Europe
beat the Asia-Pacific by a resounding 20.5 to 11.5 points to win the
Sir Michael Bonallack Trophy at Monte Rei in Portugal.
This was the seventh staging of the biennial three-day men’s amateur
international match, first held in 1998, and Europe’s victory in the
Algarve means Asia-Pacific’s lead stands at 4-3.
The 12-man teams featured some of the world’s leading amateur
players including current European Individual Amateur Champion Manuel
Trappel of Austria, 2011 Walker Cup player Alan Dunbar of Ireland and
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, winner of the Asian Amateur Championship in
both 2010 and 2011.
Player of the week was Welshman Rhys Enoch who won all five of his matches.
The format was the same as the Ryder Cup, with foursomes and
fourballs involving 20 players per session on the first two days and
then all players competing in the final day singles over the Jack
Nicklaus designed course.
Europe led 6-4 at the end of the first day and then took the
second-day honours 7.5-2.5 before extending their winning margin to
nine points with a 7-5 capture of the singles.
Five-time Amateur Champion and former Captain and Secretary of The
R&A Sir Michael Bonallack, who was in attendance with Lady Angela
throughout the week, presented the trophy to winning captain Andy
Morgan of Wales. (Source: http://www.randa.org) |