Four Named in GB&I Squad

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A 21 player Great Britain and Ireland squad has been announced for the St Andrews Trophy match at Barsebäck Golf and Country Club in Sweden on 29 and 30 August, 2014.

The nine-man team that will face the Continent of Europe in the biennial match will be named in mid-August.

Four players will bring valuable Walker Cup experience to the squad including Matthew Fitzpatrick, who recently made his Masters Tournament debut, and Rhys Pugh who played on the GB&I side in both 2011 at Royal Aberdeen and in 2013 at the National Golf Links of America in Southampton, New York.

Greg Eason, who is currently ranked third in the WORLD AMATEUR GOLF RANKING™, and reigning European Amateur champion Ashley Chesters bring depth to the squad, along with talented young players Sam Horsfield and 2013 Scottish Boys champion Bradley Neil.

Nigel Edwards will captain the team for the third time as GB&I look to reclaim the trophy after the Continent of Europe’s narrow 12½ – 11½ victory at Portmarnock in 2012.

“We have announced a strong squad for this year’s match,” said Edwards, a playing member of the victorious St Andrews Trophy teams in 2002, 2004 and 2006. “The final selection of the team for the St Andrews Trophy match will be dependent on performances and, therefore, players who are not named in this squad have every chance of playing their way on to the team. I am confident that the team we select will mount a real challenge for the trophy in Sweden.”

The St Andrews Trophy is the biennial men’s match which will be played alongside the annual boys’ match, the Jacques Leglise Trophy, at Barsebäck on 29 and 30 August. The St Andrews Trophy has been played alternately on British/Irish and mainland European courses since 1956. Great Britain and Ireland have won on 24 occasions and the Continent of Europe has won five times, including the 2010 and 2012 matches.

The 2014 GB&I squad is:

Tomasz Anderson (Brocket Hall) – Welwyn Garden City, England

Ashley Chesters (Hawkstone Park) – Wem, England 

Greg Eason (Kirby Muxloe) – Leicester, England

Ryan Evans (Wellingborough) – Wellingborough, England

Matthew Fitzpatrick (Hallamshire) – Sheffield, England

Grant Forrest (Craigielaw) – North Berwick, Scotland

Sam Horsfield (Davenport, USA) – Manchester, England

Paul Howard (Southport & Ainsdale) – Southport, England

Jack Hume (Naas) – Naas, Ireland

Gary Hurley (West Waterford) – Aglish, Ireland

Nick Marsh (Huddersfield) – Elland, England

Jimmy Mullen (Royal North Devon) – Devon, England

Gavin Moynihan (The Island) - Dublin, Ireland

Jack McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie) – Troon, Scotland

Dermot McElroy (Ballymena) – Ballymena, Northern Ireland

Bradley Neil (Blairgowrie) – Perthshire, Scotland

Rhys Pugh (Pontypridd) – Pontypridd, Wales

James Ross (Royal Burgess) – Edinburgh, Scotland

Ewan Scott (St Andrews) – St Andrews, Scotland

Jordan Smith (Bowood) – Calne, England

Ben Taylor (Walton Heath) – Leatherhead, England

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McElroy Earns Final Place

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Dermot McElroy finished his weather delayed final round of the European Tour Qualifying  School on Wednesday at Lumine Golf and Beach Club with a level par 71. A result  that secured the Irish amateur eighteenth place outright in Tarragona and the last spot for the Final Stage next week.

A pair of birdies and bogeys either side of the turn were the result of his work on the final day and a five under par aggregate score. Enough to separate the Ballymena golfer by a stroke from the larger chasing groups.

McElroy has shown promise from an early age and a  couple of years ago - then aged 17 - he was one step away from winning the North of Ireland, losing out in the final at Royal Portrush to Alan Dunbar. Who ironically failed to get through Stage Two this week.

Five years ago McElroy won the Connacht under-15, the Leinster under-15s, the Ulster under-15s and the Irish under-15 titles in the same season. Last year he was named in a 12-man preliminary Great Britain and Ireland squad for the St Andrews Trophy match against Continental Europe to be played at Portmarnock in August.

This season at the Northern Ireland Challenge presented by Clannah and XJet McElroy finished T9.

England’s Chris Hanson finished the protracted Qualifying School Second Stage at Lumine after closing with a round of 68 in Tarragona.

Hanson led 18 qualifiers from the northern Spain venue on 15 under par, five strokes clear of his nearest challengers, Scotland’s Raymond Russell and English amateur Callum Shinkwin, who signed off with respective rounds of 69 and 70. 

