The Jacques Léglise Trophy – 2023 Preview & Results

Posted on 23/08/2023 by Golf Bible

26th August 2023

Continent of Europe won all four sessions of the match to secure a 17.0-8.0 victory in the 46th Jacques Léglise Trophy at Golf de Chantilly.

Continent of Europe (Photo: European Golf Association)

Europe have now won the last four and six of the last seven matches contested in what is becoming a one sided affair.

It was also a fourth win for captain Joachim Fourquet who is a member of Golf de Chantilly. He said “I am very proud of my team. The team spirit was perfect, I mean it is very natural for them. They talk to each other, they do contests around the practice green, they joke around. It is just a great team, with great players, great spirit, and that’s it, the result has come with it.”

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Lev GRINBERG (UKR) and Niall SHIELS DONEGAN (SCO) were the star men for Europe and GB&I in this year’s match based on my individual performance analysis below: –

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The 2024 match will take place at West Lancashire Golf Club in England.

Day 2 PM Singles

Europe won the Day 2 Singles session by 7.0-2.0 as GB&I sadly fell to defeat with a whimper.

Despite being far from his best Kris KIM‘s battling qualities saw him win the final two holes, including a great birdie on the 18th, to salvage a half against Louis ANCEAUX (FRA).

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Kim v. Anceaux Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Despite playing quite nicely Hugh ADAMS (ENG) had no answer to the birdie blitz delivered by Simon HOVDAL (SWE) in his 5&4 victory.

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Adams v. Hovdal Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

A second singles defeat for captain Dylan SHAW-RADFORD (ENG) was not in the GB&I script for today. Filip FAHLBERG-JOHNSSON (SWE), who had got to 4Up after 12 holes, tried his best to make it interesting but eventually got over the line on the 17th.

Shaw-Radford v. Fahlberg-Johnsson Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Match 4 between Seán KEELING (IRL) and Jorge Siyuan HAO (ESP) started with both players firing birdies at each other before becoming more of a grind. Ultimately Hao got ahead and was able to hold on for a 1 Hole victory.

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Keeling v. Hao Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Spain’s Marcel FONSECA AGUILAR beat Donnacha CLEARY (IRL) by 4&3 as the Irishman lost his way on the back nine.

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Cleary v. Fonseca Aguilar Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

For the second time today Peer WERNICKE (GER) was the beneficiary of GB&I largesse. 2Down with two holes to play I imagine he was astonished to see Jack MURPHY (IRL) hand him a half through being unable to finish either of the two closing holes.

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Murphy v. Wernicke Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Niall SHIELS DONEGAN (SCO) enjoyed one of the biggest wins at this year’s Jacques Leglise Trophy, taking down the previously unbeaten Tim WIEDEMEYER (GER) who simply never got going this afternoon. The only consolation for Wiedemeyer was that the match result meant that he became the first Continent of Europe player to participate in three successful Jacques Léglise Trophy teams winning a total of 9 points from the 12 available to him.

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Sheils Donegan v. Wiedemeyer Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Hugo LE GOFF (FRA) beat Monty HOLCOMBE (ENG) by 2&1 in the penultimate Singles game. In what seems a repeating GB&I story the Walton Heath man played well on the front nine before struggling on the back and ultimately losing.

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Holcombe v. Le Goff Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

A much better performance today from Oliver MUKHERJEE (SCO) in his re-match against Lev GRINBERG (UKR) but like most of his teammates ultimately found the back nine at Golf de Chantilly too hot to handle. A string of bogeys down the stretch allowing the Ukrainian to record his third win in three outings.

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Mukherjee v. Grinberg Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Click here to view the – 2023 Jacques Léglise Trophy Results

Day 2 AM Foursomes

Continent of Europe won the Day 2 Foursomes series by 2.5-1.5 to increase their overall match lead to four points (10.0-6.0).

GB&I kept their Foursomes pairings unchanged but jigged the order around whilst Europe brought in Lev Grinberg for Louis Anceaux but retained yesterday’s running order.

In a poor quality opening foursomes the new pairing of Lev GRINBERG (UKR) and Hugo LE GOFF (FRA) got off to a bad start but once they settled on the back nine were able to bring home a useful 2&1 win for the home side against an out of sorts Seán KEELING (IRL) and Jack MURPHY (IRL).

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Keeling & Murphy v. Hovdal & Fahlberg-Johnsson Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

The Spanish pairing of Jorge Siyuan HAO and Marcel FONSECA AGUILAR produced five birdies over the 14 holes they played as they ran out comfortable 5&4 winners against Hugh ADAMS (ENG) and Monty HOLCOMBE (ENG).

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Adams & Holcombe v. Hao & Fonseca Aguilar Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Pars are often good enough to win foursomes matches and that proved to be the case for the English pairing of Dylan SHAW-RADFORD and KRIS KIM who made it two wins out of two. Their consistency proved too much for the Swedes Filip FAHLBERG-JOHNSSON and Simon HOVDAL who stumbled to a 3&2 defeat.

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Shaw-Radford & Kim v. Fahlberg-Johnsson & Hovdal Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Any feint hopes that GB&I may be able to turn the match around probably disappeared when Niall SHIELS DONEGAN (SCO) and Donnacha CLEARY (IRL) lost control of a the final foursomes which they had controlled virtually from the start. A disappointing bogey-bogey finish handed the German pair Tim WIEDEMEYER and Peer WERNICKE a half point they barely deserved.

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Sheils Donegan & Cleary v. Wiedemeyer & Wernicke Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Click here to view the – 2023 Jacques Léglise Trophy Results

ME.

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25th August 2023

Continent of Europe will take a 7.5-4.5 lead into the final day of the Jacques Léglise Trophy match with GB&I needing a big performance tomorrow to avoid a fourth defeat in a row.

Europe won the Foursomes and Singles sessions, 3.0-1.0 and 4.5-3.5 respectively, at Golf de Chantilly.

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Day 1 PM Singles

Europe edged the Day 1 Singles 4.5-3.5 helped by three big wins.

In the battle of the rested players Lev GRINBERG (UKR) thrashed Oliver MUKHERJEE by 7&5 with the Scotsman clearly struggling with his game.

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Mukherjee v. Grinberg Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Peer WERNICKE (GER) surprisingly beat Kris KIM (ENG) by a substantial 5&4 margin. One assume’s Kim, who won the Boys’ Amateur Championship last week, is starting to feel the effects of his recent exertions.

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Kim v. Wernicke Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

In a match that only really got going when the clubhouse came into sight Tim WIEDEMEYER (GER), who has an excellent record in the Jacques Léglise Trophy, got the better of Dylan SHAW-RADFORD (ENG).

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Shaw-Radford v. Wiedemeyer Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

The ‘smiling assasin’ Niall SHIELS DONEGAN (SCO) once again showed his match play qualities to secure GB&I’s first point of the afternoon. He beat the reigning French International Boys’ champion Louis ANCEAUX (FRA) by 3&2.

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Sheils Donegan v. Anceaux Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

In a match where neither player could ever get more than 1Up it was perhaps fair that Hugh ADAMS (ENG) and Marcel FONSECA AGUILAR (ESP) shared the point on offer in Game 5.

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Adams v. Fonseca Aguilar Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Donnacha CLEARY (IRL) should be pleased with his efforts this afternoon, picking up a valuable 2&1 win against Spain’s Jorge Siyuan HAO. He also amazingly birdied the 13th too which looking at all of the scores today must be the hardest hole in France.

