Brabazon Trophy – 2026 Preview & Results

24th May 2026

Round 4

Tom OSBORNE (ENG), 24, completed a wire-to-wire victory with an even par final round of 71. His 268 (-16) total was 2-shots better than runner-up Eliot BAKER (ENG).

With his second major win of the year Osborne is building a compelling case for inclusion in this year’s GB&I Walker Cup team.

Eliot put his international teammate under real pressure down the stretch with birdies on the 12th, 15th and 16th holes and only bogeyed the last whilst pushing to force a play-off.

Bence BERTENYI (HUN) -9 finished 3rd, Oliver LEWIS-PERKINS (ENG) -8 4th and Harley SMITH (ENG) -7 5th after final round count-back.

GB&I players Jack DIMENT (ENG) -7, Jake SOWDEN (ENG) -7, Lewy HAYWARD (ENG) -6 and Matt MCCLEAN (IRL) -5 will all take confidence for the other big events that lie ahead with their top 10 finishes.

Shot of the day went to Moortown member Oliver CAGE (ENG) who enjoyed a hole-in-one on 187 yard 17th hole.

Harry COX (ENG), who finished on -4, won The George Henriques Salver, a prize awarded to the leading GB&I player(s) in the Championship under the age of 20.

Cole SELF (ENG) won The Scrutton Jug, the trophy awarded for the combined best score in the Berkshire Trophy and the Brabazon Trophy.

Final Results (Graphic: England Golf / Golf Genius)

Click here to view the – 2026 Brabazon Trophy Leaderboard

ME.

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23rd May 2026

Round 3

A bogey free 2-under par 69 saw leader Tom OSBORNE (ENG) move on to -16. Osborne has had only one bogey in the three rounds he has played so far.

The Lindrick-man will take a 5-shot lead in to the final round over Eliot BAKER (ENG) -11 who recorded a 67 on Day 3. Baker was one of five players to record 67, the low round of the day.

Melvin MULLER (NED) -9, Oliver LEWIS-PERKINS (ENG) -8, John DOYLE (IRL) -7 and Caolan BURFORD (WAL), Bence BERTENYI (HUN), Kris KIM (ENG) and Lewy HAYWARD (ENG) all -6 will hope to make a run at the title tomorrow but they will clearly need some help from the leader to pull it off.

Round 3 Leaderboard (Graphic: England Golf / Golf Genius)

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22nd May 2026

Round 2

Tom OSBORNE (ENG), now on -14, extended his lead to 7-shots after shooting a 5-under 66 in Round 2.

Eliot BAKER (ENG) bounced back strongly on Day 2 with a 65 to move up into 2nd place on -7. Baker’s was the joint-best round of the day matched only by Chase OBERLE (AUS) who rose to tied 9th on the leaderboard.

England Men’s Squad members Osborne and Baker contested the Final of the Spanish International Amateur in March with the former coming out on top.

Kris KIM (ENG), Oliver LEWIS-PERKINS (ENG), Lewy HAYWARD (ENG) and Jack DIMENT (ENG) are all tied 3rd on -6 after 36 holes.

Jamie DEAN (WAL) who was tied 2nd overnight withdrew due to injury ahead of Round 2.

66 players made the top 60 and ties cut which fell at 144 (+2).

Round 2 Leaderboard (Graphic: England Golf / Golf Genius)

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21st May 2026

Round 1

Tom OSBORNE (ENG) shot a course record 62 at Moortown G.C., -9 being the lowest score ever recorded in the competition, in the opening round of the Brabazon Trophy to take a 3-shot lead. The local man won the Yorkshire County Championship at the host venue in 2022 so has plenty of experience on the course.

Harley SMITH (ENG) and Jamie DEAN (WAL) are tied 2nd on -5 after they both posted 65’s.

One shot further back are Alex JAMES (WAL), Oliver MARTIN (ENG) and Luke KELLY (ENG).

