational in Georgia.

Ford, a sophomore at North Carolina, beat Caleb SURRATT (USA) by 1-shot and as a result now looks a certainty for the 2023 USA Walker Cup team.

The winner will also receive an exemption into the 2023 RSM Classic a PGA Tour event played at Sea Island in November.

David Ford (Photo: Jones Cup Invitational)

Ford’s 204 (-12) total was the second best in tournament history, 1-shot short of Davis Thompson’s (USA) 203 (-13) total in 2020.

The final round proved to be a game of two halves for the two leading players.

Surratt birdied four of his opening seven holes to wipe out Ford’s 2-shot lead and entered the back nine with a 2-shot lead of his own. However, it was Ford who had the last laugh coming home in an unblemished three birdie 33, including one on the critical tournament winning final hole. Surratt did little wrong, save for a bogey on the par 5 14th, but could only manage an even par 36 shots for the homeward nine, thus coming up 1-shot short of forcing a play-off.

David Ford and Caleb Surratt’s Tournament Scorecards (Graphic: Jones Cup Invitational / Golf Genius Scoring)

Michael BRENNAN (USA), Mark Power’s Wake Forest teammate, finished strongly with a final round of 67 to claim 3rd place on -8. Peter FOUNTAIN (USA), who had been amongst the leading group from Day 1, had to settle for 4th place after a 71 on Sunday.

Top 20 Results (Graphic: Jones Cup Invitational / Golf Genius Scoring)

Sadly the challenge of Ocean Forest proved too much this year for the 11 GB&I players who were competing. Collectively they were 84 over par with just two of the 33 rounds played under the course’s par of 72.

Our highest finish came from James ASHFIELD (WAL) +3 who finished tied 27th out of a field of 84 players. Barclay BROWN (ENG) and Frank KENNEDY (ENG) +4 were tied 33rd and U.S. Mid-Amateur Champion Matthew MCCLEAN (IRL) +5 tied 39th.

GB&I Results (Graphic: Jones Cup Invitational / Golf Genius Scoring)

\Please click here to view the – Jones Cup Invitational Results

ME.

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7th January 2023 – Round 2

David FORD (USA) extended his overnight lead to 2-shots after a second round 68 which included five birdies.

Caleb SURRATT (USA) moved into 2nd place; eight birdies helping him to a best-of-the-week 66.

Peter FOUNTAIN (USA) stayed in contention with a 1-under 71.

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Round 2 Leading Scores (Graphic: Jones Cup Invitational / Golf Genius Scoring)

James ASHFIELD (WAL) produced the first and to date only under par round by a GB&I player on Day 2. His 71 (-1) could have been even better too with two late bogeys on the 16th and 17th taking the edge of a fine round. He’ll start the final round tied 18th on +1 for the tournament and will be hoping to give his Walker Cup chances an early boost with a similar, or hopefully better, score tomorrow.

Matt MCCLEAN (IRL) +2 tied 24th , Matt ROBERTS (WAL) +2 tied 24th and Mark POWER (IRL) +5 tied 47th all bounced back well today with even par 72’s.

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GB&I Round 2 Scores (Graphic: Jones Cup Invitational / Golf Genius Scoring)

ME.

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6th January 2023 – Round 1

David FORD (USA) recorded seven birdies in an opening round of 67 (-5) to take the early lead in the 2023 Jones Cup Invitational.

Ford’s University of North Carolina teammate Peter FOUNTAIN (USA) is one shot further back after a rollercoaster 68 (-4) which included eight birdies and four bogeys.

Ben CARR (USA), runner up at last year’s U.S. Amateur Championship, and Jackson KOIVUN (USA) are tied 3rd after 2-under 70’s.

Only 11 of the 84 players competing were under par at the end of play.

Round 1 Leading Scores (Graphic: Jones Cup Invitational / Golf Genius Scoring)

It was a relatively disappointing day for the 11-man group of Great British and Irish players who were too frequently caught out by the tight Ocean Forest course.

Hugh FOLEY (IRL) and Jack BIGHAM (ENG), tied 23rd, lead the way after 73’s (-1). Both Foley and Bigham offset four birdies with five bogeys in their day’s work.

With no cut and a challenging test the good news is that with 36 holes still to play there is still time for all of them to work there way back into the top 10.

GB&I Round 1 Scores (Graphic: Jones Cup Invitational / Golf Genius Scoring)

ME.

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4th January 2023 – Preview

The 19th Jones Cup Invitational will be played between 6th-8th January 2023 at Ocean Forest G.C. on the northern tip of Sea Island in Georgia.

The event has been brought forward from its traditional February date due to the commencement of a renovation programme at Ocean Forest next month.

Historically a top 10 ranked amateur tournament it has always attracted a strong field, particularly in Walker Cup years which of course 2023 is.

The winner of the Jones Cup Invitational, subject to them remaining an amateur, receives an exemption into the PGA Tour’s RSM Classic played at Sea Island in November.

The Jones Cup Invitational was first played in January 2001 as a prelude to that year’s Walker Cup match which was being staged at Ocean Forest in August.

The venue is a big supporter of amateur golf with the Jones Cup Junior Invitational, Jones Cup Senior Invitational and Sea Island Women’s Amateur played at Sea Island G.C.’s nearby Seaside Course since 2009, 2012 and 2021 respectively.

Format

The Jones Cup Invitational is a 54 hole individual stroke play competition played over three days.

Given the small field there is no cut.

The winner receives the silver Jones Cup and the Layne Williams Medal which was awarded for the first time in 2022. Layne Williams was a rules official for the Georgia State Golf Association.

Players

The Jones Cup Invitational Committee invite 84 players to contest their tournament.

The majority of invites are granted based on each player’s previous performances and their world amateur rankings.

74 players contested an 18 hole qualifier on Sea Island’s Plantation Course on 4th January with Jack GOLDASICH (USA), Sam LAPE (USA), Lance SIMPSON (USA) and Hunter SMITH (USA) all added to the field.

11 golfers from Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) are competing this year. 9 of the 19 man GB&I Walker Cup squad are in attendance. They are (in alphabetical order with their current SPWARs): –

James ASHFIELD (WAL) #215 GB&I WC SQUAD
Jack BIGHAM (ENG) #362
Barclay BROWN (ENG) #83 GB&I WC SQUAD
Archie DAVIES (WAL) #63 GB&I WC SQUAD
Hugh FOLEY (IRL) #61 GB&I WC SQUAD
Josh HILL (ENG) #348 GB&I WC SQUAD
Frank KENNEDY (ENG) #290 GB&I WC SQUAD
Matt MCCLEAN (IRL) #56 GB&I WC SQUAD
Mark POWER (IRL) #246 GB&I WC SQUAD
Matt ROBERTS (WAL) #977
Harley SMITH (ENG) #162 GB&I WC SQUAD

There are 28 other players in the SPWAR Top 100 competing (in rank order): –

Caleb SURRAT (USA) #3 USA WC SQUAD
Gordon SARGENT (USA) #4 USA WC SQUAD
David FORD (USA) #5 USA WC SQUAD
Austin GREASER (USA) #8
Maxwell MOLDOVAN (USA) #12 USA WC SQUAD
Ross STEELMAN (USA) #14 USA WC SQUAD
Bryce LEWIS (USA) #17 USA WC SQUAD
Cole SHERWOOD (USA) #19 USA WC SQUAD
Ben CARR (USA) #21
Kelly CHINN (USA) #22
Luke CLANTON (USA) #24
Ricky CASTILLO (USA) #28
Michael BRENNAN (USA) #30 USA WC SQUAD
Palmer JACKSON (USA) #33 USA WC SQUAD
Ben JAMES (USA) #35 USA WC SQUAD
Tommy KUHL (USA) #42
Herman SEKNE (NOR) #43
Matthis BESARD (BEL) #57
Max FORD (USA) #60
Drew GOODMAN (USA) #66
Mason WILLIAMS (USA) #79
Martin COUVRA (FRA) #81
Reid DAVENPORT (USA) #82
Jackson KOIVUN (USA) #85
Drew SALYERS (USA) #87
Robbie HIGGINS (USA) #88
Canon CLAYCOMB (USA) #89
Frederik KJETTRUP (DEN) #100

Evan BECK (USA) #168 USA WC SQUAD

As shown above 11 of the players selected for the 16-man US Walker Cup Squad are playing this week in Georgia.

Course

Ocean Forest is a challenging course with an exposed seaside links feel. Holes run alongside both the Hampton River and the Atlantic Ocean with marshes and the sea abutting a number of the fairways and greens. The remaining holes are cut through a pine forest.

