Men’s Home Internationals – 2019 Preview, Reports & Results

Posted on 03/09/2019 by Golf Bible

13th September 2019.

England won the 2019 Men’s Home Internationals at Lahinch G.C. in Ireland, winning all three of their games.

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The England Team (Photo: Nigel Edwards)

On the final day England beat Scotland 9-6 to complete the clean sweep.

The two teams shared the morning Foursomes 2.5-2.5. Matt CLARK and Ryan LUMSDEN birdied the last three holes of their game against Ben JONES and Jake BURNAGE to overturn a 2 Down with three holes to play deficit.

Whilst for much of the afternoon the match and the title were up in the air ultimately England’s greater strength in depth came through. Singles wins for Tom SLOMAN, Ben JONES and then later on Matty LAMB, Ben SCHMIDT and Bailey GILL pushed the English team over the line.

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Matty LAMB was the star man for England winning five of his matches. The whole team contributed with Ben SCHMIDT and Ben JONES, who both won four games, next in line for praise.

Experienced Matt CLARK contributed the most for Scotland winning four games, including two Singles, and halving another.

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Ireland convincingly beat Wales 12-3 on the final day to secure 3rd place in the competition. The Irish gained the initiative in the morning by coming out on the right side of three tight foursomes games to win the series 4-1. It was a different story in the afternoon with Ireland trouncing their opponents 8-2.

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Here are the individual performance records for the Irish and Welsh players. Colm CAMPBELL was the star man for Ireland with Caolan RAFFERTY and Conor PURCELL also contributing strongly with four wins. Connor JONES played the best for Wales winning two Singles.

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Click here to view the – Men’s Home Internationals Results
(Click on the match score for the individual game scores)

The 2020 Home Internationals will be played at Royal Dornoch in Scotland where England will be aiming to complete a hat trick of wins.

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12th September 2019

England beat Ireland 10 – 5 on Day 2.

England built a firm foundation by winning four of the five foursomes games and then took the Singles 6 – 4 in the afternoon.

Ben SCHMIDT (W3 H1), Harry HALL (W2 H1) and Callum FARR (W1 H2) remain unbeaten for the defending champions.

Conor PURCELL and Caolan RAFFERTY got back to winning ways for the Irish in the Singles defeating their Walker Cup teammates Tom SLOMAN and Tom PLUMB.

Unfortunately James SUGRUE had to withdraw from the competition today with the back injury which was troubling him last week at the Walker Cup.

England v. Ireland Results (Photo: GUI / Golfbox)

Scotland beat Wales 9.5 – 5.5 in today’s second match.

The Scots won the Foursomes 3 – 2 before also taking the Singles 6.5 – 3.5.

Stuart EASTON (W2 H2) and Darren HOWIE (W2 H1) are unbeaten for Scotland.

In a tight match Ben CHAMBERLAIN and Lewys SANGES took the notable scalps of Ryan LUMSDEN and Connor MCKINNEY in the Singles for Wales.

Looking at the Day 2 table England only require a draw against Scotland tomorrow to retain the Raymond Trophy given their match points advantage over their final opponents.

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11th September 2019

England beat Wales 12 – 3 in the opening match of the competition.

The Welsh halved the Foursomes 2.5 – 2.5 but were over powered 9.5 – 0.5 in the afternoon Singles by what is an exceptionally strong English team.

Thomas PLUMB, Ben JONES and Jake BURNAGE all won twice for England.

Gaelen TREW secured Wales’ half point in the Singles in the final game against Callum FARR.

England v. Wales Results (Photo: GUI / Golfbox)

Scotland surprised host’s Ireland with an 8.5 – 6.5 victory in the other Day 1 match.

The Foursomes were again shared before Scotland took the Singles 6 – 4. The damage was done at the top of the order with Ryan LUMSDEN, James WILSON and Kieran CANTLEY taking crucial points off Ireland’s big hitters Conor PURCELL, Caolan RAFFERTY and Ronan MULLARNEY respectively.

James WILSON and Connor MCKINNEY won both of their two matches today for Scotland.

Ireland v. Scotland Results (Photo: GUI / Golfbox)

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3rd September 2019

The 2019 Men’s Home Internationals will be contested at Lahinch Golf Club in County Clare, Ireland between 11th and 13th September.

ENGLAND are the defending champions and they and IRELAND, who will have home advantage, are expected to once again battle it out for the Raymond Trophy.

Lahinch Golf Club (Photo: Jamie Gibson / lahinchgolf.com)

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.

The competition was first played in 1932.

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

The overall winner is the country with the highest number of match points. 1 point is awarded for a win, 0.5 for a half and 0 for a loss. Ties are resolved by considering the number of individual game points secured in the three matches played.

2019 Players

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

I have also included the Team (total) and Individual Scratch Players World Amateur Rankings (SPWAR) below (as at 3rd September): –

ENGLAND – Team SPWAR = 717
Jack BURNAGE (29)
Callum FARR (137)
Bailey GILL (59)
Harry HALL (28)
Ben HUTCHINSON (53)
Ben JONES (19)
Matty LAMB (89)
Josh MCMAHON (115)
Tom PLUMB (43)
Ben SCHMIDT (119)
Tom SLOMAN (26)

Callum Farr, Harry Hall, Ben Hutchinson, Matty Lamb, Josh McMahon and Ben Schmidt are all new additions to the England team in 2019.

Conor GOUGH, England’s Walker Cup player, is competing in the Duke of York Young Champions event at Royal Portrush.

IRELAND – Team SPWAR = 3,411
Rob BRAZILL (251)
Colm CAMPBELL (406)
Keith EGAN (828)
Sean FLANAGAN (831)
Matthew MCCLEAN (503)
Tom MCKIBBIN (286)
Tiarnán MCLARNON (139)
Ronan MULLARNEY (58)
Conor PURCELL (21)
Caolan RAFFERTY (16)
James SUGRUE (72)

Rob Brazill, Colm Campbell, Keith Egan, Sean Flanagan, Matthew McClean and Tom McKibbin have been added to the Irish line up this year.

The Raymond Trophy (Photo: Ayrshire Golf Blog)

SCOTLAND – Team SPWAR = 3,852
George BURNS (809)
Kieran CANTLEY (271)
Matthew CLARK (209)
Stuart EASTON (253)
Darren HOWIE (422)
Lewis IRVINE (711)
Ryan LUMSDEN (167)
Eric MCINTOSH (561)
Euan MCINTOSH (189)
Connor MCKINNEY (129)
James WILSON (131)

George Burns, Darren Howie, Lewis Irvine, Connor Mckinney and Eric Mcintosh debut for Scotland.

WALES – Team SPWAR = 9,070
George BRYANT (1,369)
Ben CHAMBERLAIN (298)
Jacob DAVIES (415)
Rhys EVANS (1,302)
Tom FROOM (756)
Jake HAPGOOD (255)
Kieron HARMAN (1,369)
Connor JONES (1,586)
Matt ROBERTS (945)
Lewys SANGES (498)
Gaelan TREW (277)

Wales have the highest number of returning players with just George Bryant, Rhys Evans, Tom Froom and Connor Jones added to their line up this year.

23 of the 44 players competed last year at Conwy, compared with just 14 returnees in 2018. England have 6 new players in their 2019 line up, Ireland 6, Scotland 5 and Wales 4.

Venue – Lahinch Golf Club

Lahinch Golf Club was established in April 1892. Old Tom Morris (1894), Dr. Alister MacKenzie (1926) and Dr. Martin Hawtree (1999) have all had a hand in the development of the championship Old Course over the years.

The course measures 6,950 yards and has a traditional par 72 make-up. The front nine measures 3,391 yards with the back coming in at 3,559 yards.

Lahinch is the permanent home of the South of Ireland Amateur Championship and in addition to the Home Internationals has already hosted the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open this year.

It will host the Arnold Palmer Cup match between International and USA mixed teams in July 2020.

Lahinch Golf Club Logo (Photos: Lahinch Golf Club)

2019 Weather Forecast (as at 5.00pm Tuesday 10th September)
Wed. 11th Sept. – Sunny / Temp. Min 14º / Max 16º / Wind 15mph SW
Thurs. 12th Sept. – AM Light Rain / Temp. Min 6º / Max 17º / Wind 15mph NW
Fri 13th Sept. – Sunny / Temp. Min 5º / Max 17º / Wind 10mph W

2018 Men’s Home Internationals

ENGLAND won the 2018 Men’s Home Internationals played at Conwy G.C., Wales in September 2018. The win broke a run of four consecutive Championships for the Irish team dating back to 2014.

England celebrate with the Raymond Trophy (Photo: Wales Golf)

Here is a summary of the final results from the 2018 competition: –

Final Results – 2018 Men’s Home Internationals (Photo: Wales Golf / Golfbox)

David HAGUE (ENG) and Tiarnán MCLARNON (IRE) both finished the tournament with 100% records, winning all 6 of their games. Tom PLUMB (ENG) was also unbeaten, winning four of his games and halving two of his foursomes.

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Euan WALKER was outstanding for Scotland winning five of his six games.

Likewise Paddy MULLINS did well for Wales, particularly securing two singles wins.

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Click here to view the full – 2018 Men’s Home Internationals Results
– click the match score to see the individual games and the game score to view the hole by hole scores.

Historic Results

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

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European Men’s Amateur Team Championship – 2019 Preview, Reports & Results

Posted on 07/07/2019 by Golf Bible

13th July 2019

Here is my assessment of the Individual GB&I performances at the European Men’s Amateur Team Championship.

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Euan WALKER (SCO) was my star man at this week’s Championship after another superb overall performance.

Harry HALL (ENG), Ryan LUMSDEN (SCO), Mark POWER (IRE) and Gaelan TREW (WAL) impressively won all three of their Singles games in the Match Play stage.

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13th July 2019

Sweden beat ENGLAND 4.5-2.5 in the Final of the European Men’s Amateur Team Championship.

Sweden’s Men’s Team (Photo: European Golf Association)

It was Sweden’s third win and first since 1961 – they won the first two Championships that were played. Meanwhile England collected the silver medal for the third year running after losing to Spain and Finland in the two previous Finals.

Tom SLOMAN and Tom PLUMB completed a hat trick of Foursomes wins in the opening match but Alex FITZPATRICK and Matty LAMB couldn’t match them on this occasion.

As England had lost both Singles series’ in the previous two rounds the writing was perhaps on the wall entering the afternoon games. Obviously this time their opponents also had home advantage on their side too.

Sweden ended up winning the second half of the match 3.5-1.5 with only Harry HALL able to secure a full point – his third Singles win of the competition.

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Sweden v. England Final Match Results (Photo: EGA / Golfbox)

SCOTLAND secured the Bronze Medal beating Denmark 4-3 on the final day.

The Scots got off to a great start winning both of the morning foursomes with some ease.

Narrow 1 hole wins for Euan WALKER and Ryan LUMSDEN ultimately saw them home.

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Denmark v. Scotland 3rd Place Match Results (Photo: EGA / Golfbox)

IRELAND pipped WALES to 5th place winning their final day match 3-2.

Two matches went to extra holes and with Ireland winning both they swung the result to the green side. In the Foursomes Caolan RAFFERTY & James SUGRUE got the win on the 22nd hole and like yesterday Mark POWER came out on top in extra time in his Singles.

Ireland v. Wales 5th Place Match Results (Photo: EGA / Golfbox)

Click here to view all of the Match Play Results – Flight A

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12th July 2019

ENGLAND beat SCOTLAND 4-3 in their semi-final at the European Men’s Amateur Team Championship. They will play Sweden tomorrow in the final after the home nation overcame Denmark 6-1.