45 players recorded an under par score on Day 1 with a further 16 recording an even par 71.

Round 1 Leaderboard (Graphic: England Golf / Golf Genius)

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19th May 2026

The 80th English Men’s Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship for the Brabazon Trophy will be played at Moortown Golf Club, between Thursday 21st and Sunday 24th May 2026.

Turkish Airlines has become the headline sponsor of the Championship with effect from this year.

I will be updating this article with a scores link and daily reports once play commences.

Format

This four day competition consists of 72 holes of stroke play golf with 18 holes being played daily.

A 36 hole cut will reduce the field to the leading 60 competitors and ties.

In the event of a tie for the Championship there will be a sudden death play off.

All other places will be determined by a card count-back, starting with the final round and working backwards from there.

Field

144 competitors from 17 different countries will contest the 2026 Brabazon Trophy Championship.

With the NCAA U.S. college golf season, where the majority of the leading International and GB&I players are now engaged, not finishing until early June the Brabazon’s field quality is increasingly being impacted. The WAGR Power Ranking has been falling since 2022. It was 617.0619 in 2022, 467.2656 in 2023, 454.8860 in 2024 and 384.3262 in 2025.

The majority of the field were exempt with starting places offered to a number of national golf federations and to those players who have performed well in other recent Championships.

Biagio Andrea GAGLIARDI (ITA) will be defending the title he won last year at Hankley Common G.C.

Other notable players competing include (in alphabetical order) Eliot BAKER (ENG), John DOYLE (IRL), Andrew HASWELL (ENG), Hamish FARQUHARSON (AUS), Wolfgang GLAWE (GER), Lewy HAYWARD (ENG), Tom HUGHES (ENG), Kevin JEGERS (EST), Luke JENKINS (ENG), GUS LAFEBER (NED), Dawson LEW (CAN), Matt MCCLEAN (IRL), Aaron MOODY (ENG), Tom OSBORNE (ENG), Dylan SHAW-RADFORD (ENG), Harley SMITH (ENG), Jake SOWDEN (ENG), Henry STYLES (ENG), Gavin TIERNAN (IRL), Erik TJÄRNBERG (SWE), Jamie VAN WYK (ENG) and Scott WOLTERING (NED).

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Three 18 hole regional Qualifying Tournaments were staged on 12th May 2026. 49 players ultimately progressed from the Midland, Northern and Southern Qualifiers.

Here is a summary of the three Qualifiers and a list of all the players who progressed: –

MIDLAND – Droitwich G.C. – Results
16 Qualifiers / 115 players
Andrew Isaacs (ENG), Alex Emms (ENG), Max Reynolds (ENG), Matthew Haynes (ENG), Ted Hodgkinson (ENG), Daniel Smith (ENG), Dempsie McFadyen (ENG), Kieran McCarthy (ENG), Jack Diment (ENG), Marco Cruse (ENG), Shreyas Sanmathy (ENG), Charlie McKinney (WAL), Theo Baker (WAL), Bryn Thomas (WAL) Alt. , Sam Norman (ENG) Alt. and James Hodgson (ENG) Alt.

NORTHERN – Bishop Auckland G.C. – Results
16 Qualifiers
– Kai Laing (SCO), Alex James (WAL), Jamie Duguid (SCO), Luke Kelly (ENG), Cole Self (ENG), Jack Richardson (ENG), Charlie Daughtrey (ENG), George Davies (ENG), Joshua Stephens (ENG), Nathan Ali (ENG), Campbell Kerr (AUS), Habib Khan (ENG), Lucas Martin (ENG), Alex North (ENG) Alt., Archie Palmer (ENG) Alt. and Nathan Wilkinson (ENG)

SOUTHERN – Royal Ashdown Forest G.C. – Results
17 Qualifiers
Charlie Croker (ENG), Dylan Hussey (ENG), Tommy Evans (ENG), Scott Pym (ENG), Jenson Bull (ENG), Ryan Craig (ENG), Lucas Weisberg (ENG), Oliver Martin (ENG), Danial Parsons (ENG), Henry Linley (ENG), Ashley Watkins (ENG), Daniel Roberts (ENG), Toby Knevett (ENG), Charlie Rusbridge (ENG), Frankie Morton (ENG) Alt., Charles Morgasn (ENG) Alt. and Marcus Smith (ENG) Alt.