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Cleary v. Hao Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

With four birdies to his name Simon HOVDAL (SWE) played very well to secure a notable 5&4 win against Jack MURPHY (IRL).

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Murphy v. Hovdal Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Irish protégé Seán KEELING, 16, played his part in keeping GB&I in the match with a strong tail-end performance. He took down Filip FAHLBERG-JOHNSSON (SWE) by 3&2. He will no doubt be up the order tomorrow and fingers crossed he can deliver another win for the visitors.

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Keeling v. Fahlberg-Johnsson Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Click here to view the – 2023 Jacques Léglise Trophy Results

Day 1 AM Foursomes

Continent of Europe won the opening Foursomes series by 3.0-1.0.

Through solid play Hugh ADAMS (ENG) and Monty HOLCOMBE (ENG) earned control of the opening game. With a 3UP lead with six holes to play it appeared that GB&I would make the perfect start. However, a sequence of four bogeys between the 13th and 16th from the visitors handed the initiative back to Hugo LE GOFF and Louis ANCEAUX (FRA) and a strong finish saw the French pair take the contest by 2 Holes. The GB&I pair lost five of the final six holes played.

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Adams & Holcombe v. Le Goff & Anceaux Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Game 2 saw arguably GB&I’s strongest pair Kris KIM (ENG) and Dylan SHAW-RADFORD (ENG) sent out. Thankfully, having been 1Down with two holes to play, they delivered a winning point in a tight contest. This time it was the turn of the Spanish pair of Jorge Siyuan HAO and Marcel FONSECA AGUILAR to stumble down the home straight, appearing not to finish either of the two closing holes.

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Kim & Shaw-Radford v. Hao & Fonseca Aguilar Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Chris King would also have had high hopes for his third pairing of Seán KEELING and Jack MURPHY at the start of play. However, despite opening the game strongly the all-Irish team were unable to pull away and Sweden’s Simon HOVDAL and Filip FAHLBERG-JOHNSSON took control late on to secure another point for the home side.

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Keeling & Murphy v. Hovdal & Fahlberg-Johnsson Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

All-Square heading into the back nine Game 4 looked like it was going to be another competitive affair but once again the GB&I foursomes pairing struggled to score on the back nine. After losing four of the six holes played on the back nine Niall SHIELS DONEGAN (SCO) and Donnacha CLEARY (IRL) were shaking hands on the 15th green with their opponents, the strong german pairing of Tim WIEDEMEYER and Peer WERNICKE.

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Shiels Donegan & Cleary v. Wiedemeyer & Wernicke Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Click here to view the – 2023 Jacques Léglise Trophy Results

ME.

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23rd August 2023

The 46thJacques Léglise Trophy match between Continent of Europe and Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) will take place at Golf de Chantilly in France on Friday 25th and Saturday 26th August.

This annual match is contested by two nine-player under 18 boys’ teams. It is essentially a junior equivalent of the biennial men’s St. Andrews Trophy match also played between these two regions.

Having been dominated in the early years by GB&I the Continent of Europe have now won five of the last six matches played since 2016.

Following wins at Aldeburgh G.C. in England (2019), Falsterbo G.C. in Sweden (2021) and Blairgowrie G.C. in Scotland (2022) Europe will start as strong favourites to make it four wins-in-a-row. The 2020 match, which was due to be played at Blairgowrie, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

I will be updating this article with daily match reports once play begins.

Teams

The R&A have selected the following players to represent GB&I (WAGR’s at 23rd August): –

Hugh ADAMS 18 – Hagley, England (WAGR #1,937)
Donnacha CLEARY 16 – Tipperary, Ireland (WAGR #1,872)
Monty HOLCOMBE 16 – Walton Heath, England (WAGR #2,046)
Seán KEELING 16 – Roganstown, Ireland (WAGR #469)
Kris KIM 15 – Walton Heath, England (WAGR #412) – 2023 Boys’ Amateur Champion
Oliver MUKHERJEE 17 – Loretto, Scotland (WAGR #504)
Jack MURPHY 17 – Douglas, Ireland (WAGR #843)
Dylan SHAW-RADFORD 18 – Huddersfield, England (captain) (WAGR #345)
Niall SHIELS DONEGAN – Meadow Club USA, Scotland (WAGR #765)

Reserve: William SANDOZ – Cardon Park, Wales (WAGR #2,589)

Oliver Mukherjee, Niall Shiels Donegan, Dylan Shaw-Radford all played for GB&I last year at Blairgowrie.

Seán Keeling and Kris Kim will also be representing Europe in the Junior Ryder Cup match which will be played on 26-28 September 2023 in Rome.

Wales’ Chris KING, Chairman of The R&A’s GB&I Boys’ Selection Committee, will take charge of the team for the third time.

The GB&I and Continent of Europe Teams (Graphic: European Golf Association)

The 2023 Continent of Europe team, selected by the European Golf Association, consists of: –

Louis ANCEAUX – France (WAGR #368)
Filip FAHLBERG-JOHNSSON – Sweden (WAGR #1,555)
Marcel FONSECA AGUILAR – Spain (WAGR #472)
Jorge SIYUAN HAO – Spain (WAGR #282)
Lev GRINBERG – Ukraine (WAGR #248)
Simon HOVDAL – Sweden (WAGR #364)
Hugo LE GOFF – France (WAGR #665)
Peer WERNICKE – Germany (WAGR #490)
Tim WIEDEMEYER – Germany (WAGR #158)

Jorge Siyuan Hao and Tim Wiedemeyer return for the Europeans having played last year. Wiedemeyer is in fact making his third appearance having also competed in 2021.

Lev Grinberg, 15, will become the first player from Ukraine to play in the match.

Peer Wernicke and Lev Grinberg have been selected to represent Europe in the Junior Ryder Cup match in September.

Europe will be led for the fourth time by Non-Playing Captain Joachim FOURQUET of France. Monsieur Fourquet has won all three of the previous Jaques Léglise Trophy matches that he has captained.

Format

The Jacques Léglise Trophy match is played over two days.

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 25.0 points to play for each team will require 13.0 points to claim an outright victory.

Venue

The match is being played at Golf de Chantilly. Chantilly is located around 25 miles north of Paris.

The Old Vineuil course plays to 7,047 yards off the black tees and has a par of 70. Opened in 1909 it was designed by the British architect Tom Simpson.

Chantilly has hosted 11 French Opens and 14 EGA championship and international matches over the years.

France has hosted the Jacques Léglise Trophy match once before. Continent of Europe won 16.0-8.0 at Chantilly in 2001.

The Jacques Léglise Trophy (Photo: European Golf Association)

Weather

The forecast suggests the weather will be largely dry with only light breezes expected.

Friday 25th August – Cloudy / Wind 8 mph SW / Temp. Min. 10°C, Max. 19°C.
Saturday 26th August – Coudy, Light Showers PM / Wind 9 mph NW / Temp. Min. 10°C, Max. 18°C.

Additional Information

Click here to view the – 2023 Jacques Léglise Trophy Results

Click here to view the – EGA Jacques Léglise Trophy Website

The 2022 Jacques Léglise Trophy Match

The Continent of Europe won the 45thJacques Léglise Trophy match at Blairgowrie G.C. beating Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) by 13.5-11.5.

The Continent of Europe won the two Singles series by a combined 10.5-6.5 whilst GB&I won the two Foursomes series by a combined 5.0-3.0. Europe’s performance in the Day 1 Singles, which they won 5.5-2.5, proved to be the determining factor in the overall match result.

Germany’s Carl Siemens was the star man for Europe winning his two foursomes with compatriot Tim Wiedemeyer and both of his singles against Englishmen Josh Berry and Josh Hill.

