Despite determined final-day fightbacks from the home side, the Continent of Europe completed a historic double by securing victory over Great Britain and Ireland in both the Junior Vagliano and Jacques Léglise trophies at Blairgowrie Golf Club in Scotland on Sunday.
The Jacques Léglise, fought out between two teams of nine boys, has a deep history stretching to 1958, but this was just the seventh edition of the Junior Vagliano (which features six girls per team) and the first to be held at the same time and in the same location as the Léglise.
In that short period of time the Continent of Europe has taken a vice-like grip on the Junior Vagliano Trophy, winning every single match, typically by significant margins. On the Rosemount Course at Blairgowrie, the latest Great Britain and Ireland team attempted to turn the tide of history and actually halved three of the four sessions, but defeat in the Friday singles proved to be a critical blow from which GB&I never recovered.
The Europeans had edged two points clear in that second session and, despite the best efforts of England’s Rosie Bee Kim and Isla McDonald-O’Brien, both of whom were undefeated through their four matches, the deeper reserves of the visitors proved vital. France’s Carla De Troia also was unbeaten for the week and signed off with a 6-and-5 defeat of Scotland’s Grace Crawford, one of three European wins on the final afternoon that were completed early in the back nine to snuff out any hope of the home team completing a victorious comeback.
Myrte Eikenaar, the Continent of Europe’s non-playing captain, said: “The girls really fought it out, especially in the morning when they maybe weren’t playing their best golf. It was great to see them show heart. We were quickly up in the afternoon matches and that seemed to give the girls a lot of confidence to keep going to the end.
“Obviously, we’re happy to have extended our record this week, but Great Britain and Ireland really had a strong team this year, and the matches were so close,” Eikenaar added. “I’m sure it will become harder to keep retaining the trophy, so I’m really happy to have won.”
Indeed, though it may have been scant reward, the 10-8 scoreline was the tightest in the match’s history.
“I’m really pleased with how we played and proud of each player,” GB&I captain Janet Melville said.
In the Jacques Léglise Trophy, the Friday singles were again decisive. That day’s foursomes had been shared before the visitors moved three points clear in the afternoon, led by Germany’s Carl Siemens, who defeated England’s Josh Berry, 5 and 4, for one of Siemens’ four wins. He was the only golfer on all four teams to emerge from the week with a perfect record.
The home side showed resistance with a 3-1 success in the Saturday foursomes, but the Europeans again dominated the singles. Sweden’s Albert Hansson, the newly crowned Boys’ Amateur champion, posted a 7-and-5 victory over Niall Shiels Donegan and sealed a 13½-11½ triumph.
Joachim Fourquet, Europe’s non-playing captain, conceded some nervousness all afternoon.
“I feel very happy, but there’s also real relief because I was getting anxious,” Fourquet said. “Great Britain and Ireland played really well to fight back, and it was very competitive. I think we need some sleep after this, so we’ll relax tonight and have some fun, but the only drink will be lemonade.”
GB&I captain Chris King added: “We played fantastic this morning to give ourselves an opportunity, but the Europeans got off to a good early start. It’s just a shame we couldn’t get it over the line this afternoon, but eight of the team still have another year at this level.
“It’s some of the best golf I’ve seen in the Jacques Léglise Trophy, and all credit to the European team. They were fantastic, and what a great bunch of boys. They are a credit to their individual nations and the continent. The spirit of the match was fantastic over the two days.”
Although GB&I historically has been competitive in the match, recent events have been much like the Junior Vagliano: this was the Continent of Europe’s third consecutive victory and the fifth win in the past six matches.
Jacques Léglise scoring / Junior Vagliano scoring
Team Sweden held off a late rally from the United States, ultimately tying the Americans and winning in a scorecard playoff to claim the Espirito Santo Trophy in the 29th Women’s World Amateur Team Championship at Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche and Le Golf National near Paris, France, on Saturday.
The two countries tied at 13-under 559 after four rounds of stroke play in which two of three scores were counted for each team. The tiebreaker went to the Swedes because their non-counting score in the final round was a 1-over 73 from Louise Rydqvist, one stroke better than Rachel Kuehn of the U.S.
The tournament hung in the balance as American Rose Zhang needed a closing par on the 18th hole to claim the team championship and low-individual honors. She missed the green on the par-4, hit a nice pitch shot and then misread a 7-foot par attempt that never broke to the left.
“There is obviously that tinge of disappointment,” Zhang said. “On that last putt, I actually hit a really good putt exactly where I wanted, but it just didn’t go in the hole. It was disappointing to end that way, but I am really proud of how we fought back on the last day.”
Zhang shared low-individual honors with Sweden’s Meja Ortengren and Germany’s Helen Briem at 7-under 279. The 17-year-old Ortengren and world No. 2 Ingrid Lindblad (6-under 280) led the way for the Swedes, as all four of Rydqvist’s scores didn’t count toward the team total.
Lindblad struggled on day one with a 2-over 74, but she came back with a 5-under 66 and went on to close the fourth round with a 3-under 69. Ortengren opened with a 3-under 69 followed by a 3-under 68. She stumbled in her third round on Nos. 16, 17 and 18 to shoot even-par 72, but a Saturday 2-under 70 proved vital.
All three of the Americans finished in the top 16 of the individual standings, as Zhang (T1), Kuehn (T10) and Rachel Heck (T16) had strong performances. Trailing the Swedes by four strokes heading into the last day, the Americans almost overtook them to claim the gold medal. Heck made one eagle, one bogey and 16 pars in a final-round 1-under 71, which combined with Zhang's 3-under 69, wasn’t quite enough to push the Americans over the edge.
Germany and Japan shared bronze-medal honors in the team competition. Of note, recent U.S. Women’s Amateur winner Saki Baba finished tied for fourth at 6-under 280 along with Lindblad.
The next Women’s World Amateur Team Championship will take place in Dubai next October. This was the first playing of the event since 2018 in Dublin. The men’s World Amateur Team Championship will take place this week on the same two courses near Paris.
Staff and wire reports