Tee Times

Play on the opening two days will commence at 7.00am with the final three-ball heading out at 3.30pm; all from the 1st tee.

Click here to view the – 2026 Brabazon Trophy Tee Times

Prizes

The Winner receives the magnificent gold Brabazon Trophy shown below.

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The Champion’s Prize and The Brabazon Trophy (Photo: Golf Bible)

Prize vouchers will be awarded to those players finishing in the top five.

The event has been included in this year’s inaugural European Amateur Order of Merit Ranking and the winner will also receive an exemption into a HotelPlanner Tour professional event later in the year.

Two other prizes are connected to the Brabazon Trophy competition: –

The George Henriques Salver is awarded to the leading GB&I player in the Championship under the age of 20.

The Philip Scrutton Jug is awarded to the player returning the best aggregate scores in The Brabazon Trophy and The Berkshire Trophy. The latter was played on 16-17 May and won by Aaron MOODY (ENG) who is also competing this week.

Moortown Golf Club

Founded in 1909, Moortown, located in Leeds, was designed by the famous golf course architect Dr Alister MacKenzie.

Off the Championship Tees the course can be stretched to 7,001 yards and a par of 71. It has a Course Rating of 74.8 and a Slope Rating of 141.

It is a classic English heathland course which features firm, fast-running fairways, an abundance of heather and subtly contoured greens.

Moortown hosted the first Ryder Cup match on British soil in 1929 and since then has staged numerous professional and amateur tournaments.

10th Hole Moortown G.C. (Photo: Moortown G.C.)

Weather Forecast – on Tuesday 19th May 2026

The weather forecast suggests the Championship will be predominantly dry with temperatures warming up nicely over the weekend.

Thur 21st May – Cloudy / Wind 12 mph SW / Temp. Min. 11°C, Max. 17°C.
Fri 22nd May – Sunny AM / Showers PM / Wind 10 mph SW / Temp. Min. 15°C, Max. 26°C.
Sat 23rd May – Light Rain / Wind 8 mph W / Temp. Min. 11°C / Max. 25°C.
Sun 24th May – Sunny / Wind 5 mph W / Temp. Min. 11°C / Max. 24°C.

England Golf Event Website

Click here to view the – England Golf / Golf Genius Brabazon Trophy Website

2025 Brabazon Trophy

Biagio Andrea GAGLIARDI became the first Italian to win the Brabazon Trophy when he took the 2025 title at Hankley Common with a 276 (-8) score.

Biagio Andrea Gagliardi (Photo: England Golf / Leaderboard Photography)

Freddie TURNELL (ENG) -6 finished 2nd, Mattias VARJUN (EST) -5 3rd on count-back, Eliot BAKER (ENG)-5 4th and Billy DOWLING (AUS) -4 5th.

Final Brabazon Trophy Results (Photo: England Golf / Golf Genius)

Freddie TURNELL (ENG) also won The George Henriques Salver awarded to the highest finishing Under 20 GB&I player.

Recent Results

Click below to view the results over the last three years: –

Hankley Common – 2025 Brabazon Trophy Results

Hollinwell – 2024 Brabazon Trophy Results

Sunningdale – 2023 Brabazon Trophy Results

History, Past Winners and Records

The English Amateur International Trophy competition was first played in 1947.

In 1957 the official title was changed to the English Men’s Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship.

The current trophy was donated by Lord Brabazon of Tara in 1948 and the event has come to be widely known as the Brabazon Trophy.

Click here to view the full list of – Brabazon Trophy Past Winners

The first player to successfully defend the title was Ronnie WHITE who won at Birkdale in 1950 and nearby Formby in 1951.