The two English foursomes pairings maintained their 100% win records with Tom SLOMAN & Tom PLUMB beating Sandy SCOTT & James WILSON 3&2 and Alex FITZPATRICK & Matty LAMB overcoming Euan MCINTOSH & Euan WALKER by 2 Holes.

The Scots fought back well in the afternoon with Sandy SCOTT, Euan WALKER and Ryan LUMSDEN all winning their Singles. However, it proved to be in vein as Tom PLUMB and Harry HALL saw England home with 3&2 and 3&1 wins respectively in the other two games.

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Scotland v. England Semi-Final Results (Photo: EGA / Golfbox)

Despite being out of the medals IRELAND and WALES carry on playing – albeit in an abridged match format – to see who finishes in 5th to 8th places in the Championship.

IRELAND beat Germany 3-2, the highlights being Singles wins for Conor PURCELL and Mark POWER.

Ireland v. Germany Results (Photo: EGA / Golfbox)

WALES enjoyed the scalp of Spain on Day 4 of the Championship. Their 3.5-1.5 victory came on the back of an unbeaten Singles performance with three wins coming from Gaelen TREW, Jacob DAVIES and Jake HAPGOOD.

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Spain v. Wales Results (Photo: EGA / Golfbox)

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11th July 2019

No. 1 seed’s IRELAND lost 4-3 to Denmark who had finished 34 shots behind them in the Stroke Play Qualifying.

IRELAND got off to a bad start losing both morning foursome games heavily by 5&4.

Whilst Conor PURCELL (5&3), Mark POWER (4&3) and James SUGRUE (3&2) all won their Singles narrow 1 hole losses for Caolan RAFFERTY and Tiarnan MCLARNON ultimately did for the Irish.

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Ireland v. Denmark Quarter Final Results (Photo: EGA / Golfbox)

SCOTLAND beat Spain 4.5 – 2.5.

Having built a strong foundation with two foursomes wins in the morning, Singles wins for Sandy SCOTT and Ryan LUMSDEN and a half for James WILSON easily saw the Scots home.

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Scotland v. Spain Quarter Final Results (Photo: EGA / Golfbox)

England narrowly beat Wales 4-3 to set up a semi-final with Scotland.

Wales can take some consolation from wining the afternoon Singles series 3-2 with their wins coming from Gaelan TREW, Archie DAVIES and Jake HAPGOOD.

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England v. Wales Quarter Final Results (Photo: EGA / Golfbox)

Click here to view the Match Play Draw / Scores – Flight A

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10th July 2019

IRELAND (-19), ENGLAND (-16) and SCOTLAND (-10) finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively in the Stroke Play Qualifying competition, where five of the six individual scores count towards the team total.

WALES (+12) battled well on Day 2 with a +2 total helping them to an encouraging 7th place finish.

As a result all four home nations qualified for the top 8 Flight A match play stage and as such are now competing for a Championship medal.

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Stroke Play Qualifying Results (Photo: EGA / Golfbox)

Euan WALKER (SCO) earned individual medalist honours. His rounds of 67 and 65 gave him a 132 (-12) total and saw him finish 3-shots ahead of his nearest challengers.

Making a welcome return to form Conor PURCELL (IRE) -9 was 2nd and Tom SLOMAN (ENG) -8 3rd.

Caolan RAFFERTY (IRE) and Alex FITZPATRICK (ENG) were the next best in tied 4th on -5.

Sandy SCOTT (SCO), Ben JONES (ENG) and Ben CHAMBERLAIN (WAL) finished in a six man group in tied 7th on -3 in a leaderboard that was dominated by GB&I players.

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Leading Stroke Play Qualifying Individual Results (Photo: EGA / Golfbox)

Click here to view the Stroke Play Qualifying Results – Individual and Team

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7th July 2019

The 36th European Men’s Amateur Team Championship will be played between Tuesday 9th and Saturday 13th July 2019 at Ljunghusen G.C. in Sweden.

Teams from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales will be competing this week.

Finland are the defending champions having won at Golf Club Bad Saarow in Germany.

Team Finland (Photo: Suomen Golfliitto / @golfliitto)

The European Ladies’, Boys’ and Girls’ Team Championships are also being played elsewhere in Europe this week.

I will provide daily updates on play in the Men’s event on this website during the week and score links to all of the Championships on Twitter.

2019 Teams

16 national teams of 6 players contest the European Men’s Amateur Team Championship.

The teams competing in the 2019 Championship are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Wales.

Portugal, Czech Republic and Serbia were relegated from Division 1 in 2018 whilst Switzerland, Slovenia and Wales were promoted from Division 2.

The Czech Republic have been given a reprieve whilst Belgium, who finished 4th in Division 2 last year, have also been invited to play in Sweden. This is because both Italy, who finished 12th in Division 1, and Division 2 champions Switzerland have chosen to participate in the Division 2 competition in Poland this year. I have no idea why they would want to do this.

The 2019 home nation teams are made up of the following players: –

ENGLAND – Alex FITZPATRICK, Harry HALL, Ben JONES, Matty LAMB, Tom PLUMB and Tom SLOMAN.

IRELAND – Tiarnan MCLARNAN, Ronan MULLARNEY, Mark POWER, Conor PURCELL, Caolan RAFFERTY and James SUGRUE.

SCOTLAND – Ryan LUMSDEN, Euan MCINTOSH, Sandy SCOTT, Jamie STEWART, Euan WALKER and James WILSON.

WALES – Ben CHAMBERLAIN, Archie DAVIES, Jacob DAVIES, Jake HAPGOOD, Matt ROBERTS and Gaelan TREW.

Unusually quite a few players, primarily from Scotland and Wales, played in the Men’s Team events last year. These were Caolan Rafferty, Ryan Lumsden, Euan McIntosh, Sandy Scott, Jamie Stewart, Euan Walker, Ben Chamberlain, Jake Hapgood, Matt Roberts and Gaelan Trew.

Format / Schedule

The Championship is run by the European Golf Association, this year in partnership with the Swedish Golf Federation.

Two rounds of stroke play qualifying are completed on the first two days, with the lowest five scores from each team counting.

These results determine a seeded match play draw. The top 8 qualifying teams will play in a first flight, which will determine the medalists, with the others competing in a second flight. In Fight A it is therefore 1st v. 8th, 2nd v. 7th, 3rd v. 6th and 4th v. 5th.

The teams finishing 14th to 16th in the match play stage will theoretically be relegated to the Division 2 Championship for 2020.

The teams in Flight A play 2 foursomes and 5 singles whilst those in Flight B play 1 foursome and 4 singles.

A win earns 1 point, a draw half a point and a loss no points in all of the matches.

Website Links – Draw / Scores / Information

Full Player List

Stroke Play Qualifying Leaderboard – Individual and Team

Match Play Draw / Results – Flight A and Flight B

For more event information – European Golf Association Website

Ljunghusen Golf Club, Sweden

Ljunghusen is a flat heathland links course located on the Falsterbo Peninsula, about 20 miles south of Malmö.

The Championship, which was also staged here in 2001, will be played on holes 1-18 of this 27 hole facility.

The main course plays to 6,352 metres and a par of 72. As can be seen from the aerial photo below the course is relatively tight with fairways edged with heather and some greens protected by water hazards. Ljunghusen translates as ‘house of heather’ and if the wind blows it can be penal.

Ljunghusen G.C. (Photo: GEO Foundation / sustainable.golf)

Weather Forecast

This week’s weather forecast for south west Sweden looks very good. The winds off the Baltic determine the difficulty of the course and with relatively low values expected I anticipate a low scoring competition.

Tue 9th July – Sunny Intervals. Wind 15 mph NW. Temp. Min. 12°C / Max. 19°C.
Wed 10th July – Sunny. Wind 14 mph NW. Temp. Min. 13°C / Max. 20°C.
Thur 11th July – Sunny. Wind 10 mph NW. Temp. Min. 13°C / Max. 21°C.
Fri 12th July – Sunny. Wind 8 mph NW. Temp. Min. 13°C / Max. 21°C.
Sat 13th July – Sunny. Wind 10 mph SW. Temp. Min. 12°C / Max. 20°C.

2018 European Men’s Amateur Team Championship

In something of a surprise Finland beat England 5-2 at Golf Club Bad Saarow, Brandenburg in Germany in the 2018 Final.

England, the 11-time champions, beat France (6-1) and Denmark (4-3) on their way to the Final.

Scotland, who had qualified for Flight A, lost to Denmark (4.5-2.5), France (1.5-3.5) and finally Sweden (3-2) to finish 8th.

In Flight B Ireland beat Serbia (5-0) and Iceland (3.5-1.5) but lost 2-3 to Netherlands on the final day to finish 10th.

Match Play Draw / Scores – Flight A
Match Play Draw / Scores – Flight B

In the preceding Stroke Play Qualifying competition England (-27) finished 2nd (after count back from winners Sweden), Scotland (-11) 6th and Ireland (-1) 9th. England and Scotland therefore qualified for the Flight A Match Play whilst Ireland had to settle for Flight B.

England’s Gian-Marco PETROZZI secured individual medalist honours with a -12 total. John MURPHY (-9) was Ireland’s leading player finishing 6th whilst Euan MCINTOSH (-4) was the best placed Scot in 14th place.

Stroke Play Qualifying Results – Individual and Team

History / Previous Results

The European Men’s Amateur Team Championship was first played in 1959.

It was played every second year until 2007. Since then it has been played annually save for 2012 when no Championship was held.

To date England have won 11 times, Scotland 8, Ireland 6, Spain 4, Sweden 2 and Finland, France, Italy and Wales once each.

Click here to view the full list of – European Men’s Amateur Team Championship Past Winners

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Men’s Home Internationals – 2018 Preview, Reports & Results

Posted on 09/09/2018 by Golf Bible

14th September 2018

ENGLAND won the 2018 Men’s Home Internationals beating IRELAND 9 – 6 in today’s championship match.

England celebrate with the Raymond Trophy (Photo: Wales Golf)

Here is a summary of the final results from this year’s tournament: –

Final Results – 2018 Men’s Home Internationals (Photo: Wales Golf / Golfbox)

In the ENGLAND v. IRELAND match today the foursomes were shared 2.5 – 2.5 but in the afternoon England pulled away with some impressive singles victories.

The highlights were Andrew WILSON’s 7&6 win over the previously unbeaten Conor PURCELL and Mitch WAITE’s 2 Holes win over Robin DAWSON, both of which set the foundation for their team to build on.

Ireland v. England Results (Photo: Wales Golf / Golfbox Scoring)

David HAGUE (ENG) and Tiarnan MCLARNON (IRE) both finished the tournament with 100% records, winning all 6 of their games. Tom PLUMB (ENG) was also unbeaten, winning four of his games and halving two of his foursomes.

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Host nation WALES once again fell the wrong side of the thin line that sometimes separates winning and losing. Today Scotland edged them out 8 – 7.

Scotland won the foursomes 4 -1 in the morning but were made to work hard for the additional four single wins they needed in the afternoon.

Scotland v. Wales Results (Photo: Wales Golf / Golfbox Scoring)

Whilst it was tough going for SCOTLAND and WALES for most of the week it was possible for some of their individuals to shine.

Euan WALKER was outstanding for Scotland winning five of his six games.

