Spain’s Jose Luis Ballester dominated the European Amateur Championship, completing a wire-to-wire victory Saturday with rounds of 62-66-66-73 for a 21-under 267 at Pärnu Bay Golf Links in Reiu, Estonia.
The home nation’s Richard Teder, who finished in a share of seventh, had told Global Golf Post at last week’s Amateur Championship that the host venue would be vulnerable to low scoring, and through 54 holes his prediction proved spot on.
Indeed, the first-round, 10-under effort of Ballester was good enough only for a four-way share of the lead. In adding a pair of 66s, he inched only two strokes clear of the field. But final-round conditions proved to be a huge contrast to those in earlier rounds, and strong wind caused problems for all of the late starters.
Ballester himself made a double bogey before the turn, but he had opened play with an eagle at the par-5 first hole and made the turn in level-par. He was briefly joined at the top of the leaderboard by Norway’s Michael Alexander Mjaaseth, England’s Jack Bigham and Denmark’s Mads Laage, but none of the trio could avoid errors on the back nine. Ballester dropped three shots himself on the journey home, but a pair of birdies confirmed his success. He becomes the second Spanish winner of the championship, emulating Sergio García’s success in 1995.
“I woke up this morning, looked through the window, the trees were blowing everywhere, and I was like, wow, this is gonna be a grind today,” Ballester said afterward. “I was striking it really good, but it was super tough to make putts with the wind. I managed my game, and I did it.”
Laage shared second with Wales’ James Ashfield at 19-under. Bigham was fourth, a shot further back, alongside Ireland’s Hugh Foley and Portugal’s Daniel Rodrigues.
With the victory, Ballester earned an invitation to the 151st Open at Royal Liverpool later this month.
“It’s actually going to be my first big professional event,” said Ballester, who played in a Challenge Tour event two years ago. “The biggest stage with the best players in the world. I can’t wait to be around them and learn more about this game.”
RESULTS
The Continent of Europe team continued its modern dominance of the Vagliano Trophy with a 13½-10½ victory Saturday at Royal Dornoch in Scotland. The triumph was the eighth in a row and the 12th in the past 14 matches for the Continentals after Great Britain and Ireland had claimed 13 of the first 18, with one tie, in the biennial series.
The raw historical numbers, however, do little justice to the home team, which was right in the contest until late on the final day. GB&I trailed by a point after Friday’s foursomes and singles, then achieved parity heading into the final singles session with a 2½-1½ foursomes success on Saturday morning.
Heavy rain and strong wind offered the home team hope, and when Aine Donegan defeated the world No. 1-ranked Ingrid Lindblad, GB&I led by 2½ points with three of the eight matches completed. But the Continent’s Chiara Horder, last month’s Women’s Amateur champion, won the next point, the first of five in a row to complete the win.
“I didn’t have to say anything to the team at lunchtime to inspire them,” said Spain’s Ane Urchegui García, the visiting team’s non-playing captain. “They were doing that on their own. They all played for each other and inspired each other to this victory.”
GB&I captain Moira Dunne identified the Europeans’ superior putting as key, but the Continentals also had greater depth. Germany’s Helen Briem, Spain’s Cayetana Fernández García-Poggio and Sweden’s Meja Örtengren all garnered three points from the four sessions, but only Lottie Woad of England did so for the home team.
In the Junior Vagliano Trophy, GB&I avoided defeat for the first time in nine contests, but could not quite get over the line and had to accept a 9-9 draw. The stars of the show were the Irish pair of Olivia Costello and Kate Dillon, who were unbeaten in scoring 3½ points apiece.
RESULTS / JUNIOR RESULTS
Matt Cooper