St Andrews Trophy

Continent of Europe win St Andrews Trophy in dominant fashion at Porthcawl

The R&A

26 Jul 24

3 mins

The St Andrews Trophy went the way of the Continent of Europe team after they defeated defending champions Great Britain and Ireland 16-9 at Royal Porthcawl.

Full match results

It is the seventh time the Continent of Europe has won the biennial men’s match, and only the second victory on British or Irish soil since 2012 at Portmarnock. The Continent of Europe took a 7-5 lead into the final day, and held that two-point margin at 9-7 after splitting the second day foursomes session at two points apiece. With all nine players from each side contending the singles, Europe only had to win four of the nine matches to win the trophy. The visiting team did much better than that, taking the final session 7-2.

Emotional win

Filip Jakubcik got the visiting side off to the perfect start with a 3&2 victory over Welshman James Ashfield. England’s Dominic Clemons and Connor Graham of Scotland won the next two matches, but that was the end of the GB&I fightback. The Continent of Europe won the next six matches, with Lars Van der Vight from the Netherlands earning the winning point with a one-hole victory over Englishman Jack Bigham. “I feel very emotional right now,” said Spain’s Carlos de Corral, the Continent of Europe Captain. “It’s very important for us to win this trophy, but to win here is even more special because a course like this is difficult for us. “You only have to see the history of the match to see how special it is for us to win this great event. It’s tough to win and we are going to celebrate.”

Team gelled

De Corral’s team featured two Spaniards, two players from the Netherlands and members from France, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia and Germany – yet they gelled together as if they were from one nation. “It’s hard to bring players together who don’t always play with each other, but these boys made it very easy for me,” he added. “It was a great atmosphere in the team room all week. They brought a lot of energy.” Spain’s Luis Masaveu Roncal emerged as the Continent of Europe’s strongest player. He won four points out of four, the only player on either side to do so. Countryman Pablo Ereno Perez also went undefeated, winning all three matches he played. “I was lucky to have two ready pairings with the two boys from the Netherlands (Jerry Ji and Van der Vight) and the two Spaniards (Masaveu Roncal and Ereno Perez), but the other players came together easily too. That’s part of what this match is all about, to bring players together from different countries to start friendships for life. We did that this week.”

Spaniard Luis Masaveu Roncal finished the match with a 100% record after victory in all four of his matches over two days at Royal Porthcawl.

Positives for Robertson

Connor Graham and Clemons were GB&I’s leading lights, winning three points apiece. Despite the loss, GB&I captain Dean Robertson wasn’t too downbeat. “It's been an absolutely fantastic week in terms of being back involved representing Great Britain and Ireland, and I have a feeling of immense pride,” said Robertson, who last represented GB&I in the 1993 Walker Cup and is the current Walker Cup captain. “The result obviously didn’t go our way but I couldn’t have asked any more from my team in terms of preparation. On the week we were just beaten by a team that played better. The Continent of Europe have some fantastic players and we saw that over the two days, players who have a chance to go on and excel in the professional game.

Great experience

“We have some great players too and I look forward to building on this week. The GB&I boys are going to grow and learn from this. The bottom line is we need to make improvements in terms of skills, course management, hitting more fairways, holing putts, all the things you have to do to win matches like this. “For me it’s been a great experience as I look forward to next year’s Walker Cup at Cypress Point. There’s a nucleus of some really strong players in this team. We saw that with Dominic Clemons and Connor Graham. They are potential superstars. But there are other players too who a year from now will be better and stronger and will be vying for a place on the team that travels to Cypress Point.” The Continent of Europe’s victory takes the St Andrews Trophy match record to 26 GB&I wins, seven for the Continent of Europe, with one drawn match. The Continent of Europe that will defend the trophy in Madrid next year.

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