Likewise Paddy MULLINS did well for Wales and can be particularly pleased with his two singles wins.

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Click here to view the full – 2018 Men’s Home Internationals Results
– click the match score to see the individual games and the game score to view the hole by hole scores.

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13th September 2018

IRELAND beat WALES 11.5 – 5.5 on Day 2 of the Men’s Home Internationals at Conwy Golf Club.

The morning foursomes went the way of the Irish 3.5 – 1.5 albeit the Robbie CANNON / JAMES SUGRUE pairing needed a birdie on the 18th to secure a half in their match so the overall series scoreline could have been closer.

Ireland won the singles 6 – 4 with Conor PURCELL, Caolan RAFFERTY and Peter O’KEEFFE (all 4&3) enjoying their biggest wins.

However, the best performance of this match arguably fell to Welshman Jake HAPGOOD. He beat in form Robin DAWSON 4&3 with both players blitzing Conwy’s back nine. Jake recorded four birdies and two eagles between the 7th and 15th holes to unsurprisingly take the game.

Ireland v. Wales Results (Photo: Wales Golf / Golfbox Scoring)

In the second match of Day 2 ENGLAND narrowly beat SCOTLAND 8 – 7.

After the morning foursomes, which England won 4 – 1, it appeared the Scots could be in for another heavy defeat.

However, Scotland showed great heart to run out 6 – 4 winners of the singles series. Ryan LUMSDEN, Euan WALKER, Kieran CANTLEY, Stephen RODGER, Jeff WRIGHT and James WILSON were all victorious in the afternoon.

At the end of the day England won the match and that’s all that matters – unless like last year the two leading nations draw again ! The four single wins they enjoyed were all comprehensive and as such after their dominant foursomes performance there was never really a feeing that an upset might be in the air.

Scotland v. England Results (Photo: Wales Golf / Golfbox Scoring)

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12th September 2018

IRELAND beat SCOTLAND 11.5 – 3.5 in the opening game of the 2018 Men’s Home Internationals at Conwy Golf Club.

Ireland won the morning foursomes 4 – 1. Most of the matches tipping their way due to some exceptional play on the back nine by their four final pairings. Scotland’s Euan MCINTOSH and Ryan LUMSDEN provided the only resistance in game 1.

The Irish carried their momentum into the afternoon series too winning the singles 7.5 – 2.5. Robin DAWSON (5&3), Jonathan YATES (5&4) and Tiarnon MCLARNON (4&3) enjoyed the biggest wins.

Ireland v. Scotland Results (Photo: Wales Golf / Golfbox Scoring)

ENGLAND overcame a stubborn WALES 11.5 – 3.5 in the second match on Day 1. As you can see below the games were generally closer than in match 1 and the margin of victory somewhat flatters England who were made to work hard for many of their points.

The morning foursomes were halved 2.5 – 2.5 with Welsh pairing Matt ROBERTS and Paddy MULLINS enjoying the biggest victory of the series, 5&3.

ENGLAND composed themselves in the afternoon and in the end won nine of the ten singles. Ben JONES won his match 4&3 but otherwise the games were tight affairs. Paddy MULLINS maintained his unbeaten personal record by recording the sole singles win for the hosts.

England v. Wales Results (Photo: Wales Golf / Golfbox Scoring)

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9th September 2018

The 2018 Men’s Home Internationals will be contested at Conwy Golf Club in Wales between 12th and 14th September.

IRELAND will travel to North Wales hoping to win the Raymond Trophy for a fifth consecutive year.

Conwy Golf Club (Photo: Golfing Wales)

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.

2018 Players

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

I have also included the current Team (total) and Individual Scratch Players World Amateur Rankings (SPWAR) below.

ENGLAND – Team SPWAR 1,432
Jack BURNAGE (93)
Bailey GILL (176)
David HAGUE (99)
Ben JONES (105)
David LANGLEY (169)
Joe LONG (201)
Tom PLUMB (147)
Nick POPPLETON (190)
Tom SLOMAN (64)
Mitch WAITE (40)
Andrew WILSON (148)

IRELAND – Team SPWAR = 3,300
Robbie CANNON (908)
Robin DAWSON (14)
Alex GLEESON (122)
Tiarnan MCLARNON (406)
Ronan MULLARNEY (265)
Peter O’KEEFFE (354)
Mark POWER (240)
Conor PURCELL (37)
Colin RAFFERTY (82)
James SUGRUE (374)
Jonathan YATES (498)

The Raymond Trophy (Photo: Ayrshire Golf Blog)

SCOTLAND – Team SPWAR = 3,620
Kieran CANTLEY (448)
Matthew CLARK (483)
Stuart EASTON (187)
Calum FYFE (259)
Jim JOHNSTON (562)
Ryan LUMSDEN (80)
Euan MCKINTOSH (156)
Stephen ROGER (406)
Euan WALKER (113)
James WILSON (227)
Jeff WRIGHT (699)

WALES – Team SPWAR = 13,944
Oliver BROWN (2,041)
Ben CHAMBERLAIN (976)
Archie DAVIES (981)
Jacob DAVIES (1,438)
Jake HAPGOOD (395)
Kieron HARMAN (1,698)
Paddy MULLINS (1,572)
Matt ROBERTS (797)
Lewys SANGES (1,095)
Gaelan TREW (2,217)
Tom WILLIAMS (734)

Just 14 of the 44 players competed last year at Moortown. England have 8 new players in their 2018 line up, Ireland 6, Scotland 9 and Wales 7.

I think ENGLAND have got to start as slight favourites this year but I certainly wouldn’t bet against IRELAND making it five in a row.

Venue – Conwy Golf Club

Founded in 1890 the Conwy (Caernarvonshire) Golf Club is the third oldest club in Wales.

The course was originally laid out by Jack Harris with more recent alterations completed by Frank Pennink.

One of the best links courses in Great Britain it has hosted many amateur and professional tournaments in the past. It’s next big appointment is the Curtis Cup match which it will stage in 2020.

Conwy Golf Club Scorecard (Photos: Conwy Golf Club)

The courses measures 6,936 yards from the Blue Championship tees, playing to a par of 72. It is relatively flat with it’s exposed coastal position meaning the prevailing westerly wind is always a major factor particularly as the design has holes going in all directions.

Conwy Golf Club Course Map (Photos: Conwy Golf Club)

2018 Weather Forecast (as at 9.00am Sunday 9th September)
Wed. 12th Sept. – Light Rain / Temp. Min 9º / Max 15º / Wind 11mph NW
Thurs. 13th Sept. – Sunny / Temp. Min 10º / Max 16º / Wind 11mph W
Fri 14th Sept. – Cloudy / Temp. Min 11º / Max 16º / Wind 15mph SW

2017 Men’s Home Internationals

IRELAND won the 2017 Men’s Home Internationals at Moortown Golf Club in Leeds.

They secured the Raymond Trophy after halving the deciding match with ENGLAND 7.5 – 7.5. This was good enough for the Irish to pip the home nation by a half point in total match points earned, 26.5 against 26.0.

The win was a record breaking fourth consecutive victory in the event for the men in green.

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The 2017 Ireland Team (Photo: Leaderboard Photography)

WALES beat SCOTLAND 9.5 – 5.5 on the final day to consign the Scots to the wooden spoon.

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

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

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2017 Men’s Home Internationals Points Table (Photo: England Golf Event Microsite)

Caolan RAFFERTY (IRE) and Josh HILLEARD (ENG) delivered the best individual records during the week, both winning five of their six games.

ME.

World Amateur Team Championship – 2018 Preview, Reports & Results

Posted on 04/09/2018 by Golf Bible

8th September 2018

DENMARK won the Men’s World Amateur Team Championship at Carton House in Ireland with a record 541 (-39) team score.

Denmark With The Eisenhower Trophy (Photo: International Golf Federation)

The Danes produced a -13 team score in the final round which was played on the O’Meara Course. European Amateur champion Nicolai HOJGAARD was their star man producing a 66 (-7) right on cue.

This was Denmark’s first victory in the Championship. Their previous best result was second in Argentina in 2010.

The UNITED STATES finished 2nd paying the penalty for their poor first day. In the final analysis they found themselves coming up 1-shot short on 542 (-38) after a -11 team score today.

SPAIN were third on 544 (-36) two shots further back. Alejandro DEL RAY continued his fine play this week with a 65 (-8) to help the Spaniards finish the day with a -9 team score.

The Leading Final Team Results (Photo: IGF / http://www.ghintpp.com)

ENGLAND recorded the second best team score of the day with a -12. This strong finish lifted them up to 8th on 549 (-31). MATTHEW JORDAN left the amateur game in style shooting a bogey-free 65 (-8), the joint low round of the day. Matthew is set to make his pro debut in the KLM Open in The Netherlands next week.

Matthew Jordan’s Round 4 Championship Scorecard (Photo: IGF / http://www.ghintpp.com)

IRELAND finished tied 10th on 553 (-27) after a good -9 team score on the final day. John MURPHY 68 (-5) and Robin DAWSON 69 (-4) contributed the Irish scores.

SCOTLAND also finished the Championship well with a -8 team score in Round 4. Sandy SCOTT doing the main damage today with a 67 (-6). The Scottish total of 554 (-26) was good enough for tied 12th.

WALES finished on 560 (-20) for a tied 18th result. Tom WILLIAMS 69 (-4) led the Welsh to a -7 team score on the final day.

Click here to view the – 2018 Eisenhower Trophy Team Scores

Spain’s Alejandro DEL RAY was the low individual with a superb -23 final score. It was a bit harsh on Japan’s Takumi KANAYA who did little wrong today (67 -6) but ended up second best on -22.

Robin DAWSON and Gian-Marco PETROZZI (-14) both finished tied 13th to share low GB&I honours. Matthew JORDAN, Sandy SCOTT and Ryan LUMSDEN (-12) were a couple of shots further back.

Dawson and Petrozzi will both be turning Pro in the next few weeks ahead of competing in a European Tour Qualifying Stage 1 event.

The Leading Final Individual Team Results (Photo: IGF / http://www.ghintpp.com)

Click here to view the – 2018 Eisenhower Trophy Individual Scores

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7th September 2018

NEW ZEALAND showed no nerves at all on Day 3 extending their lead over the field to 3-shots. Denzel IEREMIA showed his 66 on the Montgomerie yesterday was no fluke by following it up with a 65 (-7) today.

SPAIN, UNITED STATES and ITALY matched the leaders with a -10 team score in Round 3. With THAILAND and DENMARK still in the mix we now have five teams within 4-shots of New Zealand. A final day shoot out therefore seems assured.

The Leading Round 3 Team Scores (Photo: IGF / http://www.ghintpp.com)

ENGLAND (-19) moved into 11th after posting their best team score of the week so far; a -7 with Gian-Marco PETROZZI once again delivering the low card. Petrozzi’s 67 today took him to -12 for the Championship. He is now the leading GB&I individual with just 18 holes to play.

Gian-Marco Petrozzi’s Championship Scorecard (Photo: IGF / http://www.ghintpp.com)

IRELAND and SCOTLAND (-18) are now tied 12th. Ireland fell down the rankings with a disappointing +1 team score in Round 3. Conor PURCELL’S 71 (-1) was the best score they could produce. On the other hand Scotland continue to rise; Sandy SCOTT came to the party in Round 3 and his 67 (-5) helped them move up another 5 places on the leaderboard.

WALES (-13) had a steady day with Ben CHAMBERLAIN’S 70 leading them to a -2 team score. They will start the final round in tied 20th place.