Natural sand dunes are evident albeit the defining feature is the small undulating greens.

The course plays to 7,308 yards with a standard par of 72. If the wind blows here scores can be unusually high.

The Club was founded in 1995 by Bill Jones III. His family’s Sea Island Company having owned the land since the 1920’s.

Jones invited architect Rees Jones to design a championship course on the site with work commencing in September 1993. Some renovation work was subsequently done by Rees Jones in 2007. Beau Welling Design have been instructed for the 2023 work which will involve refreshing the tees, greens and bunkers.

President George H. Bush, Bill Jones III, former U.S. attorney general Griffin Bell, David Love III and Rees Jones played the opening round in Spring 1995.

The course was awarded the 2001 Walker Cup shortly after opening. At just 6 years old it remains the youngest club to be afforded this honour. Peter McEvoy led GB&I to a convincing 15-9 victory.

Weather Forecast (as at 4th January)

Cool but sunny weather is expected this week with thankfully moderate breezes.

Fri 6th Jan. – Sunny / Wind 11 mph NW / Temp. Min. 3°C, Max. 16°C.
Sat 7th Jan. – Sunny / Wind 8 mph N / Temp. Min. 6°C, Max. 17°C.
Sun 8th Jan. – Sunny / Wind 9 mph E / Temp. Min. 9°C, Max. 21°C.

2022 Jones Cup Invitational

Palmer JACKSON (USA) won the 2022 Jones Cup Invitational by 3-shots from Logan MCALLISTER (USA). They were the only two players in the field to finish under par.

Palmer Jackson (Photo: Jones Cup Invitational)

2022 saw a small GB&I entry with John GOUGH (ENG) +4 our highest finisher in tied 7th.

Dan BRADBURY (ENG) +12 finished tied 34th, Mark POWER (IRL) +17 tied 48th, Matt ROBERTS (WAL) +24 tied 72nd, Luke HARRIES (WAL) +25 tied 75th and James ASHFIELD (WAL) +33 82nd.

Click here to view the full – Jones Cup Invitational 2022 Results

Here is a list of the past winners with their finishing scores: –

2022 – Palmer JACKSON (USA) 211 (-5)
2021 – Ludvig ÅBERG (SWE) 214 (-2)
2020 – Davis THOMPSON (USA) 203 (-13)
2019 – Akshay BHATIA (USA) 142 (-2) – event shortened to 36 holes due to bad weather
2018 – Garrett BARBER (USA) 212 (-4) – winner of the Jones Cup Junior Invitational in 2016
2017 – Braden THORNBERRY (USA) 212 (-4)
2016 – Beau HOSSLER (USA) 214 (-2)
2015 – Austen CONNELLY (USA) 216 (Ev)
2014 – Corey CONNORS (CAN) 218 (+2)
2013 – Sean DALE (USA) 213 (-3)
2012 – Justin THOMAS (USA) 216 (Ev)
2011 – John PETERSON (USA) 217 (+1)
2010 – Patrick READ (USA) 222 (+6)
2009 – Kyle STANLEY (USA) 217 (+1)
2007 – Luke LIST (USA) 206 (-10) – played at Frederica G.C. due to renovation work at Ocean Forest
2005 – Nicholas THOMPSON (USA) 214 (-2)
2003 – Gregg JONES (USA) 211 (-5)
2001 – DJ TRAHAN (USA) 210 (-6)

Canada’s Corey Connors and Sweden’s Ludvig Åberg are the only non-American winners of the Jones Cup Invitational.

ME.

R&A Men’s Home Internationals – 2022 Preview & Results

Posted on 01/08/2022 by Golf Bible

5th August 2022

England won the inaugural R&A Trophy for the combined Women’s and Men’s Home Internationals match played at Ballyliffin G.C. in Ireland.

England won the Men’s Raymond Trophy and Ireland the Women’s International Shield.

England’s Men’s Team (Photo: England Golf)

Click here to view the full – R&A Womens & Mens Home Internationals Results

Here are my Men’s Individual Performance tables confirming that England’s Arron EDWARDS-HILL was the most successful player in the 2022 Raymond Trophy contest.

Screenshot 2022-08-05 at 20.55.04

Screenshot 2022-08-05 at 20.41.35

Day 3 Matches

Scotland 7.5 v. Wales 4.5

Ireland 5.5 v. England 6.5

Having lost the morning Foursomes series 3-1 England fought back to win the afternoon Singles 5.5-2.5 to take an all-important narrow victory over Ireland. It was a stunning comeback for the English who looked out of it after 9 holes but important ties for Arron Edwards-Hill, Sam Bairstow & John Gough at the top of the order and wins for Olly Huggins, Josh Berry, Harley Smith and Jack Bigham down the home stretch saw them steal the trophy from the hosts.

Here’s the Men’s Home Internationals Results Table after the Round 3 matches.

Screenshot 2022-08-05 at 20.41.48

ME.

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4th August 2022

Day 2 Matches

England 7.5 – Scotland 4.5

Wales 3.0 – Ireland 9.0

Whilst both teams won on Day 2 of the Men’s Home Internationals Ireland moved ahead of England in the standings by virtue of their larger winning margin against Wales.

Here’s the Men’s Home Internationals Table after the Round 2 matches.

Screenshot 2022-08-05 at 10.53.15

ME.

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3rd August 2022

Day 1 Matches

England 9.0 – Wales 3.0

Scotland 3.0 – Ireland 9.0

England and Ireland have both made strong starts to the Men’s Home Internationals, both winning their opening day matches 9-3 against Wales and Scotland respectively.

Here’s the Men’s Home Internationals Table after the Round 1 matches.

Screenshot 2022-08-05 at 10.46.50

ME.

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2nd August 2022

The R&A and four Golf Unions have this year decided to bring together the mens and womens home internationals.

Therefore the R&A Womens and Mens Home Internationals will be played at Ballyliffin Golf Club in County Donegal, Ireland on 3rd-5th August 2022.

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

I am not supportive of these changes, particularly to the longstanding Men’s and Women’s events. This is because: –

1) I appreciate the history and tradition that both have built up over many years.

2) The impact on competitiveness of moving to a larger combined team of 16 players for the main prize, albeit I accept there are pros and cons to this.

3) It discriminates against men by reducing the number of male players competing from 11 to 9 and the number of foursomes (5 to 4) and singles (10 to 8) they play in the event.

Despite requesting help in understanding this change on Twitter no one has to date provided me with a single positive reason for this move.

To be clear I am all for shared venues, which may add to the overall spectacle, but remain unconvinced about the merits of combined and mixed events. In my opinion the separate mens and womens competitions should have remained the priority and if it was felt a combined trophy was necessary this should have been the secondary add-on.

Format Change

In the new combined event England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales will have 16 person amateur teams consisting of 9 men and 7 women. The number of women competing is unchanged but men on each side have been reduced by two.

Each country will play every other team over the three competition days.

Matches will consist of 7 foursomes (4 mens and 3 womens) and 14 singles (8 mens and 6 womens) played over 18 holes. Each match will start with a mens game and alternate with a womens game thereafter. When compared with the previous separate events the womens format is unchanged but the mens has been reduced by 1 foursomes and 2 singles.

One point will be 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 will be determined according to the highest number of match points earned. Ties will be broken by reviewing the total number of individual womens and mens combined game points.

The winning team will be awarded a new prize, The R&A Trophy.

Whilst now appearing to be of secondary importance The Raymond Trophy and International Shield will still be awarded to the countries which respectively gain the most match points in the men’s and women’s separate series of matches.

The Raymond Trophy

Historically the English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh Golf Unions took it in turns to host and run the home internationals. In 2021 The R&A took over responsibility for it with the hosting rota continuing.

The men’s home internationals were first played in 1932 and this year’s ‘staging’ will be the 81st playing of this prestigious event.

Since 1952 the winning team has received The Raymond Trophy.

In the 80 competitions played to date England have won 38, Scotland 21, Ireland 13 and Wales 1. The remaining 7 were tied before it was decided that ties would be resolved by using game points.

The Raymond Trophy (Photo: Ayrshire Golf Blog)

2022 Men’s Players

The four national golf unions have selected the following male players to represent their countries this year.

