The Continent of Europe extended its stranglehold on Great Britain & Ireland with a comprehensive 14-4 victory in the Junior Vagliano Trophy at Hilversumsche Golf Club in the Netherlands.
Its experienced team captained by Myrte Eikenaar and comprising six players who played for Europe in this year’s Junior Solheim Cup led from start to finish to extend a sequence which has seen the Continent win all six matches played since the Under-16 event was inaugurated in 2011 to complement the women’s Vagliano Trophy back.
Great Britain & Ireland travelled to the Netherlands with a young and largely inexperienced team so it was no real surprise when the Continental team – spurred on by a 9-and-7 win by Sweden’s Meja Örtengren and Nora Sundberg against England’s Rosie Bee Kim and Ireland’s Katie Poots – took a grip of the contest right from the start.
England’s Ellen Yates and Harriet Lockley from Wales were GB&I’s only winners as the Europeans took a 2-1 lead after the opening foursomes, and a win from Yates and a halve from England’s Maggie Whitehead were all that GB&I could salvage from the subsequent singles.
By that stage the Continent of Europe had built a 6½-2½ lead, and any hopes that GB&I could mount a fightback were extinguished when the home side won all three of the second foursomes the following morning.
In the afternoon Scotland’s Grace Crawford put a point on the board for GB&I with a 5-and-3 win against Spain’s Cayetana Fernández García-Poggio, but the hosts extended their lead further after Italy’s Francesca Fiorellini thrashed Poots, 7 and 5; Sundberg beat Lockley, 4 and 3; and Örtengren claimed victory against Whitehead by the same margin. Yates remained undefeated in the singles when she salvaged a half point from her match against France’s Constance Fouillet, only for Germany’s Helen Briem to edge out Kim by one hole in the final singles match.
“I’m so proud of the players and to have watched them play at such a high level is incredible,” said Eikenaar. “There was such a good team spirit and that was important.
“The players were very sportsmanlike but, of course, they like to win. They always kept fighting in the matches, particularly the ones that went to the 18th hole. The chemistry in the foursomes was very good. I’m really happy with how it worked out and so are the girls.”
“The players for the Continent of Europe were brilliant this week and they holed out really well when it mattered,” said GB&I captain Janet Davies. “Our team is very young, we have two 14-year-olds and one 15-year-old, and so this has been a very good experience for them and will help for the match next year. It’s been a marvellous opportunity for them.
“They are a great bunch of girls and they gelled really well. They fought hard, they played hard and really enjoyed it. I can’t ask for more. They have loved every minute of it and are looking forward to next year already.”
The 2022 Junior Vagliano Trophy is to be played at Blairgowrie Golf Club, Scotland, on 26-27 August.
Staff and Wire Reports