23rd June 2026

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

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

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

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

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

Competition Format

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

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

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

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

Entries

144 players from 41 countries will contest the 2026 Championship.

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

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

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

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

Vanajanlinna G. & C.C., Finland

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

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

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

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

Weather Forecast (as at 23rd June)

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

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

Prizes

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

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

The European Amateur Championship Trophy (Photo: EGA)

The Open Championship

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

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

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

Other Championships

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

Further Information

Click here to view the – EGA European Amateur Championship Website

2025 European Amateur Championship

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

Filip Jakubčik (Photo: European Golf Association)

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

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

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

History

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

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

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

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

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

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

ME.

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