ENGLAND
Sam BAIRSTOW – Hallowes
Josh BERRY – Doncaster
Jack BIGHAM – Harpenden
Arron EDWARDS-HILL – Chelmsford
John GOUGH – Stoke Park
Olly HUGGINS – Frilford Heath
Ben QUINNEY – Kings Hill
Harley SMITH – The Rayleigh Club
Tyler WEAVER – Bury St. Edmunds

IRELAND
Robert BRAZILL – Naas
Colm CAMPBELL – Warrenpoint
Hugh FOLEY – Royal Dublin
Matt MCCLEAN – Malone
Robert MORAN – Castle
Liam NOLAN – Galway
Peter O’KEEFFE – Douglas
Mark POWER – Kilkenny
Caolan RAFFERTY – Dundalk

SCOTLAND
Callum BRUCE – Duff House Royal
Angus CARRICK – Cragielaw
Matthew CLARK – Renfrewshire
Andrew DAVIDSON – Crail
Rory FRANSSEN – Auchterarder
Connor GRAHAM – Blairgowrie
Gregor GRAHAM – Blairgowrie
Lewis IRVINE – Kirkhill
Calum SCOTT – Nairn

WALES
Tomi BOWEN – Welshpool
Sean DAVID – Pyle & Kenfig
Alex JAMES – Royal Lytham & St. Anneshuddlan
Connor JONES – Aberdovey
Tom MATTHEWS – Aldersley Green
Craig MELDING – Neath
Paddy MULLINS – Whitchurch
James NASH – Ormskirk
Matt ROBERTS – Royal Porthcawl

Wales’ three leading players James Ashfield, Archie Davies and Luke Harries are all playing at The Celtic Manor Resort in the Cazoo Open on the DP World Tour this week.

Venue – Ballyliffin Golf Club

Ballyliffin is Ireland’s most northerly golf club and is located near Inishowen in County Donegal.

It enjoys two superb links courses, The Old Links and Glashedy Links, and is now generally accepted as being one of the best golf resorts in Europe.

The Old Links course is being used this week. The men’s championship course is going to play at 6,891 yards with a par of 71, there being only one par 5 on the front nine.

2022 Weather Forecast (as at 2nd August 2022)

The latest forecast is satisfactory for the three competition days: –

Wed. 3rd Aug. – Light Rain / Wind 17mph W / Temp. Min 11º, Max 16º
Thurs. 4th Aug. – Showers / Wind 16 mph NW / Temp. Min 11º, Max 15º
Fri. 5th Aug. – Light Cloud / Wind 15mph NW / Temp. Min 12º, Max 17º

2021 R&A Men’s Home Internationals

Ireland won the 2021 R&A Men’s Home Internationals after a thrilling contest at Hankley Common G.C. which went down to the final putt of the competition.

Ireland With The Raymond Trophy (Photo: Luke Walker / Getty Images / The R&A)

Scotland who secured 27.5 game points, compared with Ireland’s 27, finished second, England a disappointing 3rd and Wales 4th.

Final Table / Match Points (Graphics: The R&A / Golfbox)

England won the Seniors, Girls and Boys and Women’s Home Internationals in 2021 but were found wanting in the Men’s event. No one would have predicted before play started that they would be comfortably beaten in both Singles series against Scotland (8-2) and Ireland (6.5-3.5) and it was these two series performances that ultimately cost them.

Match Overview (Graphics: The R&A / Golfbox)

Click here to view the full – 2021 R&A Men’s Home Internationals Results

Robert MORAN (IRL), Andrew NI (SCO), John GOUGH (ENG) and Luke HARRIES & Ben CHAMBERLAIN (WAL) were the leading players for the four nations at Hankley Common.

Historic Results

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

ME.

France v. England Men’s International Match – 2022 Preview & Results

Posted on 12/05/2022 by Golf Bible

15th May 2022

England saved the best till last at Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche. A strong final afternoon Singles performance helped them secure a hard earned 13.5-10.5 victory over a competitive French side in their 2022 Men’s International Match.

Whilst France won both Foursomes (with five wins and one half out of eight games) England got the better of the more important Singles sessions and that proved to be the deciding factor in the outcome.

England have now won 31 of the 36 matches played.

The Winning England Team (Photo: England Golf)

Click here to view the full results from the – France v. England International Match

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.

Screenshot 2022-05-16 at 09.00.30

Day 2 Singles

John Gough took control of his match with two birdies on the 5th and 7th holes. Despite a late fightback from Adam Bresnu an eagle on the par 5 17th enabled Gough to secure an agenda setting 2&1 win for the English.

In game 2 Sam Bairstow was at his imperious best against Tom Vaillant. Bairstow’s six birdies in the 15 holes played helped him to a 4&3 victory.

Ben Quinney‘s play in the afternoon lacked the consistency necessary to beat Julien Sale who made few mistakes on his way to a 5&3 win. Sale was unbeaten throughout, enhancing his reputation as one of Europe’s best players in the process.

Jack Bigham, who posted a total of four birdies and played well down the stretch when his opponent was threatening a comeback, secured his second Singles win of the contest with a 2 Hole victory over Tom Gueant.

Arron Edwards-Hill wasn’t at his best but did what was required to beat an out of sorts Nathan Legendre. 1 Down with two holes to play Edwards-Hill finished strongly with a birdie and a par to steal a 1 Hole win.

Zach Chegwidden beat Paul Beauvy by 4&3 stringing together a number of pars which again proved to be a recipe for success around the demanding Red Course with its firm greens.

Oihan Guillamoundeguy, who was unbeaten throughout the match and appears to be a young player worthy of note, again got the better of Jack Brooks in the Singles, this time by 3&2.

With four birdies and just one bogey to his name Joe Harvey played very well in the final game to secure a comfortable 4&3 win against Martin Couvre.

Day 2 PM Singles Results (Graphic: FF Golf)

Day 2 Foursomes

France won the Day 2 Foursomes series by 2.5-1.5 to take a one point lead into the final Singles.

Nathan Lengendre & Tom Gueant beat John Gough & Ben Quinney by 2 Holes in the opening encounter. This was a tight game throughout with no more than one hole separating the teams right up until the 17th. An English three putt bogey on the par 5 17th gave the French pair the lead for the first time which they extended when Gough & Quinney picked up on the last when pushing for a half.

The consistent par machine of Tom Vaillant & Martin Couvre beat Jack Bigham & Sam Bairstow who fell away on the back nine with three bogeys in four holes.

The third match was a rollercoaster affair with the French pair of Julien Sale & Oihan Guillamoundeguy parring just 8 of the 18 holes played to ensure it remained tight throughout. Zach Chegwidden & Arron Edwards-Hill took the lead for the first time on the 17th when the French bogeyed. However, the Essex boys disappointingly handed the advantage straight back with a bogey on the home hole.

The final game was an odd affair. Like yesterday Jack Brooks & Joe Harvey again started badly, albeit this time even worse going 3 Down after three holes. Despite being handed the perfect start Paul Beauvy & Adam Bresnu completely capitulated bogeying (or worse) eight of the next ten holes played to hand an easy win to the English.

Day 2 AM Foursomes Results (Graphic: FF Golf)

ME.

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14th May 2022

Day 1 Singles

England got back on track this afternoon winning the Day 1 Singles series 5-3 and losing just two of the eight matches played.

The final Day 1 score is now 6-6 with all to play for tomorrow.

John Gough took control of his match against Nathan Legendre early on after his opponent started with 5 bogeys over the opening six holes and ran out a fairly comfortable 3&2 winner as neither player hit their peak.

Sam Bairstow won the final hole of his game to secure a valuable 1 Hole victory over Tom Gueant. This was a high quality encounter with plenty of birdies made albeit mistakes by both players down the final two holes made for an out of keeping but exciting finish.

The bonus point for England came from the 2021 Boys’ Amateur champion Jack Bigham. 4 Down with 6 holes to play he fought back, helped by four bogeys from the young Frenchman, to secure another 1 Hole win for the visitors.

Adam Bresnu and Ben Quinney and Tom Vaillant and Zach Chegwidden both halved their games. Bresnu won the 17th to regain parity with Quinney whilst, to the cheers of the watching gallery, Vaillant holed from off the 18th green for a winning birdie to secure his half with Chegwidden.

Arron Edwards-Hill beat Martin Couvra by 2&1 which proved to be useful as the English tail enders following him behind succumbed to their french opponents.

Jack Brooks, who led 2Up after 10 holes, was hit by a barrage of birdies on the back nine by 17 year old Oihan Guillamoundeguy ultimately falling by 2&1.

Julien Sale, France’s highest ranked player, appears to have had the measure of Joe Harvey from the start of their game. 4Up after seven holes he delivered a 4&2 win for the home team despite Harvey finding some form on the back nine.

Day 1 PM Singles Results (Graphic: FF Golf)

Day 1 Foursomes

France lead England 3-1 after the opening Foursomes series at Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche.

Nathan Lengendre & Tom Gueant played steady golf before seeing off a late birdie blitz from Jack Bigham & Sam Bairstow in the opening game. A 2&1 win for the home team.