Continent of Europe (Photo: The R&A)

Click here to view the – 2022 Jacques Léglise Trophy Results

Previous Matches

An international junior match was first played between 1958 and 1966 with GB&I winning all nine of them.

After a 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. Léglise was also a past French amateur champion and national team captain.

Since becoming the Jacques Léglise Trophy GB&I have won 29 of the matches with the Continent of Europe claiming 15 victories with the 2015 match tied. Eleven of Europe’s wins have been in away matches played in GB&I.

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.

R&A Men’s Home Internationals – 2023 Preview & Results

Posted on 04/08/2023 by Golf Bible

11th August 2023

England bounced back from their disappointing defeat against Wales yesterday to beat Ireland on the final day.

The three point margin of victory was also just enough – by 0.5 points – to lift the English in to top spot and therefore against the odds at the start of the day retain the title they won last year at Ballyliffin.

Despite losing to Scotland on the final day Wales finished 3rd. Scotland missed out by 0.5 points and had to settle for 4th place as the final table below shows.

Screenshot 2023-08-11 at 20.16.51

2023 Men’s Home Internationals Final Table (Graphic: Golfbox / The R&A)

Here is my assessment of the individual player contributions to the four teams with the star performers for each country highlighted in yellow: –

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GolfBible Individual Player Performance Analysis

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DAY 3

WALES v. SCOTLAND

It was perhaps ‘after the Lord Mayor’s show’ for the Welsh today at Machynys where the Scottish team were determined to finish off the competition with a win.

After sharing the foursomes the Scots ran away with the singles picking up five of the eight points on offer.

Andrew DAVIDSON, who was unbeaten in singles all week, finished off his competition with a big 7&5 win against Tom MATTHEWS.

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

IRELAND v. ENGLAND

England bounced back from yesterday’s poor loss to Wales with a resounding tournament winning victory against the Irish.

A 3-1 morning foursomes series win laid the foundation with Charlie CROCKETT and James CLARIDGE securing an important win on the 18th hole with an eagle. It was the pairing’s third win in the format.

Arron EDWARDS-HILL, Matty DODD-BERRY and Zach CHEGWIDDEN secured early singles wins to ensure the match would be won. It was then just a question of whether the team could garner sufficient points to also take the overall win.

Ultimately the responsibility fell to Charlie Crockett who delivered the critical final point, beating Caolan RAFFERTY by 1 Hole, which secured the title.

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

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

ME.

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10th August 2023

DAY 2

ENGLAND v. WALES

Wales shocked England by winning six of the eight afternoon singles and coming from behind to claim a memorable 7-5 victory.

England went into the singles with a 3-1 lead after coming out on the right side of four tight foursomes games.

James ASHFIELD boosted his Walker Cup chances and set the tone with a good 2&1 win against Jack BIGHAM.

Tomi BOWEN, Matt ROBERTS, Tom BASTOW, James NASH and Tom MATTHEWS then added their names to the Welsh roll of honour which left England’s title hopes in tatters.

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

SCOTLAND v. IRELAND

Ireland won the morning foursomes 2.5-1.5 and the afternoon singles 5.0-3.0 to complete a deserved win over Scotland.

With England losing to Wales the Irish are now in the box seat for the 2023 title.

Marc BOUCHER and Robert MORAN led the way for the Irish with two wins in the match.

Connor GRAHAM starred for Scotland with an impressive foursomes win alongside Gregor TAIT and a notable singles win against Liam Nolan.

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

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

ME.

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9th August 2023

DAY 1

ENGLAND v. SCOTLAND

England took control of the opening match of this year’s Men’s Home Internationals with a 3-1 victory in the morning foursomes.

They also won the singles 5-3 but these were clearly hard fought with six of the eight games requiring all 18 holes to be played.

Jack BIGHAM, Zach CHEGWIDDEN and James CLARIDGE won both of their games on Day 1 for England whilst Tyler WEAVER won his foursomes and tied his singles.

Andrew DAVIDSON was the best of the Scots winning his foursomes alongside Gregor Graham before securing a 0.5 point in his singles against Matt Dodd-Berry. Jack MCDONALD and Niall SHEILS DONEGAN won their two singles beating English Walker Cup hopefuls Arron-Edwards-Hill and Charlie Crockett respectively.

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

IRELAND v. WALES

Ireland won the foursomes 3-1 and the singles 5-3 to also record an 8-4 victory in their opening game.

Marc BOUCHER, Liam NOLAN and Caolan RAFFERTY all finished Wednesday with two wins to their name for the Irish.

James ASHFIELD, Tomi BOWEN, Caolan BURFORD and James NASH were all unbeaten on Day 1 for the Welsh who look like they will be competitive this year.

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

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

ME.

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4th August 2023 (Updated 7th August)

This year’s R&A Men’s Home Internationals will be played at Machynys Peninsula G.C. in Wales on 9th-11th August 2023.

ENGLAND will be defending the Raymond Trophy which they won at Balllyliffin G.C. in Ireland last year.

With the selection of the Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team expected to take place in the next few weeks this event will be the final opportunity for the players competing to impress.

This article will focus on the Men’s Home Internationals and will be updated with further information once the Championship starts.

Combined Event

In 2022 The R&A and four Home Golf Unions decided to combine the women’s and men’s home internationals into one event.

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

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

Whilst I am all for shared venues, which ease administration and add to the overall spectacle, I remain unconvinced about the merits of mixed individual and team events and as such have never been supportive of this change.

In my opinion the separate men’s and women’s competitions, which have a lot of history and tradition, should have remained the priority and if it was felt a combined trophy was necessary this should have been the secondary add-on.

Last year The R&A failed to provides any (public) scoring for the men’s and women’s competitions but I am pleased to report that this year they are intending to do so.

Match Format

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

Each country plays every other team over the three competition days. Each match starts with a mens game and alternates with a womens game thereafter.

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

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

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

The winning team receives the Raymond Trophy.

The Raymond Trophy

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 82nd playing of this prestigious event.

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

In the 81 competitions played to date England have won 39, 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)

2023 Men’s Players

The four national golf unions have selected the following male players to represent their countries this year. I have added their World Amateur Golf Rankings as at 2nd August 2023 in brackets.

ENGLAND
Jack BIGHAM – Harpenden (95)
Zach CHEGWIDDEN – Ingrebourne Links (760)
James CLARIDGE – Enville (166)
Charlie CROCKETT – Addington Palace (131)
Matthew DODD-BERRY – Royal Liverpool (262)
Arron EDWARDS-HILL – Chelmsford (147)
Will HOPKINS – Belton Park (227)
Dylan SHAW-RADFORD – Huddersfield (345)
Tyler WEAVER – Bury St. Edmunds (341)

Barclay Brown (25) and John Gough (14) are unavailable as they are competing in the U.S. Amateur Championship (14-20 August 2023).

IRELAND
Marc BOUCHER – Carton House (834)
Colm CAMPBELL – Warrenpoint (510)
Paul CONROY – Enniscorthy (405)
Max KENNEDY – Royal Dublin (85)
Alex MAGUIRE – Layton & Bettystown (169)
Robert MORAN – Castle (215)
Liam NOLAN – Galway (156)
Caolan RAFFERTY – Dundalk (65)
David SHIEL – Enniscrone (2,276)

Hugh Foley (133), Matthew McClean (62) and Mark Power (93) are unavailable as they are competing in the U.S. Amateur Championship.