Shortly afterwards Philip SCRUTTON won the Brabazon three times in four years (1952, ‘54 & ‘55).

Sir Michael BONALLACK has four wins to his name. The first came at Royal Cinque Ports in 1964 and the last at Hillside in 1971. At Moortown in 1969, with play-offs having been discarded at this time, he shared the title with Rodney FOSTER.

Other well known British winners of the Brabazon include Gordon BRAND Jnr, Sandy LYLE (2), Peter MCEVOY, Ronan RAFFERTY and Ronnie SHADE (3).

Other notable winners include well known pros Ignacio GARRIDO (1992), Peter HANSON (1998) and Charl SCHWARTZEL (2002), Jordan SMITH (2013) and Sam BAIRSTOW (2021).

ME.

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

England v. France Men’s International Match – 2024 Preview & Results

12th May 2024

France beat England 13.5.-10.5 in the 37th Men’s International Match played this year at Moortown G.C.

This was France’s sixth win in the biennial series and their first since 2010 at Chantilly.

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France Team (Photo: Federation of French Golf

Four French and two English players won three of the four matches they played.

Screenshot 2024-05-13 at 10.07.07

Click here to view the – England v. France Match Results

Day 2

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Morning Foursomes

England and France again halved the Foursomes series 2.0-2.0.

Hugo LE GOFF & Noa AUCH-ROY were again in superb form as they blew away England’s star pairing of Dylan SHAW-RADFORDHarley SMITH with a 3&2 win in the opening game.

Will HOPKINS & Zach CHEGWIDDEN secured England’s first point of Day 2 with a strong foursomes performance against Darren STRACHAN & Rafael BOBO-LLORET; hole wins on the 14th and 15th pushed the English pairing on to a 3&1 win.

Ben BOLTON & Ben BROWN came out on the wrong side of an exciting match against Oscar COUILLEAU & LOUKA MORIN, with plenty of birdies from both sides, by 1 Hole.

Eliot BAKER & James CLARIDGE beat Callixte ALZAS & Aaron VAN HAUWE by 2&1 to earn their first wins of the match.

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Day 2 Foursomes Results (Graphic: England Golf / Golf Genius)

Afternoon Singles

France won the Day 2 Singles series 4.5-3.5 to complete a thoroughly deserved match win.

Hugo LE GOFF and Will HOPKINS again played each other in the top match. This time it was the turn of the Frenchman to earn the 1 Hole victory in another high class encounter.

Harley SMITH continued his good form with a comfortable 4&3 victory over Noa AUCH-ROY helped by a match play eagle and five birdies in the 15 holes they played.

Yorkshire’s Dylan SHAW-RADFORD wasn’t to be out done by his foursomes partner. Five birdies in his 14 holes enabled him to runaway from Louka MORIN by 5&4 in Game 3.

Rafael BOBO-LLORET easily saw off Ben BOLTON 6&5 after the Englishman got on the bogey train on the 6th hole and was unable to get off it.

Zach CHEGWIDDEN, who was 4Down after 11 holes after a sloppy front nine to Darren STRACHAN, fought back to 1Down by the 15th but a three putt bogey on 16 gave the Frenchman the breathing space he needed to secure a 2&1 win.

Ben BROWN got the better of Callixte ALZAS in a rollercoaster match where the home player took an early lead, let it slip around the turn, before finishing strongly, a long putt from off the green for birdie on the 18th being key, for a 1Hole win.

Aaron VAN HAUWE beat Devon’s Eliot BAKER by 2&1 in the penultimate Singles, the highlight being his eagle on the 519 yard 7th.

James CLARIDGE, who was behind for most of his match against Oscar COUILLEAU, showed good heart in winning the closing two holes to tie his game, albeit the Frenchman bogeyed both of them.

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ME.

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11th May 2024

Day 1

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Morning Foursomes

England and France halved the Day 1 Foursomes series 2.0-2.0.