John Gough & Ben Quinney dovetailed well, impressively delivering a birdie-eagle finish, to take care of Paul Beauvy & Adam Bresnu by 3&1. Whilst always competitive the French pair effectively let the game get away from them around the turn with a double bogey followed by two bogeys on holes 9-11.

With two birdies in the opening four holes Tom Vaillant & Martin Couvre quickly went 3Up on Zach Chegwidden & Arron Edwards-Hill. Despite the English pair regaining parity by the 8th hole mistakes on 9 and 10 left them chasing on the back nine. Despite making three birdies in their pursuit the French were resolute and held on for a 1 Hole victory.

Like their compatriots in game 3 Jack Brooks & Joe Harvey initially found themselves behind – 2 Down after 2 Holes, albeit due to two bogeys – before reeling their opponents back in by the 8th hole. Both pairings made three birdies on the back 9 but the English made two bogeys compared with Julien Sale & Oihan Guillamoundeguy‘s one. With the 18th halved in par 4 the French pair could enjoy their lunches with a 1 Hole victory to their names.

Day 1 AM Foursomes Results (Graphic: FF Golf)

ME.

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12th May 2022

England travel to France this weekend for the 36th Men’s International Match between the two countries.

The last match, which was due to take place in May 2020 at Ganton Golf Club, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2022 match is being played at Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche which is located 15 miles west of Paris.

Format

8 man teams from each country will play 4 foursomes and 8 single matches on both Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th 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 2018 match they will also retain the trophy in the event of a 12-12 tie. Having said that I should point out that there has never been a tie in the history of the contest.

The biennial match is normally played on an alternate home and away basis.

Teams

Here are the two eight man teams with each player’s current Scratch Player World Amateur Ranking and World Amateur Golf Ranking in brackets after their name: –

England
Sam Bairstow (31 / 19)
Jack Bigham (298 / 243 )
Jack Brooks (160 / 466)
Zach Chegwidden (197 / 410)
Arron Edwards-Hill (117 / 290)
John Gough (38 / 50)
Joe Harvey (530 / 672)
Ben Quinney * (397 / 321)

Total SPWAR = 1,768 / Total WAGR = 2,471

* Ben replaced Olly Huggins in the original team selection.

Jack Brooks, Joe Harvey, Zach Chegwidden, Arron Edwards-Hill (back l-r), Sam Bairstow, John Gough, Jack Bigham and Ben Quinney (from l-r) (Photo: England Golf)

France
Paul Beauvy (237 / 794)
Adam Bresnu (250 / 1,230)
Martin Couvra (191 / 447)
Tom Gueant (368 / 247)
Oihan Guillamoundeguy (166 / 480)
Nathan Legrandre (450 / 869)
Julien Sale (55 / 114 )
Tom Vaillant (64 / 187)

Total SPWAR = 1,781 / Total WAGR = 4,368

The French men’s squad have been at a training camp at Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche since Monday so should be well prepared in terms of course knowledge and foursomes pairings.

Nevertheless 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.

Venue

Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche is an exclusive golf club which sits in rolling countryside in La Tuilerie and enjoys an 18th century manor house for a clubhouse.

It has two courses, the Red and the Blue or if your prefer ‘le Rouge et le Bleu’, both of which were laid out in the late 1950s by the English architect Fred Hawtree.

This match is being played solely on the Red Course.

A composite par 72 layout, which utilises the 1st hole of the Blue before moving exclusively over to the Red, has often been used for major events. The two nines have also been switched on many occasions so the picturesque downhill par 3 9th hole could be played as an exciting finishing hole.

The Club has hosted the Canada Cup in 1963, the French Open Championship twice and the prestigious Tophée Lancôme for 34 years on the European Tour.

Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche is also co-hosting the 2022 World Amateur Team Championships between 24th August and 3rd September alongside Ryder Cup venue Le Golf National so the week should prove useful to the England players and selectors.

It is these Championships that perhaps explain why England are not hosting this year and have again travelled to France.

Weather Forecast

Near perfect golfing weather is expected in Northern France in the coming days; warm sunshine with light breezes.

Sat 14th May – Sunny / Wind 8 mph E / Temp. Min. 13°C / Max. 25°C.
Sun 15th May – Sunny / Wind 8 mph SE / Temp. Min. 16°C / Max. 30°C.

Further Information

Click here to view the Federation of French Golf’s webpage – France v. England International Match

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 30 of the matches with France winning just 5, the last one being in 2010 at Chantilly.

2018 International Match

England beat France 13-7 in the last Men’s International Match played in 2018 at Vidauban Golf Club near St. Tropez.

The 2018 England Team (Photo: Federation of French Golf / @ffgolf)

With heavy rain forecast on Day 2 the decision was taken to cancel the Foursomes series and to concentrate on completing the eight Singles. England’s five shot margin of victory meant that the decision not to play the four morning games didn’t affect the overall match result.

img_9160-1

France v. England Day 1 and Day 2 2018 Results (Photo: Federation of French Golf)

Past Results

The overall match record is Played 35, England 30 Wins and France 5 Wins.

Match	Year	Venue	England	France	Winner
36	2021	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.

Men’s European Nations Championship – 2022 Preview & Results

Posted on 28/03/2022 by Golf Bible

2nd April 2022

SPAIN (+13) completed a wire-to-wire victory in the Men’s European Nations Championship at RCG Sotogrande. The Team competition was based on the best three scores from each country’s four players.

ENGLAND (+35) finished 2nd 22-shots behind the home team, overtaking DENMARK who had a disastrous +18 final round to fall well down the standings.

WALES will be pleased with their tied 8th finish out of a field of 18 countries. 2021 Men’s Home International champions IRELAND (+50) 10th and SCOTLAND (+65) 13th will be disappointed with their efforts.

Team Results (Graphic: RCG Sotogrande / Golfbox)

Spain’s Jaime MONTOJO (Ev) won the Individual competition beating teammate Luis MASAVEU (Ev) in a play-off. This was hard on Masaveu as he had finished the final round most impressively out of the leading players with a bogey free 4-under final nine holes.

Jaime Montojo (Photo: RFE Golf)

However, this year it was the turn of Denmark’s Hamish BROWN (+2) to grasp defeat from the jaws of victory at Sotogrande – almost an annual occurrence. With a five shot lead and six holes to play he bogeyed five of his remaining holes to finish on +2 and in 3rd place.

Sam BAIRSTOW (ENG), who finished top of the ‘Most Pars or Better’ table (with 59, including 14 birdies), was GB&I’s leading player in the competition. He recorded a final round of 71 (-1) to finish in 5th on +6.

James ASHFIELD (WAL) +10 was 7th, Olly HUGGINS (ENG) +14 tied 10th, Rob MORAN (IRL)+15 13th, Liam NOLAN (IRL) +18 tied 16th and Matt ROBERTS (WAL) and Lewis IRVINE (SCO) +18 both tied 16th.

Leading Individual Results (Graphic: RCG Sotogrande / Golfbox)

Click here to view the – 2022 ENC Men’s Team Results

Click here to view the – 2022 ENC Men’s Individual Results

ME.

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1st April 2022

SPAIN (+4) will take a near unassailable 20-shot lead over DENMARK (+24) into the final round of the Men’s European Nations Championship at the challenging RCG Sotogrande.

ENGLAND (+26) remain 3rd and will now be aiming to overtake the Danes tomorrow to secure the silver medal place.

WALES produced a +7 score, the third best of the round, on Day 3 to move up to 9th on +40. IRELAND (+41) fell two places to 10th whilst SCOTLAND (+52) stayed in a disappointing 14th.

Round 3 Team Scores (Graphic: RCG Sotogrande / Golfbox)

Spain’s Jaime MONTOJO (-3) continues to lead the Individual competition but his lead over teammate Luis MASAVEU and Denmark’s Hamish BROWN (-1) is now down to just 2-shots.

Olly HUGGINS (ENG), who was 3-over after the first three holes of the competition, continued his fightback in round 3. A 72 saw him finish the day on +6 and in tied 4th place.

The other leading GB&I players in the Individual standings are Sam BAIRSTOW (ENG), who is 6th on +7, James ASHFIELD (WAL) and Rob MORAN (IRL)+11 tied 11th, and Matt ROBERTS (WAL) and Lewis IRVINE (SCO) who are both tied 19th on +11.

Leading Round 3 Individual Scores (Graphic: RCG Sotogrande / Golfbox)

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31st March 2022

SPAIN (-2) moved into sole possession of the lead in the Men’s European Nations Championship after an impressive -7 Day 2 contribution to their ‘best 3-from-4’ total score. They now enjoy a 10-shot lead over DENMARK (+12).

