St Andrews Trophy

European's edge ahead after day one at Royal Porthcawl

The R&A

25 Jul 24

3 mins

The Continent of Europe go into the second and final day of the St Andrews Trophy at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club with a 7-5 advantage over Great Britain & Ireland. However, there are 13 points to play for to determine the winner of the 34^th Match.

The Continent of Europe team got off to a near perfect start by taking the morning foursomes session 3-1, only for GB&I to fight back in the eight singles to halve the session 4-4. Scotland’s Connor Graham and Welshman James Ashfield, teammates on last year’s Walker Cup team, were the only GB&I pair to win a foursomes match. They defeated Amateur Champion Jacob Skov Olesen of Denmark and France’s Bastien Amat 6&4. The Continent of Europe then reeled of three straight wins, culminating with the Spanish pair of Luis Masaveu Roncal and Pablo Ereno Perez defeating English duo Jack Bigham and Sebastien Cave 5&4.

Strong sea winds

Drizzly rain and strong sea winds greeted the best amateurs from GB&I and Continental Europe, conditions that should have suited the home team. The nine-man Continent of Europe team had other ideas. “I’m proud of my team to play so well in conditions like these,” said Spain’s Carlos de Corral, the Continent of Europe captain. “It was a great challenge for us because we are not used to this kind of weather. It’s also harder for us to do the pairings with players coming from different countries; they don’t play together normally. But my team gelled very well together.” GB&I fought back in the singles session, with Ashfield, Dominic Clemons and Connor Graham winning the first three matches. With two teams so evenly matched, though, there was always going to be a fightback, and the Continent of Europe won four of the next five. Richard Teder of Estonia had the biggest margin of victory, defeating Scotland’s Gregor Graham 6&5.

Close contest

At one point early in the singles, it looked like GB&I was going to take the session 5-3 to end the day all square at six points apiece. “The match was so close this afternoon,” De Corral said. “GB&I was beating us in the singles at one stage and then we were lucky to win some of the last matches to get ahead. “We have a nice two-point advantage, but these two teams are both very strong. The commitment of all of them is very important because these players have an extremely busy schedule with many tournaments to play in the summer, but they want to play in these conditions and to play in this tournament. So, it’s going to be very exciting tomorrow.”

Dean Robertson - GB&I Captain

“Tomorrow is a new day. The preparation has been excellent. We remain patient and there is still plenty to play for. We just have to be a little bit better.”

Chasing a seventh win

The Continent of Europe team is chasing it’s seventh win since the biennial match was inaugurated in 1956, with one drawn match and 26 GB&I victories. As holders, GB&I only have to win 12 ½ of the 25 points to retain the trophy it won in Slovakia two years ago. GB&I captain Dean Robertson said his side will have to stay out of the rough to repeat as champions. “We missed too many fairways today, that was the bottom line,” said Robertson, who will also lead GB&I in next year’s Walker Cup at Cypress Point Golf Club in California. “You can’t play this golf course from the rough, especially in a left to right wind. “The boys' heads could have gone down after this morning but they didn’t. We came back strongly in the singles and at one stage looked like winning the session, but to halve the singles against a very strong team was a good effort from the boys.

Talented sides

“The Europeans are good players. They have some really top players having walked the fairways today and watched them. So we will need to play good golf. We’ve prepared well and they are all excited to play tomorrow. “Tomorrow is a new day. The preparation has been excellent. We remain patient and there is still plenty to play for. We just have to be a little bit better.” Five players, three from the Continent of Europe and two GB&I members, emerged with perfect two-point days. Spaniard Luis Masaveu Roncal, Germany’s Tim Wiedemeyer and Jerry Ji of The Netherlands all went two for two for the visitors. Ashfield and Connor Graham achieved that feat for GB&I. The final day consists of another quartet of foursomes followed by all nine players from each team contesting the final singles session.

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