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6th September 2018

A strong finish to their rounds on the Montgomerie Course by Daniel HILLIER 65 (-7) and Denzel IEREMIA 66 (-6) helped NEW ZEALAND rise to the top of the Men’s World Amateur Team Championship leaderboard on Day 2.

New Zealand’s 270 (-20) total has given them a 1-shot lead over DENMARK, IRELAND and THAILAND, who are all tied for 2nd place.

The Leading Round 2 Team Scores (Photo: IGF / http://www.ghintpp.com)

THAILAND enjoyed a superb day on the Montgomerie Course producing a 131 (-13) score which catapulted them up into 2nd place on 271 (-19). Sadom KAEWKANJANA contributed a 65 (-7) and Witchayanon CHOTHIRUNRUNGRUENG a 66 (-6).

The Day 1 leaders, DENMARK, delivered an entirely satisfactory 137 (-8) score on the O’Meara Course but unfortunately it was a day when many of their peers were going even lower. John AXELSEN 69 (-4) again led the way with the HOJGAARD twins, Nicolai and Rasmus, both offering up 70’s (-3).

Home team IRELAND enjoyed another strong team performance in Round 2, producing a good 137 (-9) score on the O’Meara Course. Robin DAWSON, who is still to record a bogey at the Championship, shot a 68 (-5) today and he was well supported by Conor PURCELL who had a 69 (-4).

Robin Dawson’s Championship Scorecard (Photo: IGF / http://www.ghintpp.com)

CANADA (-13 O’Meara), UNITED STATES (-13 O’Meara), SPAIN (-11 Montgomerie), ITALY (-13 O’Meara), SWEDEN (-11 Montgomerie), AUSTRIA (-10 O’Meara) and GERMANY (-12 O’Meara) all managed ‘double figure’ days to move into the Top 15 by the end of play.

Italy’s Stefano MAZZOLI had the low round of the day on the O’Meara Course with a 64 (-9). A great bounce back from a difficult day on the Montgomerie yesterday. He was 15 shots better today and amazingly -9 after 10 holes of his round.

Stefano Mazzoli’s Championship Scorecard (Photo: IGF / http://www.ghintpp.com)

Spain’s Alejandro DEL RAY also a shot a 64 (-8) on the Montgomerie which was the best of the day on this course.

Alejandro Del Ray’s Championship Scorecard (Photo: IGF / http://www.ghintpp.com)

ENGLAND, one of the last group’s out on the Montgomerie Course, battled hard for a second successive -6 score. Gian-Marco PETROZZI shot a 68 (-4) to help lead the English team into tied 12th place.

WALES followed up yesterday’s good start with an even better day on the Montgomerie Course. Jake HAPGOOD’S 68 (-4) and Tom WILLIAMS’ 70 (-2) left the Principality on 279 -11 for the Championship and tied 14th.

SCOTLAND also enjoyed an excellent day. Their 136 (-10) score, thanks to Ryan LUMSDEN’S 67 (-6) and Euan WALKER’S 69 (-4) on the O’Meara moved them through the field into a respectable tied 17th.

SOUTH AFRICA’S Championship continues to go from bad to worse. Today Malcom MITCHELL, their reserve fell ill and was unable to make his tee time. Then playing in the morning, in the worst of the day’s weather, their two remaining players Matt SAULEZ and Wilco NIENABER were only able to manage a 75 and 76 on the O’Meara Course. A 151 (+5) day took them to 294 (+4) in total and a hugely disappointing 46th place.

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5th September 2018

DENMARK lead the Men’s World Amateur Team Championship (WATC) at the end of Round 1.

The Leading Round 1 Team Scores (Photo: IGF / http://www.ghintpp.com)

Rounds of 64 (-8) and 68 (-4) on the tougher Montgomerie Course from John AXELSEN and Rasmus HOJGAARD respectively helped the Danes post an impressive 132 (-12) score.

John Axelsen’s Round 1 Scorecard (Photo: IGF / http://www.ghintpp.com)

The home nation IRELAND, who were also playing on the Montgomerie, are second on 134 (-10). Robin DAWSON shot a bogey free 65 (-7) with encouragingly both John MURPHY and Conor PURCELL backing him up with 69’s (-3).

Robin Dawson’s Round 1 Scorecard (Photo: IGF / http://www.ghintpp.com)

INDIA and SWITZERLAND are a surprise third on 137 (-9), albeit their scores were both compiled on the O’Meara Course. India’s star man Rayhan THOMAS shot a best of the day 64 (-9) on the easier par 73 track. Switzerland’s Perry COHEN produced a 65 (-8) to underpin his country’s total score.

Rayhan Thomas’s Round 1 Scorecard (Photo: IGF / http://www.ghintpp.com)

ENGLAND, who were also on the O’Meara today, finished on 140 (-6) and are tied 7th. Gian-Marco PETROZZI 70 (-3) and Mitch WAITE 70 (-3) contributed their two scores.

WALES have made an encouraging start to the Championship too. Their 141 (-5) total on the O’Meara sees them lying in tied 12th place. Ben CHAMBERLAIN 69 (-4) and Jake HAPGOOD 72 (-1) put their scores on the board.

SCOTLAND 144 (Ev) are tied 34th. On a steady day for the Scots Ryan LUMSDEN shot 71 (-1) whilst Sandy SCOTT and Euan WALKER contributed hard fought matching 73’s (+1).

Two of this year’s favourites, the U.S.A. 140 M (-4) and AUSTRALIA 141 M (-3), have work to do from tied 19th and tied 23rd respectively at the end of Day 1. There is of course plenty of time left for both of them to catch the early leaders.

SOUTH AFRICA 143 M (-1) are tied 30th. Their day got off to a bad start when Jovan REBULA, the reigning Amateur champion, was forced to withdrawal with a back injury before play had started. He was replaced by travelling reserve Malcom MITCHELL.

All of the players and their teams will move onto the other course, i.e. the one they haven’t played today, for tomorrow’s second round.

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4th September 2018

The 31^st Men’s World Amateur Team Championship (WATC) starts tomorrow at the Carton House resort in County Kildare, Ireland.

The WATC is a biennial international amateur golf competition run by the International Golf Federation (IGF), formerly known as the World Amateur Golf Council.

The IGF comprises 151 national governing bodies of golf in 146 countries and 22 international professional tours. It is recognised by the International Olympic Committee as the body responsible for golf and as such, in addition to the Men’s and Women’s WATC’s it also organises the golf competitions in both the Olympics and Youth Olympics.

The competition has in recent years moved by rotation around the world taking in Asia-Pacific, the Americas and Europe-Africa in turn.

The first WATC took place in 1958 and was played over the Old Course at St. Andrews. Bobby Jones captained the United States of America famously receiving the Freedom of the Town during the trip, although his team ended up losing a play-off to Australia for the title.

Venue

The WATC will be played over Carton House’s two golf courses and will be hosted by the Golfing Union of Ireland and Irish Ladies Golf Union.

The Montgomerie is a par 72 inland-links course which measures 7,301 yards from the championship tees. The nines are relatively similar in length and follow the standard configuration with two par 3’s and two par 5’s on each side. It hosted the Irish Open Championship on the European Tour in 2005, 2006 and 2013.

The O’Meara is a par 73 parkland course which measures 7,165 yards from the championship tees. Again the two nines are similar in length, albeit the front nine includes three par 5’s.

18th hole, The Montgomerie Course, Carton House (Photo: Albrecht Golf Guide)

Competition Format

72 teams are competing in the 2018 WATC.

The three players from each team play 72 holes of stroke play over four days. The two lowest rounds recorded on each day count towards the team’s total score.

The winning team receive the Eisenhower Trophy. The Trophy was provided in 1958 by the American Friends of Golf through the United States Golf Association and the Royal and Ancient GolfGolf Club of St. Andrews, Scotland. It is named in honour of the then United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The inscription on the trophy reads: “To foster friendship and sportsmanship among the Peoples of the World.”

Players in the leading three teams receive gold, silver and bronze medals.

Whilst individual results are reported and the player with the lowest score is recognised at the closing ceremony there is no prize awarded for the honour.

GB&I Competitors

Each of the home nations will be represented with the following players having been selected (Age / SPWAR): –

ENGLAND
Matt JORDAN (22 / #16), Gian-Marco PETROZZI (21 / #108) and Mitch WAITE (23 / #37)

IRELAND
Robin DAWSON (22 / #15), John MURPHY (20 / #94) and Conor PURCELL (21 / #34)

SCOTLAND
Ryan LUMSDEN (21 / #88 ), Euan WALKER (22 / #114 ) and Sandy SCOTT (20 / #132)

WALES
Ben CHAMBERLAIN (NK / #972), Jake HAPGOOD (NK / #395 ) and Tom WILLIAMS (NK / #728)

Good luck to all of the home nation teams competing in Ireland this week.

2018 WATC Prediction

Whilst there are 72 teams competing at the 2018 WATC just ten have a chance of a medal in my opinion.

This is my Top 10 prediction: –

1. United States of America
2. ENGLAND
3. IRELAND
4. South Africa
5. Australia
6. Denmark
7. Norway
8. Canada
9. France
10. Italy

The U.S.A. will be represented by Cole HAMMER (SPWAR #6), Colin MORIKAWA (#2) and Justin SUH (#10). The ‘undisputed’ World No. 1 Braden THORNBERRY has either not be selected or declined the opportunity to travel to Ireland.

Jovan REBULA and Victor HOVLAND, the 2018 Amateur and U.S. Amateur champions, are in action for South Africa and Norway respectively.

Future WATC Venues

2020 – Hong Kong G.C. (composite) and The Clearwater Bay G. & C.C., Hong Kong, China
2022 – Le Golf National and Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche, near Paris, France

The choice of France in 2022 was something of a surprise as the WATC was scheduled to be played in the Americas based on the rotation system that has been in place.

From 2024 due to escalating costs the WATC will be staged at a single course with the field reduced accordingly. It is expected a new qualifying competition for the smaller and newer golfing nations will be established ahead of this Championship.

2016 WATC

AUSTRALIA won the 2016 World Amateur Team Championship in Mayakoba, Mexico by a massive 19-shots.

The team of Cameron DAVIS, Harrison ENDYCOTT and Curtis LUCK equalled the 72 hole scoring record of 534 (-38).

It was the fourth time Australia had won the Eisenhower Trophy, following victories in 1958, 1966 and 1996.

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Australia – Harrison Endycott, Cameron Davis, Curtis Luck, Matt Cutler – with the Eisenhower Trophy (Photo: Golf Australia)

ENGLAND (-19) collected the silver medal with AUSTRIA and IRELAND (-18) sharing bronze.

Alfie PLANT holed a 9-foot birdie putt on the last to secure second place for England. The Irish team appeared to have second sown up but a double bogey from Jack HUME (68) and a bogey from Stuart GREHAN (72) on the 18th, in their two counting rounds, ended up costing them dear.

It was the first time that both ENGLAND and IRELAND had medalled since the home nations started competing individually rather than under the Great Britain & Ireland banner.

SCOTLAND (-11) finished in a disappointing 11th place given the strong team they put out and particularly after holding the Round 1 lead when they posted a -10 score.

WALES finished in tied 16th. David BOOTE (-9) was their mainstay but he was supported well by Owen EDWARDS and Joshua DAVIES, both of whom provided two scores over the Championship.