Sadly the home nations were unable to make much progress in Round 2. ENGLAND (+15) are now 3rd, admittedly up a place, IRELAND (+29) are tied 8th, WALES (+33) 12th and SCOTLAND (+39) 14th.

Round 2 Team Scores (Graphic: RCG Sotogrande / Golfbox)

Spain’s Jaime MONTOJO delivered a second 69 to move onto -6 in the Individual competition. He is five shots ahead of his compatriot Luis MASAVEU and Hamish BROWN (DEN).

Sam BAIRSTOW (ENG) is 4th on +3 but barring two disasters could have been really challenging. After a 7 (+3) on the 15th yesterday he some how managed a 9 (+5) on the short 9th today.

Olly HUGGINS (ENG) +6 is tied 8th, Rob MORAN (IRL) +7 tied 11th, John GOUGH (ENG) +9 tied 18th and Matt ROBERTS (WAL), Lewis IRVINE (SCO) and James ASHFIELD (WAL) +10 all tied 23rd.

Leading Round 2 Individual Scores (Graphic: RCG Sotogrande / Golfbox)

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30th March 2022

FRANCE, SPAIN and DENMARK share the lead in the Men’s European Nations Championship after the opening round at RGC Sotogrande with a 221 (+5) ‘best 3-from-4’ total.

With 54-holes still to play ENGLAND (+7) are 4th, IRELAND (+11) 5th, WALES (+18) tied 12th and SCOTLAND (+24) 16th.

Round 1 Team Scores (Graphic: RCG Sotogrande / Golfbox)

Spain’s Jaime MONTOJO shot a best of the day 69 (-3) to take the early lead in the Individual competition.

Robert MORAN (IRL) and Sam BAIRSTOW (ENG) are the best placed GB&I players in tied 4th having posted 73’s (+1). Jack BIGHAM (ENG), Olly HUGGINS (ENG) and James ASHFIELD (WAL) are two-shots further back in tied 10th after recording 75s (+3).

Leading Round 1 Individual Scores (Graphic: RCG Sotogrande / Golfbox)

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28th March 2022

The Men’s European Nations Championship (ENC) starts on Wednesday 30th March at Real Club de Golf Sotogrande in Southern Spain.

RCG Sotogrande is the permanent home of the ENC and this will be the 14th playing of the event. It was cancelled due to COVID-19 in both 2020 and 2021.

It is a 72 hole stroke play Team and Individual competition.

Field
This year 17 four-man teams and 1 three-man team, Austria, will play for the Team prize (71 players). An additional eight players invited by both RCG Sotogrande and the Spanish Golf Federation will contest the Individual competition (79).

The following players have been selected to represent the four competing home nations in 2022: –

England – Sam BAIRSTOW, Jack BIGHAM, John GOUGH, Olly HUGGINS

Ireland – Hugh FOLEY, Robert MORAN, Liam NOLAN, Peter O’KEEFFE

Scotland – Jack BROUN, George BURNS, Rory FRANSSEN, Lewis IRVINE

Wales – James ASHFIELD, Aled GREVILLE, Tom MATTHEWS, Matt ROBERTS

A Women’s ENC also takes place alongside the Men’s competition. Teams of three from Ireland, Scotland and Wales are competing this year.

Tee Times / Scores
Click here to view the – 2022 ENC Tee Times

Click here to view the – 2022 ENC Men’s Team Scores

Click here to view the – 2022 ENC Men’s Individual Scores

Format and Prizes
72 holes of stroke play, with 18 holes played daily, will be contested by all of the players. There is no cut.

In the Team event the best three 18-hole scores from the four players count towards the overall total.

In the case of a tie for 1st place a team member will be nominated and a sudden death play-off will be contested on the 9th hole. Other ties will be determined by a count back of the team score for the last 18, 27, 36, etc. holes.

The Individual prize is awarded to the lowest scoring player. Ties will be broken in line with the Team approach outlined above.

Winning Team members each receive a replica of the Nations Trophy. The Individual champion receives a trophy and a bright yellow jacket.

Venue and Course
Real Club de Golf Sotogrande was opened in 1964 and was originally designed by Robert Trent Jones. One of the best courses in Continental Europe it first held the Spanish Open in 1966, won that year by Roberto de Vicenzo.

In 1970 The Sherry Cup, the precursor of the European Nations Cup, was established. Former Individual winners of this include Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia. (see below for the full list of past Individual winners).

In 1973 a Women’s event started to be played alongside the Men’s.

In 1983 Sotogrande hosted the Spanish Amateur Championship with Jose Maria Olazabel victorious.

Sotogrande was awarded royal patronage by HM King Juan Carlos I in 1994.

Between 1996 and 2001, in tandem with nearby San Roque GC, the course hosted the European Tour’s Qualifying School.

In 2006 The Sherry Cup was rebranded as the European Nations Cup and in 2017 become known as the European Nations Championship played for the Sotogrande Cup.

In 2011, ahead of it’s 50th anniversary, the Club decided to embark upon a major course renovation appointing Roger Rulewich and David Fleury. With the work on greens, bunkering and drainage taking place in 2015 and early 2016 the ENC moved temporarily to the nearby La Reserva Club de Golf for two years. Since 2017 the competition has been played on the renovated course.

The Black Tee Championship Course at Sotogrande plays 6,492m with a par of 72. The front nine measures 3,163m and the back 3,329m.

Weather Forecast
The forecast looks good albeit as always the winds will be a factor, particularly in the afternoon. This can cause problems given the numerous water hazards on the course.

Wednesday 30th – Sunny Intervals Min. 13°C / Max. 18°C; NW 15mph
Thursday 31st – Sunny Min. 13°C / Max. 17°C; W 13mph
Friday 1st – Sunny Min. 11°C / Max. 18°C; NW 10mph
Saturday 2nd – Sunny Min. 11°C / Max. 18°C; NE 15mph

Past ENC Winners

The home nations have an excellent record, particularly in recent years, in this event.

Team Competition

2021 Cancelled
2020 Cancelled

2019 England 2019 ENC Team Results

Defending champions England (+14) retained the European Nations Championship in Spain. Their 878 total was 8 shots better than The Netherlands (+22).

Ireland (+23) were third and Wales (+29), who recorded the lowest final day score (213), were an encouraging 4th. Scotland (+37) had a poor final day and fell away into 8th.

Gareth Jenkins (Manager), Tom Plumb, Tom Sloman, Bailey Gill and Ben Jones
(Photos: @EnglandGolf)

2018 England 2018 ENC Team Results

England – l-r Gareth Jenkins (Manager), David Hague, Gian-Marco Petrozzi, Todd Clements, Graham Walker (Coach) and Matthew Jordan (Photo: Graham Walker)

2017 Wales 2017 ENC Team Results

Wales – l-r Josh Davies, David Boote, Jack Davidson and Owen Edwards (Photo: GUW)

2016 Ireland 2016 ENC Team Results

Ireland European Nations Cup 2016

Ireland – l-r Stuart Grehan, Alex Gleeson, Jack Hume and Dermot McElroy (Photo: GUI)

2015 England
2014 Scotland
2013 England
2012 France
2011 England
2010 England
2009 England
2008 Scotland
2007 Denmark

Past Sherry Cup Team Winners (started 1998)

2006 Spain
2005 Spain
2004 England
2003 England
2002 Wales
2001 England
2000 England
1999 Germany
1998 Spain

Individual Competition

2021 Cancelled
2020 Cancelled

2019 Tom Sloman (England) 2019 ENC Individual Results

Tom won the Individual competition with a 294 (+6) total. His final round 77 looked like it would cost him the title but an eagle on 14 and three closing pars ended up being sufficient as is nearest challengers faltered on the demanding Sotogrande course.

Tom Sloman (Photos: @Golfing4Life_)

2018 Todd Clements (England) 2018 ENC Individual Results

Todd secured the Individual title with rounds of 69 73 71 and 70 for a 283 total (-5).

2017 Jack Davidson (Wales) 2017 ENC Individual Results

Jack won the Individual European Nations Cup title by 4-shots last year. Rounds of 70, 70, 70 and 73 (-5), which included 20 birdies and 2 eagles, gave him his second major title in less than a month. He had won the Spanish International Amateur a few weeks before.

2016 Jack Hume (Ireland) 2016 ENC Individual Results

In winning the Individual Jack Hume played one of the best rounds of amateur golf in the world in 2016 at La Reserva. His 64 in Round 2 was an astonishing 8 shots better than any other player in the field.