SCOTLAND
Angus CARRICK – Cragielaw (702)
Andrew DAVIDSON – Crail (427)
Connor GRAHAM – Blairgowrie (192)
Gregor GRAHAM – Blairgowrie (485)
Jack MCDONALD – Roxburghe (953)
Oliver MUKHERJEE – Loretto School (470)
Niall SHEILS DONEGAN – Mill Valley (859)
Gregor TAIT – Aldeburgh (270)
Matthew WILSON – Forres (566)

Calum Scott (34) is unavailable as he is competing in the U.S. Amateur Championship.

WALES
James ASHFIELD – Delamere Forest (83)
Theo BAKER – Celtic Manor (3,552)
Tom BASTOW – Isle of Purbeck (1,586)
Tomi BOWEN – Welshpool (335)
Caolan BURFORD – Rhuddlan (455)
Archie DAVIES – Carlisle (113)
Tom MATTHEWS – Aldersley Green (2,349)
James NASH – Ormskirk (498)
Matt ROBERTS – Royal Porthcawl (387)

Jonathan Bale (707) is unavailable as he is competing in the U.S. Amateur Championship.

Since the team selections were announced the English, Scottish and Welsh Closed Amateur Championships have been played. Interestingly the three champions, Ben Brown, Cameron Adam and Max Weaver respectively, are all conspicuous by their absence.

Venue – Machynys

The Monk’s Island course at Machynys opened in 2005 and is located west of Swansea, near Llanelli.

It is a Nicklaus (Gary rather than Jack) designed 7,121 championship links, albeit the front nine has more of a parkland feel.

It plays to a traditional par of 72; two 36’s with two par 3’s and par 5’s on each side.

R&A Home International Websites

R&A Women’s and Men’s Home Internationals

Golfbox R&A Men’s Home Internationals Results

Golfbox R&A Women’s Home Internationals Results

Golfbox R&A Women’s & Men’s Home Internationals Results

2023 Weather Forecast (as at 7th August 2023)

The forecast is looking reasonably good for the opening two days but a little challenging for the decisive final day: –

Wed. 9th Aug. – Cloudy / Wind 11 mph SW / Temp. Min 15º, Max 20º
Thurs. 10th Aug. – Sunny / Wind 15 mph SE / Temp. Min 16º, Max 23º
Fri. 11th Aug. – Light Rain / Wind 22 mph SW / Temp. Min 15º, Max 18º

2022 R&A Men’s Home Internationals

ENGLAND won the Men’s Raymond Trophy last year at Ballyliffin G.C. in Ireland.

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

Day 1 Results
England 9.0 – Wales 3.0
Scotland 3.0 – Ireland 9.0

Day 2 Results
England 7.5 – Scotland 4.5
Wales 3.0 – Ireland 9.0

Day 3 Results
Scotland 7.5 v. Wales 4.5
Ireland 5.5 v. England 6.5

Here’s the final Men’s Home Internationals Results Table.

Screenshot 2022-08-05 at 20.41.48

Here is my Men’s Individual Performance table which confirms 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

ENGLAND also won the inaugural R&A Trophy for the combined Women’s and Men’s Home Internationals match.

IRELAND won the Women’s International Shield.

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

Historic Results

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

ME.

The European Amateur Championship – 2023 Preview & Results

Posted on 26/06/2023 by Golf Bible

Saturday 30th June 2023

Jose BALLESTER (ESP) won the 2023 European Amateur Championship with a 267 (-21) total over 72 holes at Pärnu Bay Golf Links in Estonia.

With his wire-to-wire victory Ballester secured an exemption into the forthcoming 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool G.C.

Mads Laage, Jose Ballester and James Ashfield (Photo: European Golf Association)

Alex MAGUIRE (IRL), who took this week off, won the 2023 Open Championship Amateur Series. This new exemption into The Open from The R&A was given to the player who gained the most WAGR points in the St. Andrews Links Trophy, the Amateur Championship and the European Amateur Championship events.

Round 4

After starting with an eagle 3 on the opening hole Jose BALLESTER (ESP) ultimately had to settle for a final round 1-over 73 and a two shot win.

Jose Ballester’s Scorecard (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Mads LAAGE (DEN) finished 2nd and James ASHFIELD (WAL) 3rd on 36 hole count back after they both finished on -19.

James Ashfield’s Scorecard (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Beyond Ashfield the other leading GB&I players were Jack BIGHAM (ENG) and Hugh FOLEY (IRL) -18, who tied 4th, James CLARIDGE (ENG), Gregor GRAHAM (SCO) & Mark POWER (IRL) -15, who tied 13th, and Calum SCOTT (SCO) & Will HOPKINS (ENG) -14, who tied 21st.

Here are the final results:-

Round 4 Results (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

The Round 4 average score was 72.73 (+0.73), the first day that par had collectively not been broken by the field. The wind was at its strongest on Saturday with some tricky hole locations adding to the challenge. There were 7 eagles and 703 birdies in Round 4.

Click here to view the – EGA / Golfbox 2023 European Amateur Championship Leaderboard

ME.

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Friday 30th June 2023

Round 3

Jose BALLESTER (ESP) pulled away from the field with a Round 3 66 which took him on to -22. He will now head into tomorrow’s final round with a two shot lead.

Jose Ballester’s Rounds 1, 2 & 3 Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Michael MJAASETH (NOR) 67 and Jack INGHAM (NED) 65 are the Spaniard’s nearest challengers on -20.

Zach CHEGWIIDEN (ENG) 68, Jack BIGHAM (ENG) 68, Gregor GRAHAM (SCO) 66 and James ASHFIELD (SCO) 71 are all tied 7th on -17 and collectively are the leading GB&I players.

Hugh FOLEY (IRL) -16 tied 13th, Will HOPKINS (ENG) -15 tied 16th and Mark POWER (IRL) -14 tied 18th are also in the top 20.

The 54 hole top 60 and ties cut fell at -9 with 65 players advancing to the final day.

Here is the Round 3 leaderboard showing all the players who made the cut and a few that just missed out: –

Leading Round 3 Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

The Round 3 average score was 70.28 (-1.72), a reflection of the stronger winds the blew across the links on Day 3. There were 22 eagles and 658 birdies in Round 3.

Click here to view the – EGA / Golfbox 2023 European Amateur Championship Leaderboard

ME.

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Thursday 29th June 2023 & Friday 30th June 2023

Round 2

A four hour rain and lightening delay in the afternoon meant that despite play continuing until 10.30pm local time the second round had to be completed early on Friday morning.

Tiger CHRISTENSEN (GER), James ASHFIELD (WAL) and Jose BALLESTER (ESP) share the 36 hole lead on 128 (-16).

Ashfield is the leading GB&I player after two rounds of 64 with only one bogey seen.

James Ashfield’s Rounds 1 & 2 Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Daniel RODRIGUES (POR) and Michael MJAASETH (DEN) are 1-shot further back from the leaders on -15.

Hugh FOLEY (IRL) is in 6th place after shooting a 9-under 63 in Round 2.

Hugh Foley’s Rounds 1 & 2 Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Zach CHEGWIDDEN (ENG) and Jack BIGHAM (ENG) are tied 7th after recording a 65 and 66 respectively on Thursday.

Will HOPKINS (ENG) is now tied 10th, alongside Mark POWER (IRL) and Matty WILSON (SCO), after matching Foley’s 63 in Round 2.

Will Hopkins’ Rounds 1 & 2 Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Sam EASTERBROOK (ENG) 66 and Gregor GRAHAM (SCO) 69 are tied 16th, meaning there are nine GB&I players in the top 20.