Team Results
1. AUSTRALIA -38
2. ENGLAND -19
T3. IRELAND -18
11. SCOTLAND -11
T16. WALES -8

T6. USA -15

AUSTRALIA’s Cameron DAVIS (269 / -17) recorded the Championship’s lowest individual score. His compatriot Curtis LUCK (271 / -15) finished second, helped in no small part by a superb 63 (-9) in the third round.

England’s Alfie PLANT (-12) was GB&I’s leading player at the Championship. David BOOTE (-9), Jack HUME (-7) and Paul MCBRIDE (-5) all played very well too, finishing in the Top 20 Individual standings.

GB&I Individual Results
T3. Alfie PLANT (ENG) -12
9. David BOOTE (WAL) -9
T11. Jack HUME (IRE) -7
T20. Paul MCBRIDE (IRE) -5
T27. Robert MCINTYRE (SCO) -3
T38. Connor SYME (SCO) Ev
T38. Grant FORREST (SCO) Ev
T38. Scott GREGORY (ENG) Ev
T48. Stuart GREHAN (IRE) +2
T53. Jamie BOWER (ENG) +3
T71. Owen EDWARDS (WAL) +5
T100. Joshua DAVIES (WAL) +11

2014 WATC

The United States of America, represented by Bryson DECHAMBEAU, Beau HOSSLER and Denny MCCARTHY won the 2014 Eisenhower Trophy in Karuizawa, Japan. The U.S. team set a new record score of 534 (-38).

2014 Eisenhower Trophy

U.S.A. – Bryson DeChambeau, Denny McCarthy, Jim Hyler (c) and Beau Hossler – with the Eisenhower Trophy (Photo: USGA / Steven Gibbons)

In 2014 Spain’s Jon RAHM won the Individual with a record breaking 263 (-23) total.

Historic Results

GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND (GB&I) have won the Eisenhower Trophy four times but only SCOTLAND have won it in their own right since each of the home nations started to compete separately.

The competion holds a special place in the story of English amateur Peter MCEVOY. He participated in the winning GB&I team in 1988, he also ‘won’ the Individual (284) that year and he went on to captain the GB&I team that won it again in 1998. A hat trick of Eisenhower Trophy achievements that may prove difficult for anyone else to match.

Here is the full list of historic results: –

Screen Shot 2018-09-04 at 17.48.59

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European Men’s Amateur Team Championship – 2018 Preview, Reports & Results

Posted on 09/07/2018 by Golf Bible

Saturday 14th July 2018 – FINAL

FLIGHT A

Finland won the 2018 European Men’s Amateur Team Championship, comfortably beating England 5-2 in today’s Final.

Finland were only promoted from Men’s Division 2 last year but with Matias HONKALA and Sami VALIMAKI in their ranks, both of whom were selected for the Continent of Europe St. Andrews Trophy Team this week, they proved to be more than a match for the English.

England will be disappointed with their performance. Having previously won the Championship 11 times and given their play so far this week they would certainly have expected to win.

Finland v. England Final Match Play Results (Photo: EGA /Golfbox)

Finland won both morning Foursomes to give themselves the platform for their victory. Whilst the five Singles were all tight at the end of the day only Gian-Marco PETROZZI was able to secure a win.

Also in Flight A Scotland lost to Sweden 3-2 and therefore finished 8th.

Ryan LUMSDEN and Jamie STEWART won their Singles games, overcoming Pontus NYHOLM (2&1) and Tim WIDING (1 Hole) respectively.

Match Play Final Draw / Scores – Flight A

FLIGHT B

Ireland lost 2-3 to Netherlands to finish 10th in the European Men’s Amateur Team Championship.

Robin DAWSON and Rowan LESTER secured Ireland’s two points with Singles wins against Vince VAN VEEN (4&2) and Dario ANTONISSE (1Hole) respectively.

Match Play Draw / Scores – Flight B

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Friday 13th July 2018 – MATCH PLAY SEMI-FINALS

FLIGHT A

England narrowly beat Denmark 4-3 to secure a place in tomorrow’s Men’s Final.

A dream start saw the team take a 2-0 lead after the morning Foursomes. Matthew JORDAN and Gian-Marco PETROZZI beat the in-form Hojgaard twins 4&3 while the Yorkshire pairing of David HAGUE and Nick POPPLETON critically secured another point on the first extra hole of their match.

Playing number 1 Matthew JORDAN won his Singles match against the European Amateur champion Nicolai HOJGAARD. This was Matthew’s fourth win out of four games in the match play stage.

Mitch WAITE secured the all important winning point beating Rasmus HOJGAARD on the 19th hole. Waite hasn’t been used in the Foursomes to date but has now delivered two hard fought Singles wins.

In a change to yesterday’s Quarter Final line up Nick POPPLETON came in for David HAGUE in game 5. Nick lost the first four holes against Morten TOFT HANSEN and was unable to recover any of this early deficit with the match coming to a close on the 15th green. It will be interesting to see if David HAGUE comes back into the Singles line up in the Final.

Denmark v. England Semi-Final Match Play Results (Photo: EGA /Golfbox)

England will face Finland who had a similar game against Germany to that of England’s. 2-0 up after the Foursomes before losing the afternoon Singles series 3-2. Aleksi MYLLYMAKI securing the all important point in the last game against Michael HIRMER with a 1 Hole victory.

Germany will now play Denmark in the Bronze medal match tomorrow.

Scotland lost 1.5-3.5 to France in their Flight A match. Jamie STEWART enjoyed a good 4&3 win against Adrien PENDARIES whilst Sandy SCOTT halved his match with Jeremy GANDON.

Match Play Semi-Final Draw / Scores – Flight A

FLIGHT B

Ireland beat Iceland 3.5-1.5 as they seek to regain some pride. Alex GLEESON and Caolan RAFFERTY won their Foursomes before Robin DAWSON and John MURPHY both secured 3&2 wins.

Match Play Draw / Scores – Flight B

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Thursday 12th July 2018 – MATCH PLAY QUARTER FINALS

FLIGHT A

England beat France 6-1 to secure their place in the European Men’s Amateur Team Championship. The score line flattered England a little as most of the games were tight affairs.

As one can see from the results below it was a good all round team effort for England with all six members battling hard and contributing positively to the final result.

England v. France Quarter Final Match Play Results (Photo: EGA /Golfbox)

Denmark, who finished 3rd in Stroke Play Qualifying, proved too strong for Scotland in their Quarter Final match.

Singles wins for Ryan LUMSDEN (3&2 over John AXELSEN) and Euan WALKER (3&1 over Andreas HILLERSBORG SORENSEN) and a half for Sandy SCOTT (with Gustav FRIMODT) gave the scoreline some respectability.

Denmark v. Scotland Quarter Final Match Play Results (Photo: EGA /Golfbox)

Match Play Quarter Final Draw / Scores – Flight A

FLIGHT B

As expected Ireland beat debutants Serbia 5-0. The highlight in a understandably one sided match was Robin DAWSON’s 8&7 victory over Mihailo DIMITRIJEVIC.

Match Play Draw / Scores – Flight B

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Wednesday 11th July 2018 – STROKE PLAY QUALIFYING ROUND 2

England (-27) finished 2nd and Scotland (-11) 6th to make the 8 team Flight A Match Play segment of the European Men’s Amateur Team Championship.

Gian-Marco PETROZZI secured individual medalist honours with a -12 total.

Euan MCINTOSH (-4) was the best placed Scot in 14th place.

Here are the full England and Scotland team scores: –

2nd ENGLAND (693 -27)
1st Gian-Marco PETROZZI 62 70 (-12)
5th Matthew JORDAN 69 66 (-9)
28th Nick POPPLETON 77 66 (-1)
30th David HAGUE 72 71 (-1)
45th Todd CLEMENTS 74 71 (+1)
77th Mitch WAITE 72 77 (+5)

6th SCOTLAND (709 -11)
14th Euan MCINTOSH 72 68 (-4)
20th Sandy SCOTT 69 72 (-3)
35th Stuart EASTON 72 72 (Ev)
39th Jamie STEWART 71 73 (Ev)
41st Ryan LUMSDEN 77 68 (+1)
46th Euan WALKER 73 72 (+1)

Men’s Stroke Play Qualifying Results (Photo: EGA /Golfbox)

Ireland finished 9th unable to improve on their position after Day 1. As a result they will play in the Flight B Match Play section.

As can be seen from the scores below John MURPHY once again performed admirably and given his recent form must now be a very strong candidate for a St. Andrews Trophy spot.

9th IRELAND (719 -1)
6th John MURPHY 68 67 (-9)
27th Robin DAWSON 67 75 (-2)
49th Caolan RAFFERTY 72 73 (+1)
68th Rowan LESTER 77 71 (+4)
88th Jonathan YATES 75 76 (+7)
92nd Alex GLEESON 81 74 (+11)

Stroke Play Qualifying Results – Individual and Team

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Tuesday 10th July 2018 – STROKE PLAY QUALIFYING ROUND 1

England (349 / -11) lead the European Men’s Amateur Team Championship Stroke Play Qualifying after Day 1.

By way of reminder each nation has 6 players with the best five scores counting towards their team score.

Gian-Marco PETROZZI shot a superb 62 (-10) to lead his team to a 2 shot lead over Sweden. Matthew JORDAN, with a 69 (-3), was the only other England player to shoot under par in Round 1.

Gian-Marco Petrozzi’s Round 1 Scorecard (Photo: EGA /Golfbox)

Scotland, led by Sandy SCOTT who posted a 69 (-3), are 7th on 357 (-3).

Ireland, who were helped by strong rounds from both Robin DAWSON 67 (-5) and John MURPHY 68 (-4), are 9th on 359 (-1).

The aim for all three of our teams will be to finish the 36 hole Stroke Play Qualifying in the Top 8 to ensure they make the Match Play Flight A. This will then give them a change to win a medal.

Stroke Play Qualifying Leaderboard – Individual and Team

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9th July 2018

The 35th European Men’s Amateur Team Championship will be played between Tuesday 10th and Saturday 14th July 2018 at Golf Club Bad Saarow, Brandenburg in Germany.

Amateur teams from England, Ireland and Scotland will all be competing this week.

Spain are the defending champions having won at Diamond C.C. in Austria last year.

2017 Champions – Spain (Photo: European Golf Association)

The European Men’s Division 2, Ladies’, Boys’ and Girls’ Team Championships are also being played elsewhere in Europe this week.

I will provide daily updates on play on this website during the week and score links to all of the Championships on Twitter.

2018 Teams

16 national teams of 6 players contest the European Men’s Amateur Team Championship.

The teams competing in the 2018 Championship are Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Scotland, Serbia, Spain and Sweden.

Belgium, Switzerland and Wales were relegated last year while Norway, who finished 8th, have decided not to compete this year.

Finland, Portugal, Netherlands and Serbia were the top 4 finishers in the 2017 Division 2 Championship.

The 2018 home nation teams are made up of the following players: –

ENGLAND – Todd CLEMENTS, David HAGUE, Matthew JORDAN, Gian-Marco PETROZZI, Nick POPPLETON and Mitch WAITE.

IRELAND – Robin DAWSON, Alex GLEESON, Rowan LESTER, John MURPHY, Caolan RAFFERTY and Jonathan YATES.

SCOTLAND – Stuart EASTON, Ryan LUMSDEN, Euan MCINTOSH, Sandy SCOTT, Jamie STEWART and Euan WALKER.

From our three teams just Robin Dawson, Matthew Jordan, Ryan Lumsden and Jamie Stewart played in last year’s competition in Austria.

