The Continent of Europe is leading against Great Britain and Ireland in the Junior Vagliano Trophy and the Jacques Léglise Trophy after day one of both matches at Blairgowrie.
The junior team matches are being staged alongside each other for the first time at the renowned Rosemount Course in Scotland.
In warm and calm conditions, the Continent of Europe under-16 girls’ team took a two point lead after day one of the Junior Vagliano Trophy while the under-18 boys’ team leads by three over their GB&I counterparts.
The Junior Vagliano Trophy
The Continent of Europe take a 5½ -3½ lead into day two of the Junior Vagliano Trophy after a strong performance in the afternoon singles which saw them win three and halve two of the matches. The match was level at 1½-1½ after the morning foursomes.
Spain’s Andrea Revuelta Goicoechea led the way with a convincing 3&2 win against the Helen Holm Trophy winner Grace Crawford.
Johanna Axelsen and Lynn van der Sluijs followed up with 4&3 victories against Amelia Wan and Marina Joyce Moreno.
England’s Rose Bee Kim gained a point back for GB&I with a 3&2 win against Anna Cañadó Espinal while Maggie Whitehead and Isla McDonald O’Brien halved their matches with Carla De Troia and Perla Sól Sigurbrandsdóttir.
Earlier in the day, van der Sluijs and De Troia emerged triumphant by 2&1 from their match with Crawford and Whitehead. McDonald O’Brien and Wan won the bottom tie against Sigurbrandsdóttir and Axelsen by one hole. The Spanish duo of Cañadó Espinal and Revuelta Goicoechea halved their match with Rosie Bee Kim and Marina Joyce Moreno.Myrte Eikenaar, non-playing captain, the Continent of Europe, said, “We’re pretty happy with how the performance went today.
There was a lot of good team spirit. “The team is feeling confident, you always come here to win. You can see them fighting for the trophy out there and we believe that we can do it. We obviously have a good record in the match but the pressure builds each year to keep on retaining the trophy. Great Britain and Ireland has a good team so it’s going to be close but fun to see who wins.” Janet Melville, non-playing captain, Great Britain and Ireland, said, “I thought the team did really well today and they’ve gone out and done themselves proud.
“All the matches were close and we’re still in with a shout tomorrow. It wasn’t looking too good at one point this afternoon but they responded really well. Maggie Whitehead got a great halve, Rosie [Bee Kim] won her match and Isla [McDonald O’Brien] was three down but finished all-square. “We’ll come out all guns firing tomorrow and hopefully we will be ok. They just need to believe in themselves and that they can do it.
The Jacques Léglise Trophy
The Continent of Europe lead GB&I by 7½ to 4½ ahead of tomorrow’s final day of the Jacques Léglise Trophy.
The pendulum swung the way of both teams throughout the afternoon but the Europeans gradually managed to edge ahead.
Josh Hill made a great start for GB&I, birdieng the 17th to win by one hole from Boys’ Amateur Championship quarter-finalist Jorge Siyuan Hao.
After a halved match between Tyler Weaver and Marco Florioli, the Continent of Europe made the most of the middle order of matches with Germany’s Carl Siemens securing a comfortable 5&4 win against John Berry and Oihan Guillamoundeguy edging out Harley Smith by one hole.
Thijmens Batens was two down early on against Frank Kennedy but battled back to win by 4&3 and Tom Haberer notched up a 3&2 victory against Niall Shiels Donegan.
Dylan Shaw-Radford pulled a point back for GB&I with a two-up result against Tim Wiedemeyer but Boys’ Amateur champion Albert Hansson from Sweden sealed a good afternoon for the European side with a 2&1 win over home favourite and Junior Open champion Connor Graham.
The match was poised at 2-2 after the morning foursomes with good wins for Guillamoundeguy and Florioli and Wiedemeyer and Siemens for Continent of Europe and Shaw-Radford and Shiels Donegan and Graham and Kennedy.
Joachim Fourquet, non-playing captain, the Continent of Europe, said, “I think we played really well today, both in the foursomes and the singles. In the foursomes, I paired the players from the same national teams because they are used to playing together and we delivered strong performances. I think Great Britain and Ireland also played very well, but we were a little bit better.
“This afternoon was interesting because we were down in five out of the seven matches at one point, which is quite stressful as captain, but I’m happy with how the players reacted and they came back to win the majority of the matches. “We will have a chat with the players tonight and look at the performances, particularly at what happened in the early part of the singles matches and try to play better tomorrow because GB&I has a very strong team and it’s going to be a fight to win the trophy.”
Chris King, non-playing captain, Great Britain and Ireland, said, “There are a lot of positives from today. It was up and down throughout the foursomes and singles. I mean it looked like we were going to win the singles at one point but a couple of matches didn’t go our way. There was a lot of good golf out there and I don’t think we played badly at all. We’re only three points behind and there are plenty of points to play for tomorrow. There’s a long way to go yet.
“We’ve got to come out tomorrow with really good attitudes and get off to a fast start so we give ourselves something to play with in the afternoon session. We need a good session in the morning, come out positive and win it. It’s all to play for. “This is one of the best groups I’ve worked with so I have no concerns about the team spirit. There’s a little disappointment at the moment, but we’ll have a nice meal tonight, have a couple of chats and we’ll be ready for tomorrow.”
Images/ text: The R&A