2015 Mario Galliano (Spain)
2014 Guido Migliori (Italy)
2013 Adrien Saddier (France)
2012 Robin Kind (The Netherlands)
2011 Julien Brun (France)
2010 Nino Bertasio (Italy)
2009 Sam Hutsby (England)
2008 Shane Lowry (Ireland)
2007 Rory McIlroy (Ireland)

Rory McIlroy (Photo: RCG Sotogrande)

Past Sherry Cup Individual Winners

2006 Nigel Edwards (Wales)
2005 Gary Wolstenholme (England)
2004 Francesco Molinari (Italy)
2003 Gary Wolstenholme (England)
2002 Lee Harpin (Wales)
2001 Gary Wolstenholme (England)
2000 Gary Wolstenholme (England)
1999 Marcel Siem (Germany)
1998 Sergio Garcia (Spain)
1997 Sergio Garcia (Spain)

Sergio Gracia (Photo: RCG Sotogrande)

1996 Alvaro Salto (Spain)
1995 José María Zamora (Spain)
1994 Francisco Cea (Spain)
1993 Francisco Valera (Spain)
1992 Frederic Cupillar (France)
1991 Padraig Harrington (Ireland)
1990 Alvaro Prat (Spain)
1989 Diego Borrego (Spain)
1988 Yago Beamonte (Spain)
1987 Yago Beamonte (Spain)
1986 Borja Queipo de Llano (Spain)
1985 José L. Padila (Spain)
1984 John Marks (England)
1983 José L. de Bernardo (Spain)
1982 Borja Queipo de Llano (Spain)
1981 Veit Pagel (Germany)
1980 Jesús López (Spain)
1979 Veit Pagel (Germany)
1978 José L. de Bernardo (Spain)
1977 F. Jiménez (Spain)
1976 Alberto Croze (Italy)
1975 Veit Pagel (Germany)
1974 Veit Pagel (Germany)
1973 Alberto Croze (Italy)
1972 E. de la Riva and J. Gancedo (Spain)
1971 Alberto Croze (Italy)
1970 Henric Adam (England)

ME.

R&A Men’s Home Internationals – 2021 Preview & Results

Posted on 09/09/2021 by Golf Bible

Friday 17th September 2021 – Day 3 Matches

Ireland won the 2021 R&A Home Internationals after a thrilling contest at Hankley Common GC which went down to the final putt of the competition.

Ireland With The Raymond Trophy (Photo: Luke Walker / Getty Images / The R&A)

After a disappointing morning Foursomes against England on the final day the Irish fought back bravely to secure an all important half in the match which in turn locked out Scotland.

Scotland had earlier beaten Wales 11-4 to apply pressure on Ireland and England who both entered the final afternoon with a good chance of winning the competition.

Final Table / Match Points (Graphics: The R&A / Golfbox)

Scotland who secured 27.5 winning points, compared with Ireland’s 27, finished second, England a very disappointing 3rd and Wales 4th.

England had already won the Seniors, Girls and Boys and Women’s Home Internationals this season but were found wanting in the Men’s event. No one would have predicted before play started that they would be comfortably beaten in both Singles series against Scotland (8-2) and Ireland (6.5-3.5) and it was these two performances that cost them.

Match Overview (Graphics: The R&A / Golfbox)

Click here to view the full results – 2021 R&A Home internationals

Robert MORAN (IRL), Andrew NI (SCO), John GOUGH (ENG) and Luke HARRIES / Ben CHAMBERLAIN (WAL) were the leading players for the four nations based on the SPWAR analysis of team events: –

Screenshot 2021-09-17 at 19.19.18

Screenshot 2021-09-17 at 19.20.10

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Scotland v. Wales

Scotland beat Wales 11-4 to fulfil their side of the last day bargain.

All of the Foursomes and Singles games in this match started from the 5th tee after early morning fog in Southern England caused a 30 minute delay in play.

Scotland enjoyed another strong session winning four and halving one of their Foursomes games against Wales.

Captain Matthew CLARK continued his unbeaten run securing a half with partner Angus CARRICK on the final hole (4th) when their opponents conceded early.

With Ireland struggling against England in their Foursomes encounter (see below) the Scots went into the Singles as favourites for the title.

Scotland won the Singles 6.6-3.5 to complete a comfortable overall victory over Wales.

George BURNS, Angus CARRICK and Andrew NI all enjoyed 4&3 wins at the tail of the line up after the Scots had made a slow start to the afternoon games.

Ben CHAMBERLAIN, Matt ROBERTS and Tomi BOWEN, who beat Scotland’s talisman Matt CLARK, all signed off from Hankley Common with Singles wins.

Scotland v. Wales Results (Graphics: The R&A / Golfbox)

Ireland v. England

Ireland and England halved their match 7.5-7.5 on the final afternoon.

England won the Foursomes 4-1 against Ireland to give themselves some hope of recovering from their poor showing against Scotland yesterday.

The best performance on the final morning came from unbeaten Foursomes pairing Sam BAIRSTOW and Haider HUSSAIN who produced six birdies and no bogeys to beat Marc BOUCHER and Liam NOLAN by 6&5.

With Robert MORAN halving his Foursomes with partner Alex MAGUIRE John GOUGH entered the Singles as the only player with a 100% winning record in this year’s competition. He and Olly HUGGINS have also won all three of their Foursomes games.

The Robert MORAN and John GOUGH match proved to be of the highest quality and in some respects it was nice to see a half meaning both players finished the competition with unbeaten records – the only two do so.

The real heroes for the Irish were Hugh FOLEY and Liam NOLAN who secured 1Up victories over Sam BAIRSTOW and Callan BARROW under the most intense pressure. Barrow had a 10ft birdie putt on the 18th green to half his game and secure the match win for England (and the event win for Scotland). When he missed Ireland had the half and enough points to secure the title.

Matt MCCLEAN and Caolan RAFFERTY secured big early wins over Zach CHEGWIDDEN and Laird SHEPHERD respectively to provide the Irish with momentum and the confidence that they could overturn the 3-point Foursomes deficit they carried into this final series.

On a disappointing afternoon for the home side Jack BIGHAM confirmed his promise by completing a third Singles win, this time over Alan FAHY.

Ireland v. England Results (Graphics: The R&A / Golfbox)

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Thursday 16th September 2021 – Day 2 Matches

Ireland made it two wins from two games to take control of the 2021 R&A Home Internationals.

However, with Scotland beating England today and Ireland still to face the hosts all three of these teams still have a chance of winning The Raymond Trophy.

If England beat Ireland and Scotland beat Wales tomorrow the title will be decided by total winning match points. Here’s the current position in this regard: –

Day 2 Table / Match Points (Graphics: The R&A / Golfbox)

England v. Scotland

Scotland surprised England by comprehensively out playing them in the afternoon Singles to easily win their Day 2 match.

England won the morning Foursomes 3-2 but the scoreline hardly told the full story.

Jack DYER and Arron EDWARDS-HILL, who had been 3Up after 7 holes, ended up having to win both the 17th and 18th holes to secure a point against Rory FRANSSEN and James WILSON.

In a game where neither side ever led by more than 1Up Sam BAIRSTOW and Haider HUSSAIN birdied the par 3 16th to get their noses in front just in time against Andrew NI and George BURNS.

Olly HUGGINS and John GOUGH were again England’s strongest pairing producing five birdies in their match to easily beat Ruben LINDSAY and Darren HOWIE by 5&3.

However, the best performance of the morning came from Scotland’s Lewis IRVINE and Stuart EASTON who fought back from 4Down after 8 holes to run out 3&1 winners against Zach CHEGWIDDEN and Laird SHEPHERD who lost five holes in a row from the 9th to completely lose the initiative.

In the final match Matthew CLARK and Angus CARRICK handed Jack BIGHAM and Josh HILL their second foursomes defeat. The English pair produced two lates birdies to put a little respectability on the final result but having been 5Up after 12 the Scots coasted in to victory.

Scotland won the afternoon Singles 8-2 to turn the match in their favour.

James WILSON, Rory FRANSSEN, Connor WILSON, Lewis IRVINE, Matt CLARK and Andrew NI took their Singles with a barrage of birdies that their English opponents simply couldn’t live with.

Stuart EASTON and George BURNS also won their games but to a greater degree than their teammates benefitted from Callan BARROW and Zach CHEGWIDDEN playing poorly.

On a disappointing day for England the only really bright spot for the home team was 17 year old R&A Boys’ Amateur champion Jack BRIGHAM winning his second Singles game of the event.

England v. Scotland Results (Graphics: The R&A / Golfbox)

Wales v. Ireland

Ireland comprehensively beat Wales 11-4 in the second match of Day 2.