Format / Schedule

The Championship is run by the European Golf Association, this year in partnership with the German Golf Association.

Assuming no withdrawals the leading 13 teams from last year’s Division 1 Championship are joined by the host nation (if not otherwise qualified) and 2 or 3 promoted teams from the 2016 Division 2 Championship.

Two rounds of stroke play qualifying are completed on the first two days, with the lowest five scores from each team counting.

Additionally the teams finishing 14th to 16th in the match play stage will be relegated to the Division 2 Championship for 2019.

The teams in Flight A play 2 foursomes and 5 singles whilst those in Flight B play 1 foursome and 4 singles.

A win earns 1 point, a draw half a point and a loss no points in all of the matches.

Men’s Division 1 Draw / Scores Links

Stroke Play Tee Times – Round 1

Stroke Play Qualifying Leaderboard – Individual and Team

Match Play Draw / Results – Flight A and Flight B

Golf Club Bad Saarow – Faldo Course Berlin

The Faldo Course Berlin is generally accepted as being one of German’s best golf courses.

Located 70 km outside of Berlin the Faldo Course was opened in 1997 and is a manufactured links-style course. It has few trees, plenty of pot bunkers, a burn and some interesting contoured greens.

It plays to 7,093 yards and a standard par of 72. Both nines are similar in length and have the same make up of holes.

Golf Club Bad Saarow – Faldo Course (Photo: golf.de)

Weather Forecast

Some wet weather is forecast in Germany for each of the first three days of the Championship but things are expected to warm up later in the week. Very little wind is forecast on this inland venue.

Tue 10th July – Showers. Wind 4 mph W. Temp. Min. 13°C / Max. 19°C.
Wed 11th July – Rain. Wind 6 mph W. Temp. Min. 14°C / Max. 20°C.
Thur 12th July – Rain. Wind 9 mph NW. Temp. Min. 15°C / Max. 23°C.
Fri 13th July – Sunny. Wind 10 mph NW. Temp. Min. 15°C / Max. 28°C.
Sat 14th July – Sunny. Wind 8 mph NW. Temp. Min. 15°C / Max. 27°C.

History / Previous Results

The European Men’s Amateur Team Championship was first played in 1959.

It was played every second year until 2007. Since then it has been played annually save for 2012 when no Championship was held.

To date England have won 11 times, Scotland 8, Ireland 6, Spain 3, Sweden 2 and Wales, Italy and France once each.

2017 European Men’s Amateur Team Championship

Match Play Stage

ENGLAND lost 4-3 to Spain in the Final of the 2017 European Men’s Amateur Team Championship at the Diamond C.C. in Austria.

SCOTLAND secured 5th place with a 3-2 win over France.

IRELAND finished 7th after a 3-2 win against Norway on the final day.

WALES lost their final Flight B match 3-2 to Switzerland and were sadly relegated in 16th and last place.

2017 Match Play Results – Flight A and Flight B

Stroke Play Qualifying

ENGLAND (-8) finished 1st in the 36 hole stroke play qualifying event where the 5 best scores from the 6 man team’s counted towards a national aggregate total.

IRELAND (+7) and SCOTLAND (+15) also qualified for the Flight A match play stage finishing 5th and 6th respectively.

WALES (+28) finished 10th and therefore played in the Flight B match play stage. The challenge then is always to avoid finishing 14th or lower to stay in Division 1.

2017 Stroke Play Qualifying Results – Individual and Teams

ME.

European Men’s Amateur Team Championship – 2017 Preview, Results & Reports

Posted on 10/07/2017 by Golf Bible

15th July 2017

ENGLAND lost 4-3 to Spain in today’s Final of the European Men’s Amateur Team Championship at the Diamond CC in Austria. Whilst I am sure they are all disappointed the Silver Medal still represents a very good achievement for the English team.

The two morning Foursomes were shared. Harry ELLIS and Alfie PLANT beat Angel Hidalgo and Javier Sainz 2&1 but Scott GREGORY and Matthew JORDAN lost on the 19th hole to Adria Arnaus and Victor Pastor.

HARRY ELLIS lost the first afternoon Singles game 2&1 to Alejandro Del Rey.

After a late afternoon 35 minute suspension in play due to the risk of lightning the remaining Singles were quickly resolved.

Scott GREGORY beat Manuel Elvira by 1 hole but Alfie PLANT, losing his first game in the match play stage, lost 2&1 to Victor Pastor. Gian-Marco PETROZZI, playing in the final Singles game, won for the second day running beating Javier Sainz 3&2.

This meant the match came down to the Matthew JORDAN and Adriá Arnaus game. Arnaus held on bravely to win by 1 hole to secure the title for the Spaniards.

The England v. Spain Final Match Results

Earlier in the day SCOTLAND secured 5th place with a 3-2 win over France. Singles wins for Robert MACINTYRE (4&2), Craig HOWIE (4&3) and Conor SYME (3&2) won the match for the defending champions.

IRELAND finished 7th after a 3-2 win against Norway on the final day. As with Scotland three Singles wins were responsible for the narrow victory. Stuart GREHAN (4&3), Conor O’ROURKE (3&2) and John Ross GALBRAITH (2&1) did the business for the Irish.

WALES lost their final Flight B match 3-2 to Switzerland and were sadly relegated in last place.

Here’s my assessment of the individual GB&I performances at the European Men’s Amateur Team Championship: –

Screen Shot 2017-07-16 at 09.22.39

European Team Championship Results

Men’s – Diamond CC, Austria
Stroke Play Qualifier – Individual and Teams
Match Play Knockout – Flight A and Flight B

England won the Silver Medal, losing 4-3 to Spain in the Final.
Scotland finished 5th, Ireland 7th and Wales 16th (R).

Boys’ – La Manga, Spain
Stroke Play Qualifier – Individual and Teams
Match Play Knockout – Flight A and Flight B

Ireland finished 6th, England 8th and Scotland 13th.

Ladies’ – Mondago GR, Portugal
Stroke Play Qualifier – Individual and Teams
Match Play Knockout – Flight A and Flight B

England beat Italy 5.5-1.5 to secure the Gold Medal.
Ireland finished 9th and Scotland 11th.

Girls’ – St. Laurence GC, Finland
Stroke Play Qualifier – Individual and Teams
Match Play Knockout – Flight A and Flight B

England beat France 5-2 to secure the Bronze Medal.
Ireland were 10th and Scotland 14th.

ME.

____________________________________________

14th July 2017

ENGLAND beat Italy 6.5-0.5 in their Flight A Semi-Final today. They will play Spain in tomorrow’s Final after they overcame Sweden 4-3 in the other Semi.

England got off to a great start winning both of the morning Foursomes, perhaps helped by Italy choosing to rest their best player Luca Cianchetti. Harry ELLIS and Alfie PLANT (1 hole) paired up successfully as did Scott GREGORY and Matthew JORDAN (2&1).

Gian-Marco PETROZZI came into the Singles line up and with all of the Foursomes players sent out again Josh HILLEARD ended up sitting out the whole day. The decision was vindicated as England delivered an unbeaten Singles series. ELLIS beat Cianchetti (1 hole), GREGORY halved with Lorenzo Scalise, PLANT beat Stefano Mazzoli (2&1), JORDAN beat Philip Geerts (4&3) and PETROZZI saw off Alberto Castagnara (1 hole).

SCOTLAND beat Norway 3.5-1.5. Having lost the morning Foursomes much depended on their more experienced Singles line up. Pleasingly they all delivered. Robert MACINYTRE beat Jarle Volden by 2 holes, Liam JOHNSTON halved with Markus Braadlie, Craig HOWIE turned over Kristoffer Reitan by 2 holes and Conor SYME confirmed the unbeaten series with a 1 hole victory over Viktor Hovland. Scotland will play France, the conquerors of Ireland, tomorrow in a match to determine 4th and 5th places.

IRELAND lost to France 3-2. Colm CAMPBELL and Robin DAWSON won the Foursomes match but only Conor O’ROURKE could gain a point in the Singles series; he beat Pierre Mazier by 1 hole. Ireland will play Norway tomorrow to see who finishes 7th and 8th.

WALES were relegated to Division 2 after a disappointing 3-2 defeat to Belgium today. David BOOTE had to work hard for his 2 holes win over Cedric Van Wassenhove after a shaky start but only Tim HARRY could join him; Tim beat Alan De Bont 4&3. There was a surprising 7&5 loss for Jack DAVIDSON in the final game to Adrien Dumont De Chassart. Wales will hope to beat Switzerland tomorrow to avoid leaving Austria with the wooden spoon.

ME.

____________________________________________

13th July 2017

ENGLAND beat France 4-3 in their Flight A Quarter Final. Not for the first time in recent years it was Alfie PLANT who saved the day for the stroke play medalists. Having combined well with Harry ELLIS in the morning Foursomes for a 4&3 win he won the all-important deciding Singles by 1 hole. There were also good Singles wins for Scott GREGORY (3&2) and Matthew JORDAN (5&4) in the afternoon.

SCOTLAND, the defending champions, and IRELAND both lost their Quarter Finals and with them any hope of a medal.

Scotland left themselves too much to do against Sweden after losing both morning Foursomes. Robert MACINTYRE (4&3), Liam JOHNSTON (4&2) and Connor SYME (4&2) salvaged some pride in the afternoon Singles but ultimately couldn’t prevent a 4-3 defeat.

Ireland lost 4.5-2.5 to Italy. Stuart GREHAN and Paul MCBRIDE earned a useful point in the first Foursomes but only Conor O’ROURKE could win his Singles in the afternoon. Italy will now play England in the Semi-Finals.

WALES lost their Flight B match 3-2 against home nation Austria. Having lost the morning Foursomes David BOOTE (6&5) and Evan GRIFFITH (5&4) gave the Principality hope enjoying good Singles wins. However, it proved to be in vain as Jack DAVIDSON (1 hole) and Owen EDWARDS (19th) both came out on the wrong side of tight matches. Wales now need to guard against relegation in their remaining consolation fixtures.

ME.

____________________________________________

12th July 2017

The first stage of the European Men’s Amateur Team Championship came to a close at the Diamond Country Club in Austria today.

ENGLAND (-8) finished 1st in the 36 hole stroke play qualifying event where the 5 best scores from the 6 man team’s counted towards a national aggregate total.

IRELAND (+7) and SCOTLAND (+15) also qualified for the Flight A match play stage finishing 5th and 6th respectively.

WALES (+28) finished 10th and will therefore play in the Flight B match play stage. They must avoid finishing 14th or lower to stay in Division 1.

The Flight A match play consists of two morning foursomes games followed by 5 singles whilst the shorter Flight B matches have one foursomes and four singles. Teams continue to play each other over the next three days to determine the exact finishing positions.

Great Britain & Ireland’s leading contributors in the stroke play event were Paul MCBRIDE (IRE), Matthew JORDAN (ENG) and Alfie PLANT (ENG) who all finished tied 2nd on -3.

Harry ELLIS (ENG) shot the best score of the qualifier; a bogey free 65 (-7) in round 2 which included an eagle and 5 birdies. This helped the 2017 Amateur Champion to a tied 8th individual result on -2.

Connor SYME (-2) also tied 8th and was Scotland’s best individual. Craig HOWIE (+2) was Scotland’s next best performer in tied 20th,

Jack DAVIDSON (Ev / tied 12th) just pipped David BOOTE (+1 / tied 16th) to the top Welsh individual title. Both will be hoping for strong match play performances over the next few days as they press their cases for inclusion in our Walker Cup team.