In Game 1 Hugo LE GOFF & Noa AUCH-ROY were a match play 6-under par for the 15 holes they required to beat Will HOPKINS & Zach CHEGWIDDEN by 5&3.

Game 2 saw the victorious 2024 Sunningdale Foursomes pairing of Dylan SHAW-RADFORDHarley SMITH overcome Oscar COUILLEAU & Darren STRACHAN, who had 5 bogeys in the 14 holes they played, by 5&4.

Ben BROWN & Ben BOLTON beat Rafael BOBO-LLORET & LOUKA MORIN by 2&1, the French pair unable to recover from losing the 5th, 6th, 8th and 9th holes, three of them to bogeys.

In the final game Callixte ALZAS & Aaron VAN HAUWE beat Eliot BAKER & James CLARIDGE by 3&1. The French pair were 3Up at the turn and saw out the match relatively comfortably thereafter.

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Day 1 Foursomes Results (Graphic: England Golf / Golf Genius)

Afternoon Singles

France won the Day 1 Singles series 5.0-3.0.

Will HOPKINS, who won the Lytham Trophy last weekend, got the better of Hugo LE GOFF in the opening Singles. 2Down with four holes to plan Hopkins delivered two birdies, including one on the home hole with a 25 foot putt, to secure a memorable 1 Hole victory.

The second game was equally tight with Noa AUCH-ROY getting the better of Zach CHEGWIDDEN by 1 Hole.

Harley SMITH and Dylan SHAW-RADFORD both maintained their unbeaten match records with 5&4 and 2&1 wins against Darren STRACHAN and Rafael BOBO-LLORET respectively.

Ben BROWN and James CLARIDGE both got off to good starts in their games, Brown leading 2Up after 4 holes and Claridge 3Up after 5, but both were reeled in by Louka MORIN and Callixte ALZAS as they leaked bogeys as their rounds progressed.

Aaron VAN HAUWE outlasted Ben BOLTON in a competitive match which was All Square after 16 holes before the Enville player handed the initiative to the Frenchman with two badly timed bogeys on the 17th and 18th holes.

The biggest Singles win of Day 1 went to Oscar COUILLEAU who beat Eliot BAKER by 6&5. Couilleau was a match play 5-under par for the 13 holes he required to reach the winning line.

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Day 1 Singles Results (Graphic: England Golf / Golf Genius)

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10th May 2024

England will play France this coming weekend in the 37th Men’s International Match between the two countries.

The last match, played at Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche near Paris in May 2022, was won by England.

Format

8 man teams from each country will play 4 foursomes and 8 single matches on both Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th May.

With a total of 24 points to play for the winning team needs to secure 12.5 points to win the match outright. As England won the 2022 match they will also retain the trophy in the event of a 12-12 tie. Having said that there has never previously been a tie in the history of the contest.

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

Teams

The biennial playing of this fixture in mid-May hampers selection nowadays as both teams have an increasing number of potential players competing on the U.S. college circuit.

Here are the two eight man teams with each player’s current World Amateur Golf Ranking (as at 8th May) in brackets after their name: –

England
Eliot Baker (842)
Ben Bolton (708)
Ben Brown (1,089)
Zach Chegwidden (828)
James Claridge (202)
Will Hopkins (102)
Dylan Shaw-Radford (514)
Harley Smith (928)

Total WAGR = 5,213

Zach Chegwidden is the only returning England player from two years ago.

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England Team (Photo: Golf England)

France
Noa Auch-Roy (1,067)
Callixte Alzas (977)
Rafeal Bobo-Lloret (1,993)
Oscar Couilleau (599)
Hugo Le Goff (323)
Louka Morin (2,791)
Darren Strachan  (399)
Aaron Van Hauwe (2,337)

Total WAGR = 10,486 

France have no returning players from the 2022 match.

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France Team (Photo: Golf England)

England will start the match as favourites as is normally the case given past results and their greater strength in depth as a golf nation.