The low round of the day belonged to James CLARIDGE (ENG) who shot a bogey-free 62 to bounce back strongly from his opening 72 and move up 83 places on the leaderboard to tied 21st.

James Claridge’s Rounds 1 & 2 Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Here are the leading players after Round 2: –

Leading Round 2 Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

The Round 2 average score was slightly lower than Round 1 at 69.41 (-2.59). There were 36 eagles and 673 birdies.

Click here to view the – EGA / Golfbox 2023 European Amateur Championship Leaderboard

ME.

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Wednesday 28th June 2023

Round 1

Alejandro AGUILERA (ESP), Paul BEAUVY (FRA), Jose BALLESTER (ESP) and Jack INGHAM (NED) all shot bogey-free 62’s (-10) to share the Round 1 lead.

Alejandro Aguilera, Paul Beauty, Jose Ballester & Jack Ingham Round 1 Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

As expected the 6,717 yards par 72 Pärnu Bay Golf Links proved to be far from a Championship test with 103 players from a starting field of 144 breaking par in the opening round. 58 players achieved -4 or better.

There was a two hour rain delay for the afternoon starters but thankfully the EGA were still able to complete the round. However, there were some concerns amongst the players affected that the re-start was scheduled too soon with thunder and lightening still evident in the area.

Michael MJAASETH (NOR) -9 is 5th and Quentin DEBOVE (FRA), Daniel RODRIGUES (POR), Gregor GRAHAM (SCO), Tiger CHRISTENSEN (GER) and James ASHFIELD (WAL) -8 tied 6th.

Jack BIGHAM (ENG) & Matty WILSON (SCO) -7 tied 11th, Zach CHEGWIDDEN (ENG) -6 tied 17th and Angus CARRICK (SCO), Sam EASTERBROOK (ENG), Mark POWER (IRL) & Hugh FOLEY (IRL) -5 tied 27th are the other leading GB&I players at the end of Day 1.

Here are the leading players after Round 1: –

Leading Round 1 Scores (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

The Round 1 average score was 69.63 (-2.36). There were 32 eagles and 674 birdies.

Click here to view the – EGA / Golfbox 2023 European Amateur Championship Leaderboard

ME.

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26th June 2023

The 36th European Amateur Championship will be played at Pärnu Bay Golf Links in Estonia between 28th June and 1st July 2023.

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

This will be the second occasion that Estonia has hosted the European Amateur. The Estonian Golf & Country Club staged the event in 2016.

Competition Format

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

A cut takes place after 54 holes with the 60 lowest scores and ties qualifying 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,) is used to resolve ties for 2nd and 3rd place.

Entries

144 players from 37 countries will contest the 2023 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, a single nomination from each EGA member nation, four nominated players from the host nation, Estonia, competitors in the Bonallack Trophy, St. Andrew’s Trophy and Jacques Léglise Trophy matches, the 2023 South American Amateur champion and the 2023 European Mid-Amateur champion.

There are 32 GB&I entries, namely James ASHFIELD (WAL), Josh BERRY (ENG), Jack BIGHAM (ENG), Tomi BOWEN (WAL), Jack BROOKS (ENG), Angus CARRICK (SCO), Zach CHEGWIDDEN (ENG), James CLARIDGE (ENG), Paul CONROY (IRL), Will COXON (ENG), Enrique DIMAYUGA (ENG/PHI), Sam EASTERBROOK (ENG), Arron EDWARDS-HILL (ENG), Hugh FOLEY (IRL), Connor GRAHAM (SCO), Gregor GRAHAM (SCO), Jack HEARN (IRL), Joshua HILL (IRL), Will HOPKINS (ENG), Seán KEELING (IRL), Max KENNEDY (ENG), Matt MCCLEAN (IRL), Robert MORAN (IRL), Ollie MUKHERJEE (SCO), Liam NOLAN (IRL), Mark POWER (IRL), Calum SCOTT (SCO), Dylan SHAW-RADFORD (ENG), Niall SHIELS DONEGAN (SCO), Harley SMITH (ENG), Gregor TAIT (SCO) and Matthew WILSON (SCO).

Europe’s highest WAGR-ranked player John GOUGH (ENG) is playing in the British Masters at The Belfry this week.

Noteworthy overseas entries include Jose Luis BALLESTER BARRIO (ESP), Jonas BAUMGARTNER (GER), Pietro BOVARI (ITA), Mats EGE (NOR), Nicola GERHARDSEN (SUI), Albert HANSSON (SWE), Tobias JONSSON (SWE), Frederik KJETTRUP (DEN), Luis MASAVEU (ESP), Michael MJAASETH (NOR), Daniel DA COSTA RODRIGUES (POR), Bard SKOGEN (NOR) and Richard TEDER (EST).

Pärnu Bay Golf Links, Estonia

Pärnu Bay is a links style course designed by Finnish architect Lassi Pekka Tillander which opened for play in 2015.

As you can see from the photos it is located on a narrow coastal site and features wide fairways, expansive sandy waste areas and undulating greens.

The course is a relatively short 6,720 yards long and plays to a par of 72. It has five par 3’s, eight par 4’s and five par 5’s.

Weather Forecast

Weather conditions are generally expected to be good, albeit with the risk of afternoon showers.

Weds 28th June – Sunny / PM Showers. Wind 7 mph SE. Min. 13°C / Max. 24°C.
Thurs 29th June – Sunny / PM Showers. Wind 8 mph W. Min. 12°C / Max. 25°C.
Fri 30th June – Sunny. Wind 10 mph W. Min. 12°C / Max. 25°C.
Sat 1st July – Sunny / PM Showers. Wind 10 mph SW. Min. 12°C / Max. 22°C.

Prizes

Gold, silver and bronze medals are 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 Liverpool G.C. in England.

The Open Championship 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 the Amateur or European Amateur) will also earn a spot at Royal Liverpool.

The players finishing 2nd to 5th in this year’s European Amateur will be invited to compete in Final Qualifying.

Further Information

Click here to view the – EGA European Amateur Championship Website

Click here to view the – EGA / Golfbox 2023 European Amateur Championship Tee Times

Click here to view the – EGA / Golfbox 2023 European Amateur Championship Leaderboard

2022 European Amateur Championship

Filippo CELLI (ITA) won the 2022 European Amateur Championship at El Saler Golf Club in Spain after rounds of 64, 74, 73 and 69. His 280 (-8) total gave him a 1-shot victory.

He became the fourth Italian winner of this prestigious trophy following in the footsteps of Massimo Scarpa (1992), Stafano Mazzoli (2015) and Luca Cianchetti (2016).

Rasmus NEERGAARD-PETERSEN (DEN) finished 2nd on 281 (-7), Calum SCOTT 3rd on 282 (-6) 3rd and Javier BARCOS GARBAYO (ESP) 4th on 283 (-5).

Calum Scott, Filippo Celli and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (Photo: European Golf Association)

The other GB&I players to finish in the top 50 in 2022 were Harley SMITH (ENG) -1 tied 9th, Rob MORAN (IRL) Ev tied 18th, Callum BRUCE (SCO) +1 T23, James ASHFIELD (WAL) +2 tied 23rd and Josh HILL (ENG), Matt MCCLEAN (IRL) & Frank KENNEDY (ENG) +5 tied 44th.