The Foursomes games in this match ended up being relatively comfortable for the respective winning pairs, Ireland ultimately taking a 3-2 advantage over Wales into the afternoon Singles.

Marc BOUCHER and Liam NOLAN, who replaced Caolan RAFFERTY in the line up, starred for the Irish. Six birdies in the 13 holes played understandably proved too much for Matt ROBERTS and Aled GREVILLE who went down by 6&5.

Hugh FOLEY and Alan FAHY, who had received a drubbing against Scotland yesterday bounced back well to record a solid 4&3 win against Tomi BOWEN and Tom MATTHEWS.

Just like Scotland in the earlier game Ireland easily beat Wales in the Singles, albeit looking through the hole-by-hole scores the 8-2 margin of victory perhaps flattered them a little.

The biggest winners for the Irish were Robert MORAN, who after a slow start went into overdrive on the back nine, Matt MCCLEAN, who birdied the opening three holes of his match against Aled GREVILLE to take control, and pleasingly Caolan RAFFERTY, who bounced back well after a difficult opening day in Surrey.

For the Welsh Luke HARRIES won his game with a birdie on the last and Ben CHAMBERLAIN hung on well after going 4Up after four holes.

Wales v. Ireland Results (Graphics: The R&A / Golfbox)

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Wednesday 15th September 2021 – Day 1 Matches

England and Ireland moved into the box seats after recording wins on the opening day of the 2021 R&A Home internationals.

Day 1 Table (Graphics: The R&A / Golfbox)

England v. Wales

England beat Wales in today’s opening match.

England got off to a good start winning the morning Foursomes 4-1.

The BB&O pairing of Olly HUGGINS and John GOUGH produced the best win of the series beating Craig MELDING and Kieron HARMAN by 5&3.

Matt ROBERTS and Aled GREVILLE proved too strong for England’s junior pairing of JACK BIGHAM and Josh HILL to ensure Wales took a point into the Singles.

England won the Singles series 6.5-3.5 with wins from Sam BAIRSTOW, Olly HUGGINS, John GOUGH, Jack BIGHAM, Zach CHEGWIDDEN and Amateur champion Laird SHEPHERD.

Luke HARRIES, Tom MATTHEWS, who was rested in the morning, and Kieron HARMAN were victorious for the Welsh.

England v. Wales Results (Graphics: The R&A / Golfbox)

Scotland v. Ireland

Ireland got the better of Scotland in a competitive opening match at Hankley Common.

Ireland edged the morning Foursomes 3-2.

Robert MORAN and Alex MAGUIRE gelled perfectly to win the opening game against Angus CARRICK and Connor WILSON by 8&6. Six birdies in their opening eight holes set them up for a memorable win.

Almost as impressively Matt CLARK and Darren HOWIE posted a 6&5 win against an out of sorts Hugh FOLEY and Alan FAHY.

Ireland won the Singles series 5.5-4.5 to complete the win over Scotland.

Liam NOLAN, who sat out the Foursomes, and Hugh FOLEY, who bounced back well after his loss this morning, were the big winners for the Irish. Nolan beat Connor WILSON 5&4 whilst Foley got the better of Darren HOWIE by the even bigger margin of 7&5.

Scottish playing captain Matt CLARK, starting as he finished the 2019 competition – unbeaten, took down TJ FORD by 6&5 whilst a flawless Andrew NI surprised 2019 Walker Cupper Caolan RAFFERTY by 7&6.

Scotland v. Ireland Results (Graphics: The R&A / Golfbox)

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9th September 2021

The R&A Men’s Home Internationals will be played at Hankley Common Golf Club on the North Downs in Surrey, England between 15th and 17th September 2021.

This year’s staging will be the 80th playing of this prestigious event.

England will start as favourites but will carry the burden of expectation whilst having to overcome highly motivated opponents.

The Competition

Historically the English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh Golf Unions have taken it in turns to host the event but from this playing The R&A will be taking over responsibility for it.

The competition was first played in 1932.

The 2020 competition was due to be played at Royal Dornoch G.C. in Scotland but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last cancellation came in 1979 when the competition was scheduled to be played at Royal County Down G.C. in Northern Ireland. Before that there had been an uninterrupted run stretching back to 1947 when six years (1939-46) were lost due to World War II.

To assist with the selection of this year’s Walker Cup team The R&A initially attempted to bring forward the 2021 Men’s Home Internationals to 14-16 April and to play them at Royal Dornoch but the pandemic again led to a postponement.

The 2021 event had originally been scheduled to be played at Hankley Common G.C. on 8-10 September but is now taking place a week later.

Format

11-man teams from ENGLAND, IRELAND, SCOTLAND and WALES play against each other once over three days.

Each series consists of five morning foursomes and ten afternoon singles match play games.

The overall winner is the country with the highest number of match points. 1 point is awarded for a win, 0.5 for a half and 0 for a loss.

Ties are resolved by considering the number of individual game points secured in the three matches played.

Since 1952 the winning team has received The Raymond Trophy.

In the 79 competitions played today England have won 38, Scotland 21, Ireland 12 and Wales 1. The remaining 7 were tied before it was decided that ties would be resolved by using game points.

The Raymond Trophy (Photo: Ayrshire Golf Blog)

2021 Players

The four national golf unions have selected the following players to represent their countries this year.

I have also included the Team (total) and Individual Scratch Players World Amateur Rankings (SPWAR) and World Amateur Golf Rankings below (as at 9th September): –

ENGLAND – Team SPWAR 1,728 / WAGR 3,569
Sam BAIRSTOW (34 / 30) – Hallowes
Callan BARROW (114 / 188) – Royal Lytham & St. Annes
Jack BIGHAM (159 / 1,586) – Harpenden
Zach CHEGWIDDEN (125 / 642) – Orsett
Jack DYER (44 / 110) – Boyce Hill
Arron EDWARDS-HILL (101 / 274) – Chelmsford
John GOUGH (65 / 136) – Stoke Park
Josh HILL (177 / 217) – Trump International Dubai
Olly HUGGINS (100 / 163) – Frilford Heath
Haider HUSSAIN (125 / 173) – The Kendleshire
Laird SHEPHERD (684 / 50) – Rye

All 11 English players are making their debut in the tournament.

Jack Dyer is the only 2021 GB&I Walker Cup player in the field.

Jack BROOKS (The Mere) and Joe HARVEY (The Kendleshire) were also named as 1st and 2nd Reserves respectively.

IRELAND – Team SPWAR 4,706 / WAGR 5,490
Marc BOUCHER (281 / 321) – Carton House
Alan FAHY (427 / 353) – Dun Laoghaire
Hugh FOLEY (290 / 542) – Royal Dublin
T.J. FORD (515 / 592) – County Sligo
Alex MAGUIRE (372 / 428) – Layton & Bettystown
Matt MCCLEAN (487 / 513) – Malone
Jack MCDONNELL (720 / 1,066) – Forrest Little
Robert MORAN (278 / 231) – Castle
Liam NOLAN (308 / 1,008) – Galway
PETER O’KEEFFE (520 / 293) – Douglas
Caolan RAFFERTY (508 / 143) – Dundalk

Matt McClean and Caolan Rafferty both played in 2019 at Lahinch Golf Club.

SCOTLAND – Team SPWAR 6,305 / WAGR 7,049
George BURNS (688 / 533) – Williamwood
Angus CARRICK (962 / 1,605) – Cragielaw
Matthew CLARK (713 / 1,015) – Renfrewshire
Stuart EASTON (459 / 423) – Irvine
Rory FRANSSEN (193 / 238) – Auchterarder
Darren HOWIE (821 / 717) – Peebles
Lewis IRVINE (388 / 396) – Kirkhill
Ruben LINDSAY (655 / 775) – Turnberry
Andrew NI (395 / 461) – Murrayfield
Connor WILSON (210 / 335) – Castle Park
James WILSON (821 / 551) – Balmore

Scotland are the most experienced team with George Burns, Matthew Clark, Stuart Easton, Darren Howie, Lewis Irvine and James Wilson all having played in 2019. Indeed Clark will be playing in his ninth consecutive Home Internationals.