Tee Times

Click here to view the – England v. France Tee Times

Venue

Moortown Golf Club was designed by Dr Alister MacKenzie in 1909 across woodland and moorland on the northern outskirts of Leeds.

The club has long held a reputation as a venue for prestigious international championships and was the host of the first Ryder Cup match on British soil in 1929.

Off the Blue Championship Tees the courses measures 7,001 yards and plays to a par of 71.

The Gibraltar par 3 10th, shown below, is the Club’s signature hole.

Weather Forecast

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

Sat  11th May – Sunny / Wind 11 mph SE / Temp. Min. 11°C / Max. 23°C.
Sun 12th May – Sunny / Wind 12 mph SE / Temp. Min. 13°C / Max. 22°C.

Match History

This International Match was first played in 1934, originally starting with 6 players per side before moving to 8 in 1949.

It lapsed after the 1962 match at Ganton Golf Club but was resurrected in 1982 at Chantilly with a new format which has been retained to this day.

Frilford Heath Golf Club, hosts of the 1984 match, donated a silver salver which the winning team retains.

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England v. France Match Salver (Photo: Alexis Orloff / FFGolf)

To date England have won 31 of the matches with France winning just 5, the last one being in 2010 at Chantilly.

2022 International Match

England beat France 13.5-10.5 in the 2022 Men’s International Match at Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche, finally overcoming their stubborn opponents in the final Singles session.

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The Winning England Team (Photo: England Golf)

French pair Julien Sale and Oihan Guillamoundeguy were the star performers in the match delivering the two only unbeaten records.

John Gough, Arron Edwards-Hill, Jack Bigham and Sam Bairstow crucially won both of their Singles for the English.

Screenshot 2022-05-16 at 09.00.30

Past Results

The overall match record is Played 36, England 31 Wins and France 5 Wins.

Match

Year

Venue

England

France

Winner

37 2024 Moortown 10.5 13.5 France
36 2022 St-Nom-la-Bretèche 13.5 10.5 England
2020 Cancelled
35 2018 Vidauban 13 7 England
34 2016 Formby 14 10 England
33 2014 Fontainebleau 13 11 England
32 2012 Roch. & Cobham 15 9 England
31 2010 Chantilly 11 13 France
30 2008 Frilford Heath 14 10 England
29 2006 Golf du Medoc 16.5 7.5 England
28 2004 Royal St. George’s 11.5 12.5 France
27 2002 Chantilly 17.5 6.5 England
26 2000 Chart Hills 17.5 6.5 England
25 1998 Les Bordes 11.5 12.5 France
24 1996 Sunningdale 9 15 France
23 1994 Nimes 17 7 England
22 1992 Royal Lytham 18 6 England
21 1990 Morfontaine 16.5 7.5 England
20 1988 Berkshire 16 8 England
19 1986 Hossegor 14.5 9.5 England
18 1984 Frilford Heath 16 8 England
17 1982 Chantilly 13 11 England

 1963-1981 No matches were played 

16 1962 Ganton 7.5 4.5 England
15 1960 Chantilly 7.5 4.5 England
14 1959 West Hill 8.5 3.5 England
13 1956 Chantilly 10 2 England
12 1954 Berkshire 11 1 England
11 1952 Deal 8 4 England
10 1950 Morfontaine 8.5 3.5 England
9 1949 Deal 5 4 England
8 1948 St. Cloud 5.5 3.5 England
7 1947 Wentworth 8 1 England

 1940-1946 No matches were played 

6 1939 Morfontaine 5 4 France
5 1938 Sunningdale 8.5 0.5 England
4 1937 Chantilly 7 0 England
3 1936 Deal 5.5 3.5 England
2 1935 St. Germain-en-Laye 5.5 3.5 England
1 1934 Wentworth 5.5 3.5 England

N.B. Matches 1–8 had 6 players and matches 9-35 had 8 players

ME.

