The Continent of Europe savoured a double victory on Irish soil as they beat Great Britain & Ireland in both the Jacques Leglise Trophy and the Junior Vagliano Trophy two of junior amateur golf’s most prized team events.
On a closing day of keenly fought competition at The Island Golf Club in Dublin, Pierre Relecom’s under-18 boys’ team claimed the Jacques Leglise silverware for the seventh consecutive time with a 14.5–10.5 triumph.
In a thrilling under-16 girls’ showpiece, the Continent of Europe’s golfers continued their dominance of the match and earned the Junior Vagliano Trophy for the ninth time in ten stagings after a narrow 9.5–8.5 victory.
EUROPE GRABS EARLY LEAD
The Europeans had forged a commanding four-point lead in the Jack Leglise Trophy after Friday’s matches, and they cemented their position of authority in Saturday’s morning foursomes as the session was shared 2-2.
GB&I had it all to do, but Niall MacSweeney’s side emerged for the singles with considerable gusto and claimed 3.5 points from the opening four ties to give themselves hope.
“That got the hearts racing and there was excitement that maybe the impossible could become possible,” said MacSweeney of this early surge.
The standard of play from both sides was underlined by Scotsman Aidan Lawson, who was nine-under-par in his 5&3 win over Louis Klein of Czech Republic. The half-point claimed by Iceland’s Óliver Elí Björnsson in the top-tie against Aaron Moody, meanwhile, gave Europe some respite from GB&I’s early onslaught. The newly crowned R&A Boys’ Amateur champion was four-down after eight but reeled off three birdies in a row coming home and eventually hauled himself level.
“To push a match that is four-down all the way to the 18th gave the rest of the team a lift,” admitted Relecom.
After the initial scare, the European’s gradually began to assert control and pushed themselves to the brink of glory. Tao Pemerika’s one-hole win over Ben Sessions got them to the trophy-retaining mark of 12.5 points before Václav Švub gilded the lily with a 3&2 win over Adam Fahey. Švub, whose point retained the trophy for Europe in last year’s match at Royal Hague, rolled in a raking putt of over 30-feet on the 16th to finish with a flourish.
“GB&I came out of the blocks very quickly and they were ready to fight,” said Relecom, who tasted his third successive victory as captain and expressed a desire to stay on for a fourth term. “But the birdies eventually came for us too. The level of play was very high and I’m so proud of my team.”
GB&I SURRENDER ADVANTAGE
In the Junior Vagliano Trophy, GB&I held a two-point lead heading into the final day, but that advantage was reduced to just one by the end of the morning foursomes as the Continent of Europe won the session 2-1 and continued to lurk menacingly.
During an increasingly tense afternoon of singles, the two sides traded blows and the destination of the trophy hung in the balance until the last couple of ties.
As the tension mounted, Rut Diaz Garcia’s 2&1 defeat of Alicia Kelly retained the trophy before Elea Bastoni won it outright with a wonderful up-and-down from the bunker on the 18th to beat Mariella Buchanan on the final green.
“The best bunker shot of my life,” said Bastoni amid jubilant scenes.
“It was very nerve wracking, a real nail biter,” added the Continent of Europe captain, Myrte Eikenaar. “I knew it would be close, but I had total faith in my players. It’s amazing to see what they can do at such a young age. We are maybe not used to links golf, but I saw the confidence in the players grow over the week and we became more and more comfortable with this type of golf. We had to come from behind after every session, but we kept believing that we could pull it off.”
Eikenaar’s GB&I counterpart, Becca Hembrough, was left to reflect on what might have been but was justifiably proud of her young team.
“It will hurt for a little bit but that’s competitive golf,” she said. “We knew it would be tough as the Europeans are quality players led by a quality woman. We dug in and I’m so proud of them. It went to the wire, and it showed the standard of junior girls’ golf throughout Europe.”
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