Leading Results (Graphic: EGA / Golfbox)

Click here to view the full – EGA / Golfbox 2022 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 very successful professional careers include Stephen GALLACHER (1994), Sergio GARCIA (1995), Gregory HAVRET (1999), Carl PETTERSSON (2000), Rory MCILROY (2006), Victor DUBUISSON (2009) and Nicolai HØJGÅRD (2018).

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 is the only two-time winner and the only player 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.

The Jacques Léglise Trophy – 2022 Preview & Results

Posted on 21/08/2022 by Golf Bible

27th August 2022

The Continent of Europe won the 45thJacques Léglise Trophy match at Blairgowrie G.C. beating Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) by 13.5-11.5.

Having been dominated in the early years of the completion by GB&I the Continent of Europe have now won the last three matches and five of the six played since 2016.

Continent of Europe (Photo: The R&A)

Germany’s Carl Siemens was the star man for Europe winning his two foursomes with compatriot Tim Wiedemeyer and both of his singles against Englishmen Josh Berry and Josh Hill.

Saturday Singles

The Continent of Europe team capped off their successful trip to Scotland by winning the Day 2 Singles series 5.0-4.0 thus ensuring they won the overall match 13.5-11.5.

GB&I’s Tyler Weaver halved the opening game of the series with Jorge Siyuan Hao. In a high quality match both players were 4-under for the full 18 holes. Hao birdied the 17th to regain parity down the home stretch.

Harley Smith lost 3&1 to Tim Wiedemeyer. Smith started bogey, double-bogey to firmly hand the initiative to his German opponent. Wiedemeyer, making few errors, was 5Up after 12 holes before Smith regained some respectability with better play later on.

Carl Siemens beat Josh Hill 2&1 in a tight Game 3; the putts dropping for the German rather than the Dubai-based Englishman.

Dylan Shaw-Radford delivered his second Singles win beating Italy’s Marco Florioli 3&1 with a 5-under performance over the 17 holes required for victory.

Josh Berry bounced back well on Day 2 to secure a tie with Oihan Guillamoundeguy, the highly rated Frenchman. The Yorkshireman produced 5 birdies, including a critical one on the 18th.

Frank Kennedy got the better of Tom Haberer, who was out of sorts for much of the afternoon, by 4&3.

The Netherlands’ Thijmen Batens beat Connor Graham by 2 Holes helped by four consecutive birdies on the 8th to 11th holes.

Oliver Mukherjee secured GB&I’s third full point with a 1 Hole victory over William Wistrand. In a close match Mukherjee birdied both the 16th and 18th holes to edge ahead.

Hansson v. Shiels Donegan Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox Scoring)

Albert Hansson produced seven unblemished birdies (see above) to blow Niall Shiels Donegan away 7&5 in just 13 holes.

Saturday Singles Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox Scoring)

Saturday Foursomes

GB&I won the Day 2 Foursomes 3.0-1.0 to reduce Continent of Europe’s overnight lead of 3 points to a far more manageable one.

The opening game was an up and down affair with neither pair finding their best form. In the end the German’s Carl Siemens and Tim Wiedemeyer simply made fewer mistakes than Shaw-Radford and Shiels Donegan.

Tyler Weaver and Harley Smith scored well with four birdies to secure GB&I’s first win of the day against Guillamoundeguy and Florioli, who were unbeaten on Day 1.

Josh Hill and Oliver Mukherjee birdied the last two holes of their game against Thijmen Batens and Tom Haberer to secure GB&I’s second win by 1 Hole in the Saturday Foursomes.

Wistrand & Hansson v. Kennedy & Graham Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox Scoring)

Frank Kennedy and Connor Graham produced 7 birdies in Game 4 (see above) to beat Swedish pair William Wistrand and Albert Hansson.

Saturday Foursomes Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox Scoring)

Josh Berry was replaced by Tyler Weaver in the GB&I Foursomes line up on Day 2. Continent of Europe were unchanged with Jorge Siyuan Hao again left to focus on his afternoon Singles.

ME.

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26th August 2022

Friday Singles

Continent of Europe won the Day 1 Singles 5.5-2.5 to take a 7.5-4.5 half-way lead in the Jacques Léglise Trophy match. It was a disappointing series result for GB&I who at one point were leading five of the eight games on the course.

Josh Hill got the better of Jorge Siyuan Hao in the opening Single largely due to his more consistent play over the 18 holes and a crucial birdie on the par 3 17th hole.

Arguably the highest quality game of the series was the halved one between Marco Florioli and Tyler Weaver, albeit the finish was a little out of keeping with the earlier play.

Florioli v. Weaver Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox Scoring)

Despite doing little wrong Harley Smith lost Game 3 by 1 Hole to the ever impressive Frenchman Oihan Guillamoundeguy who birdied the 18th to take the full point.

Josh Berry was understandably 5 Down after 7 holes after handing in a string of bogeys to the scorers. Despite bouncing back well on the back nine Carl Siemens secured an easy 5&4 win.

Dylan Shaw-Radford ensured he finished Day 1 as the only unbeaten GB&I player with a 2 Hole win over Germany’s Tim Wiedemeyer. Shaw-Radford produced 7 birdies and 1 eagle in the match.

Thijmen Batens gave Frank Kennedy little opportunity to impress in a notable 4&3 victory. After an opening hole bogey the man from The Netherlands produced 5 birdies and 1 eagle to pull away from the American-based Englishman.

Niall Shiels Donegan lost 3&2 to Germany’s Tom Haberer who seemed to be one step ahead of the Scotsman throughout the encounter.

In the final game of the day Albert Hansson, the 2022 Boys’ Amateur Championship, got the better of young Connor Graham, the 2022 Junior Open Champion by 2&1.

Friday Singles Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox Scoring)

Oliver Mukherjee was rested by Captain King whilst William Wistrand was benched by the Europeans.

Friday Foursomes

Honours were even 2.0-2.0 at lunch on the opening day of the 2022 Jacques Léglise Trophy match.

Continent of Europe got off to a dream start in the opening Foursomes series immediately recording two big wins.

Guillamoundeguy & Florioli were 6-under par when their match came to a conclusion on the 14th green.

Wiedemeyer & Siemens were 5-under par for their round when they won on the 15th.

However, Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) recovered well to win the final two games at Blairgowrie G.C.

Shaw-Radford & Shiels Donegan produced the lowest scores in the morning to secure an all-important win in Match 3. After an opening hole bogey the Anglo-Scottish pairing produced 8 birdies to secure a 2&1 victory in a high quality game.

Batens & Haberer v. Shaw-Radford & Shiels Donegan Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox Scoring)

In the last encounter Graham & Kennedy, who were 3-under for the 16 holes they played, picked up the final available point.

Friday Foursomes Results (Graphic: The R&A / GolfBox Scoring)

Jorge Siyuan Hao and Tyler Weaver missed out on selection for Continent of Europe and GB&I respectively in the Day 1 Foursomes.

Click here to view the full – 2022 Jacques Léglise Trophy GolfBox Results

ME.

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21st August 2022

The 45thJacques Léglise Trophy match between Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) and Continent of Europe will take place at Blairgowrie Golf Club in Scotland on Friday 26th and Saturday 27th 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.