Copyright © 2014-2024, Mark Eley. All rights reserved.

Men’s Home Internationals – 2017 Preview, Daily Reports & Results

18th August 2017 – Day 3 

The Men’s Home Internationals came to a dramatic conclusion this afternoon at Moortown Golf Club in Leeds.

The Raymond Trophy was won by IRELAND. They drew the deciding match with ENGLAND 7.5 – 7.5 but in doing so pipped the home nation by a half point in total match points earned, 26.5 against 26.0.

Game 6 – IRELAND v. ENGLAND – Results

This was Ireland’s fourth consecutive victory in the event, a national record for them in the long history of this competition.

img_8391-1Ireland (Photo: Leaderboard Photography) 

Earlier in the day Wales beat Scotland 9.5 – 5.5, consigning the Scots to the wooden spoon.

Game 5 – WALES v. SCOTLAND – Results

Click here to view the detailed – Men’s Home Internationals Results

Here is the final Points Table with the ‘Countback’ information at the bottom: –

Points Table (Photo: England Golf Event Microsite)

Caolan RAFFERTY (IRE), Josh HILLEARD (ENG), Jack DAVIDSON (WAL) and Jamie STEWART (SCO) were the ‘Most Valuable Players’ for the four competing countries as can be seen in the following analysis: –

Screen Shot 2017-08-18 at 19.18.01Screen Shot 2017-08-18 at 19.19.11

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17th August 2017 – Day 2

Game 3 – IRELAND v. SCOTLANDResults

Ireland beat Scotland 10-5 to remain on course for a fourth consecutive Raymond Trophy win.

Ireland won the Foursomes 4-1, with only Ryan LUMSDEN and Euan WALKER able to come out on top for the Scots.  The Singles were much closer with the Irish narrowly winning the series 6-4.

Paul MCBRIDE followed up a morning Foursomes win with Conor O’ROURKE with a notable 5&4 against fellow Walker Cup hopeful Liam JOHNSTON.

Game 4 – WALES v. ENGLAND – Results

England beat Wales 9.5-5.5 to secure a winner takes all match against Ireland tomorrow.

Wales had the better of the Foursomes winning the series 3-2. However, England came back strongly in the afternoon Singles (7.5-2.5) to run out comfortable winners in the end.

Jack DAVIDSON beat Matthew JORDAN 3&2 in the top Singles game.

David HAGUE beat Llewellyn MATTHEWS 8&6 to remain the only player in the competition with a 100% Win record.

The Day 2 Points Table (Photo: England Golf Website)

ME.

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16th August 2017 – Day 1

Game 1 – IRELAND v. WALES – Results

Ireland overcame Wales 9-6 on Day 1 of the Men’s Home Internationals. Wales won the morning Foursomes series 3-2 but struggled in the Singles, losing 7-3.

Paul MCBRIDE, having won his morning Foursomes with Conor O’ROURKE, was rested in the afternoon presumably due to a minor injury.

Jack DAVIDSON beat Conor O’ROURKE 2&1 in the afternoon Singles.

Game 2 – ENGLAND v. SCOTLANDResults

England also beat Scotland 9-6. England took a 4-1 lead into the afternoon and looked for a while as if they may run away with the match but the Scots fought back to reduce the deficit to 3 points.

Craig HOWIE beat Dan BROWN by 1 hole whilst Matthew JORDAN halved with Liam JOHNSTON.

ME.

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12th August 2017 – Preview

The 2017 Men’s Home Internationals will be contested between 16th and 18th August at Moortown Golf Club near Leeds in England.

Ireland will travel to Yorkshire hoping to win the Raymond Trophy for a fourth consecutive year.

A competitive series of matches is guaranteed as all of the players will be looking to impress ahead of the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team announcement which is expected to be made on 21st August.

The Competition

11-man teams from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales play against each other annually, taking it in turns to the host the event.

Over three days all of the countries play each other once. There are five foursomes and ten singles match play games in each series.

