The first day of competition at the 2025 European Team Championships is officially in the books.
Highlights of the day included:
- England set strong scoring pace at Men's Team Championship with -20
- Two aces at the European Girls' Team Championship
- Switzerland surprise leaders at the Boys' Team Championship
- Iceland shoot -13 at the Men's Team Championship, currently 2nd
More than 500 players completed 18 holes of stroke play today in the first of two rounds of qualifying.
Teams have just one more round of 18 holes to get into the crucial top-eight, and earn a place to fight for medals in the match play stages starting on Thursday
MEN - KILLARNEY G&FC, IRELAND
England took the opening round lead at Killarney Golf & Fishing Club as the 11-time champions began their quest for another European Amateur Team Championship with an impressive -20 total.
Charlie Forster was the star performer as the Basingstoke golfer carded a superb 65 in the Kerry sunshine.
Hosts Ireland also got off to a solid start as Damien Coyne’s men opened with an -11 total to take a share of third place, with Thomas Higgins (Roscommon) the best of the Irish carding a -4 round of 68.
Iceland are searching for their first ever win at this event and they began in ideal fashion too as they will take second place overnight. Three of their players, Sveinsson (-5), Heidarsson (-5) and Sigurbrandsson (-4) played their way inside the individual top ten, helping hand their team a -13 opening day start.
With 18 holes of Stroke Play remaining before Match Play takes over on Thursday morning the race is on for each country to take one of the coveted top eight spots, and with England taking the early advantage, Forster and his team are confident of another strong showing tomorrow.
“We have a really good team, all six players, it’s quite nice. I’m sure we are going to be hunting more birdies tomorrow,” said Forster.
“Hopefully we can have another solid day tomorrow and show what we have got in the Match Play. I think we have got a really good team out there this year, so we’ll see what happens.”
WOMEN - GOLF DE CHANTILLY, FRANCE
Spain is the opening leader of the European Ladies’ Team Championship in France. The Spanish squad posted a total of +1 in the first qualifying round, edging Sweden and home team France by four strokes.
Teeing off in the second group, and losing no momentum after the 50-minute break due to lightning early in the day, Spain’s Carolina Lopez-Chacarra Coto shot a three-under 67 which proved to be the best individual performance of the day, later equalled by Moa Svendeskiold from Sweden, and Katharina Zeilinger from Austria. Svendeskiold led Sweden to second place, as France’s Constance Fouillet birdied the final two holes in the afternoon to put this week’s host team at third.
Germany completes the top 4 at +6, as Wales (+10), Belgium (+11), Italy (+14) and Ireland (+16) currently hold a spot in the top 8. But the battle for tickets in the Flight A bracket is very likely to be a tight one on Wednesday, as Austria and Denmark only trail Ireland through the tie breaker.
BOYS - GOLF RESORT KASKADA BRNO, CZECH REPUBLIC
The last event to finish of the day was the Boys' Team Championship in the Czech Republic, which ended with a surprise team at the top of the table.
Switzerland, yet to win a gold medal in the history of the European Team Championships, lie in first place on a total of +4 after a wet and tough scoring day which included a lengthy suspension of play.
Sweden and hosts, Czech Republic, are just three shots back in the battle for the number-one seed, while France (+8) and Germany (+9) could also end the stroke play qualifying in the top position with a good performance tomorrow.
England (+12), Wales (+12) and Denmark (+18) currently round out the top-eight, although Scotland, Ireland and Finland all sit within four shots of the Danes and will be eyeing a place in Flight A as well.
A Swiss flag is also at the top of the individual leaderboard at the end of Round 1 after Yannick Beeli carded the lowest score of the day. Seven birdies and an eagle featured in his opening round 67 (-5).
Stephan Sorg, captain of the leading Swiss team, commented: “Our team delivered a fantastic performance on Day 1 at Kaskáda, showing great focus and resilience in challenging conditions. All six players stayed composed despite the tough weather, and remarkably, some even raised their level as conditions worsened. A special highlight was Yannick Beeli’s outstanding round—drawing on his experience from last year’s European Boys Team Championship. We’re proud of the strong start, but the focus now is on staying in the present and preparing for a solid second round of stroke play.”
GIRLS - SLALEY HALL, ENGLAND
France lead the way after the first day of stroke play in the European Girls’ Team Championship at Slaley Hall, where two players enjoyed holes-in-one.
On her 16th birthday, England Girls’ Lauren Crump had one to remember as she aced the 15th from 151 metres (165 yards) with her 6-iron, while Sweden’s Ebber Mejer also carded a 1 on the 5th, also with her 6-iron.
Another Swedish youngster in Havanna Torstensson had cause for celebration as a magnificent hole-out from the fairway for eagle on the 18th propelled Sweden up the standings late in the day.
Both the aces helped push England and Sweden into strong positions ahead of day two, as England lie 2nd on the board (-3) behind France (-10), closely followed by Sweden and Czech Republic on the same score (E).
Elsewhere, Italy’s Gemma Simeoni shot the round of the day after a bogey-free 69 (-5), while teammate Giulietta Bertero holed out for an eagle-2 on the 6th. Their contributions mean Italy sit 5th, with Ireland, Germany and Spain occupying the remainder of the top-eight spots.
DIVISION 2 - ZALA SPRINGS, HUNGARY
Following on from a wet practice round, Zala Springs was again subject to heavy rains on the opening day of competition.
A lengthy suspension of play in the middle of the day meant that the Boys' Division 2 first round was cancelled. The nine teams vying for promotion will have just one round to position their teams in the crucial top-five spots to fight for medals starting Thursday.
The men were able to finish their opening stroke play qualifying round however. Austria look like the team to beat after posting -11 for the the day. Wales are just four shots back on -7, while Belgium round out the top three on -4.
Scotland sit in 4th position on +3 ahead of a 9-shot gap to Slovenia in 5th and Croatia in 6th. The latter team were boosted by an outstanding 65 (-7) from Leo Zurovac, who carded six birdies and an eagle to post the lowest round of the day.
