Spain dominated a week of European Amateur Team Championship action, eventually winning three of the four titles up for grabs across the continent.
At Royal Waterloo Golf Club in Lasne, Belgium, European Amateur champion José Luis Ballester led the way in the stroke-play qualifying rounds of the men’s event and was a leading figure in the knockout stages, too. Spain defeated Italy and England on its way to a final against top-seeded Denmark.
Spain was seeking a hat-trick of wins, after tasting success in 2021 and 2022, and looked set to be denied when trailing 3-2 with only two matches out on the course. Jaime Montojo and Angel Ayora stood firm, however, and the triumph set in motion a wave of Spanish success.
In the women’s section at Tawast Golf in Hämeenlinna, Finland, England was chasing a third consecutive win, but Spain struck an early blow in the final when the previously undefeated Lottie Woad lost her morning foursomes match. The tone was set and the Spaniards prevailed, 4½-2½.
It was the first win in the tournament for the Spanish in 10 years and, incredibly, the first time the trophy had been wrestled from English or Swedish hands in that time.
The Spanish success was completed with victory in the Girls’ Team Championship at Golf D’Hossegor on the southwest coast of France. But a clean sweep of titles was prevented by Sweden in the Boys’ Team Championship at Golf de Genève in Switzerland.
RESULTS
Woodhall Spa Golf Club in Lincolnshire is where England Golf’s elite youngsters learn their craft, but last week the club welcomed golfers at the other end of the golfing journey with its second hosting of the R&A’s Senior Amateur Championships for men and women.
In the men’s event, New Zealander Brent Paterson, inspired by recent encouragement from his nation’s greatest golfer, Bob Charles, turned a two-shot pre-final-round lead into a dominant five-shot victory on 8-under-par 283. Englishman John Kemp took second on 3 under with Canada’s Miles McConnell third on 1 under.
Paterson explained that he played alongside Charles in the New Zealand Senior Championship earlier this year.
“He said to me, ‘Too bad you’re too old for the tour.’ It was a great compliment, and for me to join him as an R&A champion is a bit surreal.”
The Royal Auckland and Grange Golf Club member is the first New Zealander to lift the trophy since the inaugural 1969 championship, and he did so with his wife, Susan, on the bag.
“It was such a great thrill for both of us,” Paterson said. “We’ve loved being here, and for us to win makes it extra special.”
Five Americans – led by Rusty Strawn, Global Golf Post’s 2022 Men’s Amateur of the Year, former NFL quarterback Stan Humphries, Dennis Martin and Craig Steinberg, all of whom tied for fourth at even-par 291 – finished among the top 10. American Craig Davis, the 2019 winner, tied for 12th. Defending champion Mike McCoy and 2021 winner Gene Elliott, also from the U.S., finished in a share of 17th.
Jackie Foster’s triumph in the women’s event was less straightforward than Paterson’s. The Bishop’s Stortford Golf Club member described her win as “beyond my wildest dreams” after she went head-to-head with Australia’s Nadene Gole, the No. 1 senior in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, in the final round.
Foster led by two heading into the final round but the advantage evaporated on the first hole when Gole’s approach disappeared into the cup for an eagle-2. The pair were still tied for the lead with seven holes to play whereupon the Australian labored home while Foster, utilizing the knowledge gleaned as a country member at Woodhall Spa, stayed firm on the back nine to total 6-over 297, two shots clear of fellow countrywoman Emma Brown and Gole. Pam Kuong finished fourth as the leading American.
Said Foster, a 59-year-old retired policewoman: “I got really edgy, but it’s hard to win. My aim really for the week was to make the first cut, and then to do well enough to make the second cut, so I’m thrilled, and I can’t believe it.”
MEN’S RESULTS / WOMEN’S RESULTS
Matt Cooper