The 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.

2017 Players

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

ENGLAND
Jack BURNAGE
Dan BROWN
Todd CLEMENTS
Jack GAUNT
David HAGUE
Josh HILLEARD
Matthew JORDAN
Bradley MOORE
Gian-Marco PETROZZI
Tom SLOMAN
Will WHITEOAK

IRELAND
Colm CAMPBELL
Robin DAWSON
Colin FAIRWEATHER
Alex GLEESON
John-Ross GALBRAITH
Rowan LESTER
Paul MCBRIDE
Peter O’KEEFFE
Conor O’ROURKE
Conor PURCELL
Colin RAFFERTY

img_8282The Raymond Trophy (Photo: Ayrshire Golf Blog)

SCOTLAND
Matthew CLARK
Rory FRANSSEN
Craig HOWIE
Liam JOHNSTON
Sam LOCKE
Ryan LUMSDEN
Chris MACLEAN
Craig ROSS
Sandy SCOTT
Jamie STEWART
Euan WALKER

WALES
Ben CHAMBERLAIN
Jack DAVIDSON
Joshua DAVIES
Owen EDWARDS
Evan GRIFFITH
Jake HAPGOOD
Matthew HARRIS
Tim HARRY
Llewellyn MATTHEWS
Lewys SANGES
Tom WILLIAMS

It remains a frustration to followers of amateur golf that this prestigious international  match continues to be scheduled directly against the US Amateur Championship.

This year David BOOTE (WAL), Harry ELLIS (ENG), Scott GREGORY (ENG), Jack SINGH BRAR (ENG), Stuart GREHAN (IRE), Robert MACINTYRE (SCO), Alfie PLANT (ENG) and Connor SYME (SCO) are all playing in the US Amateur, thus weakening their respective national teams and reducing the importance of this historic competition.

Moortown Golf Club

Founded in 1909 Moortown was designed by the famous golf course architect Dr. Alister MacKenzie.

One of the finest inland golf courses in England it is noted for it’s large greens and superb bunkering.

The courses measures 6,980 yards from the Blue Championship tees, playing to a par of 71.

img_8280Moortown Golf Club Scorecard

Moortown hosted the 1929 Ryder Cup, the first on British soil, as well as many other professional tournaments between 1929 and 1986.

On the amateur circuit it has hosted the Boys’ Amateur Championship (1934, 1958, 1966 & 1972), the English Amateur Championship (1938, 1962, 1980 & 1994), the English Ladies Championship (1955), the Brabazon Trophy (1957, 1968, 1974, 1999 & 2009), the Ladies’ Home Internationals (1978), the Ladies’ British Amateur Open Stroke Play (1983 & 2015) and the Boys’ Home Internationals (2001).

2016 Men’s Home Internationals

Ireland won the 2016 Home Internationals after a nail biting 8-7 victory over England on the final day at Nairn Golf Club.

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Ireland with the Raymond Trophy (Photo: Kenny Smith)

England had led the match 3-2 after the morning Foursomes but Ireland came out fighting in the afternoon Singles. Early on they appeared to be leading virtually all of the matches. England did well to recover a few of the games but at the end of the day the Irish were able to carry their early momentum through to secure a crucial 6-4 series win.

Man of the moment was Colm CAMPBELL who birdied the last to secure a narrow 1 hole win over Adam CHAPMAN. Playing in the final Singles it proved to be the crucial winning point.

Please click the link to review the full competition results – 2016 Men’s Home Internationals Results.  [Click on the match results to see the individual game scores]

I include below the Individual Performances Analysis from last year as much so we can reflect on who played as to how well each player did: –

1. IRELAND

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2. ENGLAND

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3. SCOTLAND

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4. WALES

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I am looking forward to this week’s competition and to some of the match ups, which may very well end up being unofficial Walker Cup deciders.

Good luck to all the players and teams.

ME.

Copyright © 2017, Mark Eley. All rights reserved.