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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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.

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.

Weather Forecast

As at Monday 10th 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.

Copyright © 2015-2017, Mark Eley. All rights reserved.

2016 World Amateur Team Championship – Results

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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

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 63 (-9) in Friday’s third round.

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.

Copyright © 2016, Mark Eley. All rights reserved.

Men’s Home Internationals – 2016 Results & Reflections

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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.

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Ireland with the Raymond Trophy (Photo: Kenny Smith)

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

img_9406Ashton 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.

Copyright © 2016, Mark Eley. All rights reserved.

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

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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 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.

Copyright © 2016, Mark Eley. All rights reserved.