ME.

___________________________________________

10th July 2017

The 34th European Men’s Amateur Team Championship will be played between Tuesday 11th and Saturday 15th July 2017 at Diamond Country Club, Atzenbrugg, in Austria.

Amateur teams from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales will all be competing this week.

Scotland are the double defending champions having won at Halmstad Golf Club, Sweden in 2015 and Chantilly, France last year.

The European Ladies’, Boys’ and Girls’ Team Championships are also being played elsewhere in Europe this week.

Format / Schedule

16 national teams of 6 players contest the European Men’s Amateur Team Championship.

The Championship is run by the European Golf Association, this year in association with the Austrian Golf Association.

The leading 13 teams from last year’s Division 1 Championship are joined by the host nation (if not otherwise qualified) and 2 or 3 promoted teams from the 2016 Division 2 Championship. Wales were one of the promoted teams last year.

Two rounds of stroke play qualifying are completed on the first two days, with the lowest five scores from each team counting.

Click here to view tomorrow’s – European Men’s Amateur Team Championship Round 1 Stroke Play Draw.

Additionally the teams finishing 14th to 16th in the stroke play stage will be relegated to the Division 2 Championship for 2018.

The teams in Flight A play 2 foursomes and 5 singles whilst those in Flight B play 1 foursome and 4 singles.

A win earns 1 point, a draw half a point and a loss no points in all of the matches.

2017 Teams

The teams competing in the 2017 Championship are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Scotland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland and Wales.

Czech Republic, Iceland and Wales were all promoted to the Division 1 Championship this year.

The 2017 home nation teams are made up of the following players: –

ENGLAND – Harry ELLIS, Scott GREGORY, Josh HILLEARD, Matthew JORDAN, Gian-Marco PETROZZI, and Alfie PLANT.

IRELAND – Colm CAMPBELL, Robin DAWSON, John Ross GALBRIATH, Stuart GREHAN, Paul MCBRIDE and Conor O’ROURKE.

SCOTLAND – Craig HOWIE, Liam JOHNSTON, Ryan LUMSDEN, Robert MACINTYRE, Jamie STEWART and Connor SYME.

WALES – David BOOTE, Ben CHAMBERLAIN, Jack DAVIDSON, Owen EDWARDS, Evan GRIFFITH and Tim HARRY.

In this Walker Cup year it will be interesting to see which players qualify well, who is paired together in the foursomes and finally how some of the singles pan out in the match play stage.

Diamond Country Club

The Diamond Country Club is generally accepted as being Austria’s best golf course.

It has hosted the Lyoness Open on the European Tour for many years and has recently extended this agreement until 2020.

It hosted the European Boys’ Team Championship last year.

The Diamond Country Club’s 18-hole championship course was created by Jeremy Pern. It is a parkland layout with numerous water hazards. It plays to 7,458 yards and a standard par of 72.

Diamond Country Club (Photo: golfinfo.at)

Weather Forecast

As at Monday 10^th July, 19.00pm the weather forecast generally looks good: –

Tue 11th July – Showers. Wind 10mph W. Temp. Max. 28°C / Min 21°C.
Wed 12th July – Sunny. Wind 6mph S. Temp. Max. 30°C / Min 20°C.
Thur 13th July – Sunny. Wind 14mph NW. Temp. Max. 24°C / Min 15°C.
Fri 14th July – Cloudy. Wind 7mph E. Temp. Max. 24°C / Min 17°C.
Sat 15th July – Cloudy. Wind 11mph N. Temp. Max. 23°C / Min 16°C.

2016 European Men’s Amateur Team Championship – Division 1

Scotland retained the Team Championship title at Golf de Chantilly in France with a 5-2 victory over Sweden in the final.

Scotland qualified 2nd on count back behind France with a 713 (+3) aggregate team score.

Prior to beating Sweden, Scotland despatched Spain 5.5-1.5 in their match play quarter final and Italy 5-2 in the semi finals.

The Victorious 2016 Scottish Team At Chantilly (Photo: European Golf Association)

Ireland, who qualified in 6th place on 720 (+10), lost their Flight A quarter final match 4.5-2.5 to Italy. They eventually finished 6th after beating Spain (3.5-1.5) but losing to France (4-1) in the consolation matches.

England had a disappointing tournament, initially qualifying in 10th place on 728 (+18). They then lost 3-2 to Switzerland in the Flight B match play before regaining some pride by beating Portugal (4.5-0.5) and Netherlands (3.5-1.5) to retain their Division 1 status with a 13th place finish.

Wales were promoted in the Division 2 competition led by a near perfect display by David BOOTE.

Here is my summary of the 2016 Individual performances: –

Screen Shot 2016-07-09 at 18.01.22

History / Previous Results

The European Men’s Amateur Team Championship was first played in 1959.

It was played every second year until 2007. Since then it has been played annually save for 2012 when no Championship was held.

To date England have won 11 times, Scotland 8, Ireland 6, Spain 3, Sweden 2 and Wales, Italy and France once each.

ME.

2016 World Amateur Team Championship – Results

Posted on 25/09/2016 by Golf Bible

25th September 2016

AUSTRALIA won the 2016 World Amateur Team Championship by a huge 19-shots.

Equalling the 72 hole scoring record (534 / -38) their team of Cameron DAVIS, Harrison ENDYCOTT and Curtis LUCK took control of the event on Day 2 and never looked back. It was the fourth time Australia had won the Eisenhower Trophy, following victories in 1958, 1966 and 1996.

Australia – Harrison Endycott, Cameron Davis, Curtis Luck, Matt Cutler – with the Eisenhower Trophy (Photo: Golf Australia)

ENGLAND (-19) collected the silver medal with AUSTRIA and IRELAND (-18) sharing bronze. Alfie PLANT holed a 9-foot birdie putt on the last to secure second place for England. The Irish team appeared to have second sown up but a double bogey from Jack HUME (68) and a bogey from Stuart GREHAN (72), in their two counting rounds, ended up costing them dear.

It is the first time that both ENGLAND and IRELAND have medalled since the home nations started competing individually rather than under the Great Britain & Ireland banner.

SCOTLAND (-11) will be disappointed with their 11th place finish, given the team they put out and particularly after their strong start on Day 1 when they finished in the lead on -10.

I would have thought WALES would be pleased with their T16 result. David BOOTE (-9) as expected was the bedrock of the team but Owen EDWARDS and Joshua DAVIES both contributed two rounds to the overall team score.

Team Results
1. AUSTRALIA -38
2. ENGLAND -19
T3. IRELAND -18
11. SCOTLAND -11
T16. WALES -8

T6. USA -15

The full 2016 WATC Eisenhower Trophy team results can be accessed here: –
Eisenhower Trophy Team Results

Cameron DAVIS, as the winner of the low individual, earnt a start at the US PGA Tour’s OHL Classic which is played at the same El Camaleon Course at Mayakoba upon which Australia won on Saturday.

England’s Alfie PLANT (-12) was GB&I’s leading player at the Championship. David BOOTE (-9), Jack HUME (-7) and Paul MCBRIDE (-5) all played very well too, finishing in the Top 20 Individual standings.

Individual Results
T3. Alfie PLANT (ENG) -12
9. David BOOTE (WAL) -9
T11. Jack HUME (IRE) -7
T20. Paul MCBRIDE (IRE) -5
T27. Robert MCINTYRE (SCO) -3
T38. Connor SYME (SCO) Ev
T38. Grant FORREST (SCO) Ev
T38. Scott GREGORY (ENG) Ev
T48. Stuart GREHAN (IRE) +2
T53. Jamie BOWER (ENG) +3
T71. Owen EDWARDS (WAL) +5
T100. Joshua DAVIES (WAL) +11

The 2016 WATC Eisenhower Trophy individual results can be accessed here: –
Eisenhower Trophy Individual Results

For more information on the World Amateur Team Championship please read my earlier article – 2016 World Amateur Team Championship – Preview

For the record I predicted AUSTRALIA would win, I said the home nations would all do well and that the United States would not finish in the Top 3. I was let down by FRANCE and ITALY though !

ME.

Men’s Home Internationals – 2016 Results & Reflections

Posted on 13/08/2016 by Golf Bible

13th August 2016

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

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 a crucial 6-4 series win.

Man of the moment was Colm Campbell Jr 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]

Ireland’s win was their third consecutive one in the Home Internationals and they will no doubt travel to Moortown GC, England full of confidence next year. Next year’s match will be played between 16-18 August 2017.

Well done to Ireland.

_____________________________________

Here are some additional thoughts on this year’s Home Internationals and the Individual Player performances: –

1) It remains a frustration to me that such an historic and important competition is treated so poorly by the GB&I Unions even after allowance for the crowded amateur golf calendar. The scheduling of the event against next week’s US Amateur Championship left it sadly bereft of 10 of our leading players.

Hosts Scotland, the reigning European Men’s Amateur Team champions, were the most affected, left playing without Ewen Ferguson, Grant Forrest, Robert MacIntyre and Connor Syme.

Until this is properly resolved the Home Internationals results will to a degree continue to have something of a hollow ring to them.

2) It was pleasing to see five mid-amateur players amongst the ‘positive’ contributors. Colm Campbell (IRE), Barry Hume (SCO), Matthew Clark (SCO), Lee Jones (WAL) and Graeme Robertson (SCO) all showed they remain competitive at this level. Could we have a mid-amateur in our 2017 Walker Cup team ?

3) Ireland’s production line remains strong. Despite losing Paul Dunne, Gary Hurley, Dermot McElroy, Gavin Moynihan and Cormac Sharvin in the last year, and not having Jack Hume available, they still won.

Robin Dawson did very well in the Singles – he beat Thomas Williams (WAL) who was unbeaten in his other two games, George Duncan (SCO), the recently crowned Scottish Amateur champion and Jack Yule (ENG) who had a disappointing week but has been playing well this year.

Ireland failed to win a foursomes series all week. However, the JR Galbraith and Colm Campbell foursomes pairing won all of their matches – pretty comfortably too, 3&2 being their ‘worst’ result – and provided a foundation for their own individual performances and the Irish victory.

The Irish player that continues to impress me more and more though is Stuart Grehan who enjoyed another good week. Fingers crossed he stays amateur for another year.

With Kevin Le Blanc, Marc McKinstry, Thomas Mulligan and Mark Power all coming through the ranks the future continues to look bright for Ireland.

Screen Shot 2016-08-13 at 08.22.57

4) England will obviously be disappointed they couldn’t close out yesterday’s winner takes all match against Ireland after winning the Foursomes series.

Ashton Turner played superbly winning all 6 of his matches, pairing up well with James Walker in the foursomes and taking care of Sandy Scott (SCO) 5&3, Evan Griffith (WAL) 3&2 and most impressively Stuart Grehan (IRE) 3&2 in the Singles. Grehan was previously unbeaten in 2016 international Singles games, winning 5 and drawing 1 across the Arnold Palmer Cup, the St. Andrews Trophy and the Home Internationals. Ashton was the only player to achieve the 100% ‘clean sweep’ and was justifiably awarded the Fairstone Player of the Championship award. I wonder if this achievement had anything to do with him not playing in last week’s European Amateur Championship in Estonia, unlike many of the other competitors.

Ashton Turner – Fairstone Player of the Championship (Photo: Kenny Smith)

Marco Penge, who has been missing in action in recent months, made a welcome return to form with a strong contribution, notably winning all three of his Singles. Hopefully he is now fully back on track.