Following wins at Aldeburgh G.C. in England (2019) and Falsterbo G.C. in Sweden (2021) the Continent of Europe are looking to make it three-in-a-row in Perthshire. The 2020 match, which was due to be played at Blairgowrie, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2022 Teams

The R&A have selected the following players to represent GB&I (SPWAR’s at 21st August): –

Josh BERRY – Doncaster, England (SPWAR #219)
Connor GRAHAM – Blairgowrie, Scotland (SPWAR #104)
Josh HILL – Trump International Dubai, England (SPWAR #260)
Frank KENNEDY – Trump National Jupiter, England (SPWAR #252)
Oliver MUKHERJEE – Gullane, Scotland (SPWAR #287)
Dylan SHAW-RADFORD – Huddersfield, England (SPWAR #333)
Niall SHIELS DONEGAN – Meadow Club USA, Scotland (captain) (SPWAR #302)
Harley SMITH – The Rayleigh Club, England (SPWAR #112)
Tyler WEAVER – Bury St. Edmunds, England (SPWAR #232)

Reserves: 1) Sam EASTERBROOK – Olton, England and 2) Caolan BURFORD – Rhuddlan, Wales

Wales’ Chris KING, Chairman of The R&A’s GB&I Boys’ Selection Committee, will again take charge of the team.

The Jacques Léglise Trophy (Photo: European Golf Association)

The 2022 Continent of Europe team, selected by the European Golf Association, consists of: –

Thijmen BATENS – Belgium (SPWAR #524)
Marco FLORIOLI – Italy (SPWAR #87)
Oihan GUILLAMOUNDEGUY – France (SPWAR #121)
Tom HABERER – Germany (SPWAR #837)
Albert HANSSON – Sweden (SPWAR #410)
Jorge Siyuan HAO – Spain (SPWAR #62)
Carl SIEMENS – Germany (SPWAR #207)
Tim WIEDEMEYER – Germany (SPWAR #318)
William WISTRAND – Sweden (SPWAR #1,387)

Europe will be led for the third time by Non-Playing Captain Joachim FOURQUET of France.

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 an outright victory.

Venue

The Rosemount Course at Blairgowrie Golf Club is the venue for the 2022 match.

The course was designed by Dr. Alister MacKenzie, opening in 1927, and then extended by James Braid in 1930. Subsequent upgrades have been made to it by Donald Steel, Peter Alliss and Graeme Webster.

A heathland course set amongst pine, firs, birch and heather the Rosemount plays to 7,007 yards and has a par of 72 and a slope of 136.

Weather

The forecast suggests near perfect dry golfing conditions with moderate breezes can be expected.

Friday 26th August – Light Cloud / Wind 7 mph SW / Temp. Min. 9°C, Max. 17°C.
Saturday 27th August – Sunny Intervals / Wind 5 mph SE / Temp. Min. 10°C, Max. 19°C.

Additional Information

Click here to view the – R&A Jacques Léglise Trophy Website

The 2021 Jacques Léglise Trophy Match

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.

Continent of Europe won the opening Friday Foursomes series 3-1 to take an early advantage. GB&I fought back in the afternoon winning the Day 1 Singles 4.5-3.5.

Continent of Europe then won the Saturday Foursomes series 3.5-0.5 to take a four point lead into the final Singles which they won 6.5-2.5 to complete a comprehensive victory.

Click here to view the final – 2021 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 14 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.

South Beach International Amateur – 2021 Preview & Results

Posted on 19/12/2021 by Golf Bible

22nd December 2021 – Round 4

Finigan TILLY (USA) completed a wire-to-wire victory at the 11th South Beach International Amateur (SBIA) in Florida. Tilly, who was something of a surprise contender, showed no signs of nerves completing the opening six holes of his final round in 4-under. A double bogey on the 9th and a further bogey on the 11th were set backs but a birdie on the 12th settled the Californian and he parred in to secure the title by 2-shots. His 268 (-15) total was one shot off Cole Hammer’s 2020 record.

Tilly started the week ranked #318 in the SPWAR.

Finigan Tilly (Photo: SBIA)

Clay AMLUNG (USA) finished 2nd, birdies on the 12th and 16th at Miami Beach G.C. lifting him on to the rostrum on -13.

A birdie on the 10th, and eagle on the 12th and a birdie on the 16th took Jose BALLESTER (ESP) to -14 and within touching distance of the leader. However, two closing bogeys saw the Spaniard drop back into 3rd place.

SBIA 2021 Final Top 20 Results (Photo: southbeachinternationalamateur.com)

English left hander Sam BAIRSTOW finished 4th on -9 after a joint best final round of 67. Bairstow has had an excellent 2021 and this high finish is further evidence of his increasingly world class status.

SBIA 2021 GB&I Final Results (Photo: southbeachinternationalamateur.com)

Callan BARROW (ENG) -5 will be disappointed with his final round, a triple bogey 7 on the 5th knocking the wind out of his sails, but should be pleased with an overall tied 17th result. John GOUGH (ENG) and Jake HIBBERT (ENG) finished with a 70 and 68 respectively to also break into the top 20.

Of the other GB&I players who made the cut Callum BRUCE (SCO) -2 finished tied 36th, Josef HACKER (ENG) +2 tied 59th and Frank KENNEDY (ENG) +4 tied 69th.

The average score in Round 4 was 72.28 slightly lower than Round 3’s high point.

Click here to view the full – SBIA 2021 Results

ME.

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21st December 2021 – Round 3

Finigan TILLY (USA) saw his lead reduced to 1-shot at Miami Beach G.C. on the toughest day of the tournament so far. An acceptable 70 took his total to -13 on a day where the winds were much stronger and a short suspension in play was necessary due to a risk of lightening as a storm blew across Florida.

Clay AMLUNG (USA) moved into sole 2nd place on -12 after a 69.

A further shot back are Jose BALLESTER (ESP), Michael BRENNAN (USA), Oihan GUILLAMOUNDEGUY (FRA) and Palmer JACKSON (USA) who share 3rd on -10.

Jackson, who benefited from a hole-in-one on the 3rd hole, was one of four players to shoot 68 (-3), the low round of the day.

The average score in Round 3 was 72.68 reflecting the more challenging conditions.

SBIA 2021 Round 3 Top 20 Results (Photo: southbeachinternationalamateur.com)

Callan BARROW (ENG) is now the leading GB&I player. He will start the final round tied 7th on -7 after a 70 in Round 3.

Sam BAIRSTOW (ENG) -5 slipped back into a tie for 18th place with a 1-over round of 72.

Callum BRUCE (SCO) and John GOUGH (ENG) are tied 27th on -4, Frank KENNEDY (ENG) -3 tied 34th, Jake HIBBERT (ENG) -2 tied 42nd and Josef HACKER (ENG) Ev tied 56th.

SBIA 2021 GB&I Round 3 Results (Photo: southbeachinternationalamateur.com)

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20th December 2021 – Round 2

23 year old Finigan TILLY (USA), a Graduate Student at University of California, Berkeley, backed up his opening round with a 65 (-6) at Miami Beach, a score which included eight birdies.

Tilly now enjoys a 2-shot lead over Clay AMLUNG (USA) -10 with Michael BRENNAN (USA), Oihan GUILLAMOUNDEGUY (FRA), Jack PARKER (USA) and Jack TURNER (USA) 1-shot further back on -9.

Both Guillamoundeguy and Turner are just 17 years old.

Wake Forest’s Brennan shot a best of the day 64 (-7) at Miami Beach whilst Kevin HUFF (USA) recorded a 62 (-8) to take the Day 2 low scoring honours at Normandy Shores. Huff bounced back superbly from an opening 74 (+3) at Miami Beach to move into the Top 20.

The average Round 2 score at Miami Beach (par 71) was 71.73 with Normandy Shores (par 70) coming in at 69.45. On a near perfect day for golf these scores were slightly lower than we saw in Round 1.

85 players made the cut which fell at 140 (-1), the lowest level in the tournament’s history.