WALES – Team SPWAR 27,931 / WAGR 15,551 + 2 ‘No Ranking’ players
James ASHFIELD (283 / 449) – Delamere Forest
Tomi BOWEN (2,566 / NR) – Welshpool
Ben CHAMBERLAIN (2,783 / 943) – Padeswood & Buckley
Jacob DAVIES (5,181 / 1,076) – Rhuddlan
Aled GREVILLE (2,510 / 1,391) – Ashburnham
Kieron HARMAN (2,466 / 4,180) – St Athan
Luke HARRIES (1,010 / 1,201) – Tenby
Tim HARRY (3,808 / 4,624) – The Vale
Tom MATTHEWS (2,902 / 1,111) – Aldersey Green
Craig MELDING (2,783 / NR) – Neath
Matt ROBERTS (1,639 / 576) – Royal Porthcawl

Ben Chamberlain, Jacob Davies, Kieron Harman and Matt Roberts all return for the Welsh in Surrey.

Highlighting the speed at which players turn professional nowadays just 12 of the 44 players who competed at Lahinch in 2019, admittedly two years ago, are on show this year. This compares with 23 returnees last time and 14 at Conwy in 2018.

Venue – Hankley Common Golf Club

Hankley Common G.C. in Tilford, near Farnham in Surrey was first opened as a nine hole course in May 1897. A further nine holes were added by James Braid in 1923/24 but it was only after Harry Colt undertook some remodelling and replaced three holes in 1935 that it started to be recognised as one of England’s best inland courses.

It sits on a huge piece of heathland which allows the holes to meander across the property often in isolation. The area has been designated as a ‘site of special scientific interest’ due to its range of trees and abundant wildlife.

Off the back tees the course measures 6,909 yards and plays to a par of 71, there being only one par 5 on the back nine.

The uphill par three 7th is the ‘signature hole’ but in truth their are many memorable holes on the property.

There are a number of roads, paths and tracks on the course all of which have been deemed integral with no free relief available.

Where My Ball Finished Off The 13th Tee When I Played There In September 2015 ! (Photo: GolfBible)

Hankley Common has hosted a number of major events through the years most recently the English Men’s Amateur Championship (Closed) in 2019 which was won by Conor Gough.

2021 Weather Forecast (as at 14th September)

The latest forecast is encouraging with dry weather and low winds forecast for the three competition days: –

Wed. 15th Sept. – Light Cloud / Wind 7mph NW / Temp. Min 11º, Max 21º
Thurs. 16th Sept. – Sunny Intervals / Wind 6mph SW / Temp. Min 11º, Max 21º
Fri. 17th Sept. – Sunny Intervals / Wind 8mph S / Temp. Min 12º, Max 20º

2019 Men’s Home Internationals

The 2020 Men’s Home Internationals were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

England won the 2019 Men’s Home Internationals at Lahinch G.C. in Ireland, winning all three of their games, and retaining The Raymond Trophy after their 2018 win at Conwy G.C.

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The England Team (Photo: Nigel Edwards)

Matty LAMB was the star man for England winning five of his matches. The whole team contributed with Ben SCHMIDT and Ben JONES, who both won four games, next in line for praise.

Experienced Matt CLARK contributed the most for Scotland winning four games, including two Singles, and halving another.

Screenshot 2019-09-13 at 19.35.56

Colm CAMPBELL was the star man for Ireland with Caolan RAFFERTY and Conor PURCELL also contributing strongly with four wins. Connor JONES played the best for Wales winning two Singles.

Screenshot 2019-09-13 at 18.01.42

Click here to view the – Men’s 2019 Home Internationals Results
– click the match score to see the individual games and the game score to view the hole by hole scores.

Historic Results

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

ME.

The Jacques Léglise Trophy – 2021 Preview & Results

Posted on 24/08/2021 by Golf Bible

28th August 2021

Continent of Europe won the The 44thJacques Léglise Trophy match against Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) at Falsterbo Golfklubb in Sweden.

Continent of Europe Team (Photo: European Golf Association)

The final score was 16.5-8.5 with the Continent of Europe winning ten points on Day 2 whilst GB&I could only muster three.

Day 2 Scoreboard (Graphic: European Golf Association / Golfbox)

Continent of Europe won the Saturday Singles 6.5-2.5 to complete a comprehensive victory over GB&I.

GB&I’s two wins came from Harley SMITH and Cameron ADAM with Joshua HILL earning a half in his game.

Saturday Afternoon Singles Results (Graphic: European Golf Association / Golfbox)

Continent of Europe won the Saturday Foursomes series 3.5-0.5 to take control of the Jacques Léglise Trophy match in Sweden.

Jack BIGHAM and Josh HILL secured the half for GB&I.

Saturday Morning Foursomes Results (Graphic: European Golf Association / Golfbox)

Click here to view the final – Jacques Léglise Trophy Results

Here is my assessment of the individual performances in the match: –

Screenshot 2021-08-29 at 10.25.26

Marco FLORIOLI was unbeaten for Continent of Europe winning all three of the games he was selected for. Tim WIEDEMEYER played all four series, wining three games and halving his Day 1 Singles. Oihan GUILLAMOUNDEGUY was the only European player to win both of their Singles.

Harley SMITH and Cameron ADAM were the two GB&I players to come out of the match with a positive record, winning three and two of their games respectively. Smith enhanced his growing reputation by winning both of his Singles.

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27th August 2021

Continent of Europe lead Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) by 6.5-5.5 at the end of the opening day at Falsterbo Golfklubb in Sweden.

Day 1 Scoreboard (Graphic: European Golf Association / Golfbox)

It was a better afternoon for GB&I who took the Friday Singles 4.5-3.5 to reduce Continent of Europe’s lead to a more manageable one point. Ruben LINDSAY, Harley SMITH, Archie FINNIE and Cameron ADAM delivered wins whilst Joshua HILL halved the final match.

Friday Afternoon Singles Results (Graphic: European Golf Association / Golfbox)

Continent of Europe won the Friday Foursomes series 3-1 to take an early advantage in the Jaques Léglise Trophy match against GB&I.

On a tough morning for GB&I Daniel BULLEN and Harley SMITH were the sole winners for the away side.

Friday Morning Foursomes Results (Graphic: European Golf Association / Golfbox)

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24th August 2021

The 44thJacques Léglise Trophy match between Continent of Europe and Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) will take place at Falsterbo Golfklubb, Sweden on Friday 27th and Saturday 28th 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 2020 match, which was due to be played at Blairgowrie GC last August, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

I will be updating this article with daily reports during the match.

2021 Teams

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

Cameron ADAM (18, Playing Captain) – Scotland
Daniel BULLEN (16) – Scotland
Jack BIGHAM (17) – England
Archie FINNIE (16) – Scotland
Connor GRAHAM (14) – Scotland
Josh HILL (17) – England
Joshua HILL (18) – Ireland
Ruben LINDSAY (17) – Scotland
Harley SMITH (16) – England

Wales’ Chris KING, Chairman of The R&A GB&I Boys’ Selection Committee, will finally take charge of his first event. He succeeds Stuart Wilson (SCO) who stepped up to be the GB&I Men’s Captain in 2020.

2021 GB&I and Continent of Europe Teams (Photo: European Golf Association)

The 2021 Continent of Europe team, selected by the European Golf Association, consists of: –

Tiger CHRISTENSEN – Germany
Riccardo FANTINELLI – Italy
Marco FLORIOLI – Italy
Oihan GUILLAMOUNDEGUY – France
Yannick MALIK – Germany
Flavio MICHETTI – Italy
Jaime MONTOJO – Spain
Daniel SVÄRD – Sweden
Tim WIEDEMEYER – Germany

Europe will be led for the second time by Captain Joachim FOURQUET of France. He succeeded Jeroen Stevens (NED) who captained the team to two wins and a loss during his three year term of office between 2016-2018.

The Jacques Léglise Trophy (Photo: European Golf Association)

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.

Venue

Falsterbo GK is a links course set in a nature reserve beside the Baltic Sea on the south west tip of Sweden.

The club was established in 1909 with the current course opened in 1930. It plays to around 6,650 yards with water hazards featuring on a number of holes.

Weather

The current weather forecast suggests cloudy conditions with moderate winds can be expected.

Friday 27th August – Cloudy, PM Showers / Wind 14 mph N / Temp. Min. 14°C, Max. 17°C.
Saturday 28th August – Cloudy, PM Showers / Wind 14 mph N / Temp. Min. 14°C, Max. 18°C.

The 2019 Jacques Léglise Trophy Match

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.

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.

Continent of Europe Team (Photo: @EGA_golf)

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

Previous Matches

A junior match was first played between 1958 and 1966 with GB&I winning all of them.

After a short break it was re-instated to the amateur calendar in 1977 as the Jacques Léglise Trophy. Jean-Louis Dupont donated the new 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.

Since becoming the Jacques Léglise GB&I have won 29 of the matches with the Continent of Europe claiming 13 victories with the 2015 match tied. Surprisingly nine of Europe’s wins have been in away matches.

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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