Marco’s results were indicative of the England team’s week to some degree – players who you would have expected to be leading the way like experienced campaigners Alfie Plant and Dan Brown and young up and comers Will Enefer and Gian-Marco Petrozzi never really got going. It was therefore left to the likes of James Walker, Adam Chapman, Harry Hall and Josh Hilleard (who was unbeaten in his three games) to pick up the points that nearly took England to the title.

Screen Shot 2016-08-13 at 08.23.48

England, with greater strength in depth, suffered less from US Amateur absences than Scotland but I am sure their selectors would still liked to have been able to consider Jamie Bower, Scott Gregory, Bradley Moore and Jack Singh Brar, all of whom were en route to Oakland Hills in Detroit.

5) Scotland, weakened by their inability to select their leading players, put up a valiant fight. All of their matches were tight affairs and their two losses to England and Ireland both came by narrow 8.5-6.5 scorelines.

Screen Shot 2016-08-13 at 08.25.02

Liam Johnston and Jamie Savage formed a successful foursomes pairing, winning two and halving one. Johnston also did well in the Singles, preventing James Walker on Day 1 from subsequently going 100% and beating Owen Edwards on the final afternoon.

Sandy Scott and Calum Fyfe won all three of their foursomes games but surprisingly both could only manage one Singles win each.

Foursome partners Craig Howie and Craig Ross will wonder how they didn’t finish higher up the above table. The answer probably lies in generally playing up the order and as a result of some inconsistency. Both seemed to have their moments before then losing a bit of form.

6) Save for the England game where they were thrashed 11.5-3.5 Wales put up a good fight this year. 8-7 losses to both Ireland and Scotland could easily have gone the other way on another day.

Perhaps if David Boote had been available to them these two losses could have been turned around, making them a real factor in this year’s competition.

On a positive note, the Welsh selectors will take heart from the performances of relative newcomers Thomas Williams and Patrick Mullins.

Screen Shot 2016-08-13 at 08.25.48

This year’s Home Internationals were clearly a really competitive event. With the exception of one match all the results were very close which has to be a good thing for Great British & Irish golf and player development.

It’s now time to see whether those players that missed the competition in Nairn can make an impact on the biggest stage of all – the US Amateur Championship.

ME.

European Men’s Amateur Team Championship – 2016 Preview & Results

Posted on 03/07/2016 by Golf Bible

9th July 2016

Scotland retained their European Men’s Amateur Team Championship with an impressive 5-2 victory over Sweden in today’s final at Golf de Chantilly in France.

A foursomes win by Connor SYME and Craig HOWIE on the 21st hole gave the Scot’s momentum going into the singles. Scotland lost the other foursomes 3&2 to be 1-1 at lunch. Syme (4&3), Robert MACINTYRE (1 hole) and Grant FORREST (5&4) all won their singles and with Craig HOWIE and Sandy SCOTT halving their games the title was ultimately comfortably secured.

Ireland lost to France 4-1 in Flight A to end up finishing 6th. England beat Netherlands 3.5-1.5 in Flight B to secure their Division 1 status but nevertheless a 13th place finish was disappointing for them.

In the Divison 2 Championship final Wales lost to Iceland 4-3. Unfortunately Joshua DAVIES, who had qualified well, was bitten while caddying yesterday and was unable to compete today. Nevertheless promotion had already been secured and the Welsh team can leave Luxembourg with their heads held high. David BOOTE starred for Wales – he was medalist in the stroke play qualifier and won all four of his foursomes and singles match play games – a rare achievement.

Here are the match play results for all of the European Amateur Team Championship events as well as my Men’s GB&I Player Performance Analysis: –

Click the ‘Score’ box in the centre of each match to see the draw and live scores.

Men’s Division 1
– Flight A Match Play Results IRE, SCO
– Flight B Match Play Results ENG

Men’s Division 2
– Flight A Match Play Results WAL

Screen Shot 2016-07-09 at 18.01.22

Golf Bible’s GB&I Player Performance Analysis

Ladies’
– Flight A Match Play Results ENG
– Flight B Match Play Results IRE, SCO
– Flight C Match Play Results WAL

England Ladies 2016 ELATC

England – 2016 European Ladies’ Team Champions (Photo: Zoe Allen)

Boys’
– Flight A Match Play Results SCO
– Flight B Match Play Results ENG, WAL

Girls’
– Flight A Match Play Results ENG
– Flight B Match Play Results IRE, SCO

Finally, here’s a table that summarises the team results of each country: –

Screen Shot 2016-07-10 at 09.19.22

ME.

8th July 2016

Scotland will play Sweden in the final of the European Men’s Amateur Team Championship tomorrow. Scotland beat Denmark 5-2 in today’s Flight A semi-final.

Ireland beat Spain 3.5-1.5 in their Flight A match.

England beat Portugal 4.5-0.5 in their consolation match in Flight B. Another win will be required tomorrow to confirm their Division 1 status for 2017.

Wales won their first Division 2 Flight A match play game against Czech Republic thus securing promotion back to Division 1 in 2017. They will play Iceland in tomorrow’s Division 2 final.

Here is my updated GB&I Player Analysis / Ranking: –

Screen Shot 2016-07-08 at 17.49.52

ME.

7th July 2016

Scotland continue to make a spirited defence of their European Men’s Amateur team title.

Today they beat Spain 5.5-1.5 in their match play quarter final. Grant FORREST and Robert MACINTYRE won their morning foursomes before going on to both win singles later in the day. Scotland were unbeaten in the match, winning the other foursomes and halving the three other singles games.

Ireland lost their quarter final 4.5-2.5 to Italy. With two tight foursomes games shared 1-1 the Irish came unstuck in the singles where only Jack HUME could secure a win.

England‘s disappointing tournament continued with a surprise 3-2 defeat to Switzerland in Flight B. Alfie PLANT and Adam CHAPMAN salvaged some pride by winning the last two singles games. England now have to beat either Portugal tomorrow, and if they don’t the Netherlands or Finland on Saturday to avoid relegation to Division 2.

Here’s a summary of the GB&I Division 1 Men’s Euro performances to date: –

Screen Shot 2016-07-07 at 18.40.34

In Division 2 Wales qualified second behind Iceland and will go into the match play stage confident of promotion. David BOOTE (-9) was the individual medalist in the stroke play qualifying.

ME.

6th July 2016

At the completion of the Men’s Stroke Play Qualifier Scotland (+3) finished 2nd, Ireland (+10) 6th and England (+18) 10th.

Scotland and Ireland are therefore still in the medal shake up, playing in the First Flight Match Play event. England will have to make do with the Second Flight having failed to finish in the top 8.

ME.

5th July 2016

Here are the live stroke play scoring links for all of this week’s European Team Championships: –

Men’s Division 1 – Stroke Play Qualifier Scores

Men’s Division 2 – Stroke Play Qualifier Scores

Ladies’ – Stroke Play Qualifier Scores

Boys’ – Stroke Play Qualifier Scores

Girls’ – Stroke Play Qualifier Scores

ME.

3rd July 2016

The 33rd European Men’s Amateur Team Championship will be played between Tuesday 5th and Saturday 9th July 2016 at Golf de Chantilly in Northern France.

Amateur teams from England, Ireland and Scotland will be competing this week.

Scotland are the defending champions having won the 2015 event at Halmstad Golf Club in Sweden. England finished 4th and Ireland 5th last year. Wales were 14th and relegated to Division 2 and therefore will be playing in a different event this week.

Pic Kenny Smith, Kenny Smith Photography6 Bluebell Grove, Kelty, Fife, KY4 0GX Tel 07809 450119,

Scotland – 2015 Champions (Photo: Kenny Smith)

Format / Schedule

16 National teams of 6 players contest the Men’s Championship.

The Championship is run by the European Golf Association who charge an entrance fee of €1,500 per team.

The top 13 teams from last year’s Division 1 Championship are joined by 3 promoted teams from the 2015 Division 2 Championship.

Two rounds of stroke play qualifying are completed on the first two days, with the best five scores from each team counting.

These results determine a seeded match play draw. Additionally the teams finishing 14th to 16th in the stroke play stage will be relegated to the Division 2 Championship for 2017.

The top 8 qualifying teams will play in a first flight with the others competing in a second flight. The leading teams play 2 foursomes and 5 singles whilst those in the lower draw play 1 foursome and 4 singles. A win earns 1 point and a draw half a point in all of the matches.

2016 Teams

The teams competing in the 2016 Championship are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Austria, Norway and Portugal were all promoted to Division 1 last year.

The 2016 home nation teams are made up of the following players: –

ENGLAND – Jamie BOWER, Adam CHAPMAN, Scott GREGORY, Bradley MOORE, Marco PENGE and Alfie PLANT.

IRELAND – Colm CAMPBELL, Alex GLEESON, Stuart GREHAN, Jack HUME, Paul MCBRIDE and Conor O’ROURKE.

SCOTLAND – Grant FORREST, Craig HOWIE, Robert MACINTYRE*, Jamie SAVAGE, Sandy SCOTT and Connor SYME (*replaced Ewen FERGUSON who withdrew with a hand injury last week).

This will be the final event before The R&A and Captain Craig Watson select the Great Britain & Ireland team for this month’s St. Andrews Trophy match against Europe. It is therefore the perfect time for individuals to confirm their place and for national pairings to come to the fore.

Golf de Chantilly

Established in 1908 and designed by Tom Simpson Chantilly is one of the most famous and best golf courses in Europe.

Chantilly GC

Golf de Chantilly

Chantilly has staged many Championships in it’s time, including the French Open 10 times. Most recently it staged the French Men’s Amateur Stroke Play Championship in May. This was won by Spain’s Ivan CANTERO, who beat England’s Marco PENGE in a play-off.

Chantilly has 2 courses the Vineuil and the Longères. This Championship is being played on the Vineuil, a par 71 which plays over 6,444 metres.

The Vineuil course record is held by Peter MCEVOY. He shot 63 in the second round of the 1983 European Men’s Amateur Championship, 5-shots better than anyone else that day, on his way to achieving individual medalist honours in the stroke play stage.

Weather Forecast

As at Sunday 3rd July, 10.00am the weather forecast for Chantilly looks very good: –

Tue 5th July – Cloudy. Wind 12 mph W. Temp. Max. 21°C / Min 11°C.

Wed 6th July – Sunny. Wind 4 mph NW. Temp. Max. 22°C / Min 12°C.

Thur 7th July – Sunny. Wind 5 mph E. Temp. Max. 25°C / Min 14°C.

Fri 8th July – Sunny. Wind 8 mph SW. Temp. Max. 24°C / Min 16°C.

Sat 9th July – Sunny. Wind 12 mph W. Temp. Max. 26°C / Min 16°C.

History / Previous Results

The European Men’s Amateur Team Championship was first played in 1959.

It was played every second year until 2007. Since then it has been played annually save for 2012 when no Championship was held.

To date England have won 11 times, Scotland 7, Ireland 6, Spain 3, Sweden 2, Wales 1, Italy 1 and France 1.

Other 2016 European Championship Links

A number of other European team championships are being played this week. Click on the following links to learn more about them: –

Men’s Div 2 – 6-9 July 2016 at Kikuoka CC, Luxembourg

Ladies’ – 5-9 July 2016 at Oddur GC, Iceland

Boys’ – 5-9 July 2016 at Diamond CC, Austria

Girls’ – 5-9 July 2016 at Oslo GC, Norway

ME.

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The Home of Great British & Irish Amateur Golf

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