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SBIA 2021 Round 2 Top 20 Results (Photo: southbeachinternationalamateur.com)

Sam BAIRSTOW (ENG) and Callan BARROW (ENG) both enjoyed good rounds at Miami Beach to move on to -6 overall. They will now start Round 3 well placed in tied 12th.

John GOUGH (ENG) and Frank KENNEDY (ENG) are tied 29th on -4 after a 68 at Normandy Shores and 71 at Miami Beach respectively.

Callum BRUCE (SCO) and Josef HACKER (ENG), tied 40th, both delivered at Miami Beach to comfortably make the cut on -3.

Jake HIBBERT (ENG) was the final GB&I player to make the cut coming in on the 140 (-1) mark.

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SBIA 2021 GB&I Round 2 Results (Photo: southbeachinternationalamateur.com)

ME.

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19th December 2021 – Round 1

Oihan GUILLAMOUNDEGUY (FRA), Jean-Philippe PARR (CAN) and Finigan TILLY (USA) share the Round 1 lead after recording impressive 64 (-6) scores at the easier Normandy Shores course. Guillamoundeguy and Tilly recorded seven birdies in their rounds while Parr added an eagle to his five.

Tyler GOECKE‘s (USA) 67 (-4) was the best score on day 1 at Miami Beach.

The average Round 1 score at Miami Beach (par 71) was 72.03 with Normandy Shores (par 70) coming in at 70.21.

SBIA 2021 Round 1 Top 20 Results (Photo: southbeachinternationalamateur.com)

In addition to Finigan Tilly, Frank KENNEDY (ENG) -4 NS tied 7th, Sam BAIRSTOW (ENG) -3 NS tied 17th, Callan BARROW (ENG) NS, John GOUGH (ENG) MB & Luke HARRIES (WAL) NS all -2 tied 29th and Callum BRUCE (SCO) NS & Jake HIBBERT (ENG) MB -1 tied 52 have all made encouraging under par starts.

Gough and Hibbert can be particularly pleased having started their tournaments at Miami Beach.

SBIA 2021 GB&I Round 1 Results (Photo: southbeachinternationalamateur.com)

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19th December 2021

The 11th South Beach International Amateur (SBIA) will be played between 19th-22nd December 2021 in Miami Beach, Florida (GMT -5 hours).

First played in 2011 the SBIA has quickly become one of the world’s leading amateur golf competitions. The SPWAR continues to rate it as as having the 5th best field on the amateur calendar.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic rearing its ugly head again in recent weeks the field appears to be strong with a number of leading GB&I and other international players competing alongside some top USA talent.

Format

The SBIA is a 72 hole stroke play competition played over four days.

18 holes are played at both Miami Beach G.C. and the nearby Normandy Shores G.C. by the full field of 210 players over the first two days.

After a top 72 and ties cut the final 36 holes are played exclusively at Miami Beach over the remaining two days.

Miami Beach Golf Club

Players

210 players have paid the $410 entry fee and will contest the 2021 SBIA.

17 golfers from Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) are in this year’s starting field, a number of whom are studying at U.S. colleges. The highest number to date was 19 in 2018.

I’ve listed all of this year’s GB&I entries below (in alphabetical order) along with their current SPWAR (as at 19th December): –

Sam BAIRSTOW (ENG) #51
Callan BARROW (ENG) #144
Marc BOUCHER (IRL) #302
Callum BRUCE (SCO) #133
Paul CONROY (IRL) #413
John GOUGH (ENG) #77
Josef HACKER (ENG) #739
Luke HARRIES (WAL) #480
Jake HIBBERT (ENG) #2,302
Jon HOPKINS (ENG) #775
Frank KENNEDY (ENG) #516
Andrew NI (SCO) #276
Joe PAGDIN (ENG) #147
Jamie ROBERTS (SCO) #1,167
Niall SHIELS DONEGAN (SCO) #715
Harley SMITH (ENG) #158
Joe SULLIVAN (ENG) #564

Other players in the SPWAR Top 150 competing include (in rank order): –

Karl VILIPS (AUS) #31
Matthew SHARPSTENE (USA) #32
Palmer JACKSON (USA) #40
Garrett BARBER (USA) #43
Michael BRENNAN (USA) #46
Ben CARR (USA) #56
John BUTLER (USA) #68
Ryan GERARD (USA) #76
Cade BREITENSTINE (USA) #78
Marco FLORIOLI (ITA) #82
Mark GOETZ (USA) #83
Tom VAILLANT (FRA) #88
Aman GUPTA (USA) #95
Julien SALE (FRA) #101
Ben JAMES (USA) #103
Josh GILKISON (USA) #146
A. Segundo OLIVA (ARG) #147
Noah NORTON (USA) #147

Courses

Both courses were designed by Arthur Hills and play to around 6,800 yards.

They are typical Florida layouts with numerous lakes coming into play throughout the 18 holes. As a result scores can be high if the wind blows – which it frequently does here.

Normandy Shores plays to a par of 70 and Miami Beach a par of 71 during the tournament.

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Normandy Shores Golf Club

Weather Forecast (as at 19th December)

The weather generally looks good for the duration of the 2021 event albeit the wind seems to be swirling around on a daily basis this week.

Sun 19th Dec. – Sunny Intervals / Wind 12 mph N / Temp. Min. 18°C, Max. 28°C.
Mon 20th Dec – Sunny / Wind 9 mph E / Temp. Min. 19°C, Max. 27°C.
Tue 21st Dec – Sunny with PM Showers / Wind 16 mph SW / Temp. Min. 17°C, Min 27°C.
Wed 22nd Dec – Sunny Intervals / Wind 14 mph NW / Temp. Min. 11°C, Max. 24°C.

SBIA Website Links

Click here to view the – SBIA 2021 Leaderboard

Click here to view the – SBIA 2021 Pairings

Click here to view the – SBIA Website

I will be updating this article as the tournament progresses with daily reports.

2020 South Beach International Amateur

Cole HAMMER (USA) won the 2020 South Beach International Amateur by 5-shots with a record breaking 267 (-16) total.

Cole Hammer (Photo: southbeachinternationalamateur.com)

Pierre VIALLANEIX (FRA) -11 finished second with Kelly CHINN (USA) and Zach TAYLOR (USA) -9 tieing for third place.

SBIA 2020 Final Results (Photo: southbeachinternationalamateur.com)

Archie DAVIES (WAL) -4 was the highest placed GB&I player in tied 15th in what proved to be a largely disappointing event for our entrants.

SBIA GB&I 2020 Final Results (Photo: southbeachinternationalamateur.com)

Click here to view the complete 2020 Final Results – SBIA 2020 Leaderboard

Historic Results

Here is a list of past winners and the 36 hole cut marks for each year: –

2020 – Cole HAMMER (USA) -16 / Cut Ev
2019 – Ben SHIPP (USA) -2 / Cut +8
2018 – Pierceson COODY (USA) -11 / Cut +3
2017 – Jacob BERGERON (USA) -3 / Cut Ev
2016 – Danny WALKER (USA) -4 / Cut +1
2015 – Jorge GARCIA (VEN) -5 / Cut +6
2014 – Gabriel LENCH (USA) -4 / Cut +3
2013 – Greg EASON (ENG) -5 / Cut +6
2012 – Juan Pablo HERNANDEZ (MEX) -10 / Cut +3
2011 – Kelly KRAFT (USA) -4 / Cut +11

ME.

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The Home of Great British & Irish Amateur Golf

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