The 18 qualifiers from Lumine Golf will join the 35 players who progressed from Las Colinas Golf and Country Club and Campo de Golf El Saler at next week’s Final Stage, which will again be held at PGA Catalunya Resort, in Girona.

Gareth Shaw will not be part of that group next week however, having finished his similalry  weather delayed final round at Valle Romano in a 2 over par 73.

Two double bogeys on his front nine pushed the Upper Ballinderry man in the wrong direction on the leaderboard from the outset, needing a minimum four under par to have a chance, and reaching the halfway in 40 strokes left him struggling. 

A fightback of sorts on the home stretch gave some hope, but there was too much ground to recover, and unable to repeat the one sub 70 round which he carded on day two. 

A former Amateur 2006 Eisenhower Trophy 2007, 08 winner), a Palmer Cup 2002 winner, 2003 winner of the Jacques Leglise Trophy - as well as a representative record from 2002-07 of Boys, Youths, Seniors honours.

This is Shaw's sixth visit to Q School and it will be a disappointing result for the Team Ireland golfer who had started this season very determined to make the breakthrough onto the main Tour.

Despite enduring a difficult final day at Las Colinas Golf & Country Club, James Heath still led 17 qualifiers home as the European Tour Qualifying School Second Stage came to a close at the Alicante venue. 

The Englishman, who held a substantial lead overnight, signed off with a round of 75, but that closing effort was still good enough to finish top of the pile on 15 under par. 

Heath was followed home by rising South African star Brandon Stone, who closed with a 69 for a 14 under par aggregate total. 

Welshman Liam Bond (13 under), England’s James Robinson (12 under) and American John Hahn (11 under) rounded out the top five.

The qualifying mark fell on two under par, with six players contesting a play-off for the last four places in the Final Stage. 

The Swedish duo of Oscar Floren and Joakim Rask emerged triumphant alongside German amateur Christopher Dammert and Spaniard Alfredo Garcia-Heredia, with France’s Michael Lorenzo-Vera and Germany’s Max Glauert the men to miss out – although they could still make the Final Stage as Alternates, in the event of injuries or withdrawals.

At Campo de Golf El Saler, home favourite Carlos del Moral romped to victory by five shots after signing off with a round of 71 for an eight under par aggregate total. 

England’s Jason Barnes finished second on three under par, one shot ahead of Frenchman Thomas Linard and Italian Niccolo Quintarelli. 

With 18 players progressing from El Saler, there was a five-way play-off for the final two spots after Jerome Casanova, Christophe Brazillier, Matthias Grönberg, Chris Lloyd and Andrey Pavlov all finished on three over par. 

The two who prevailed were Casanova, courtesy of birdie at the first extra hole, and Grönberg, who eventually saw off Lloyd on the sixth extra hole. 

Meanwhile, over at Valle Romano Golf in Estepona, the third round was finally completed with Frenchman Edouard Espana leading the way on 12 under par. 

High winds had forced officials to suspend play on Monday, but Espana made the most of the calmer conditions on Tuesday to lead by two strokes from Australian Scott Arnold and Sweden’s Alexander Björk, who posted respective rounds of 69 and 68. 

The fourth round was completed on Wednesday, as it was at Lumine Golf & Beach Club, where high winds forced a suspension at 12.55pm on Tuesday. Play resumed at 4.15pm but was again halted 25 minutes later.

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Dunbar Selected for St Andrews Trophy

The Great Britain and Ireland (GB&I) teams to face the Continent of Europe in the St Andrews and Jacques Leglise Trophy Matches were announced on Monday with less than two weeks to go before the matches get underway at Portmarnock Golf Club, County Dublin.

Portmarnock Golf Club will host the 29th staging of the biennial St Andrews Trophy Match for men and the 45th annual Jacques Leglise Trophy Match for boys on 31 August and 1 September 2012.

Players include The Amateur Champion, Alan Dunbar and The Boys Amateur Champion, Matthew Fitzpatrick.

The R&A Director – Amateur Events, Euan Mordaunt announces the GB&I teams as:

The St Andrews Trophy Match: Alan Dunbar (Rathmore, IRL), Craig Hinton (The Oxfordshire, ENG), Nathan Kimsey (Woodhall Spa, ENG), Kevin Phelan (Waterford Castle, IRL), Garrick Porteous (Bamburgh Castle, ENG), Rhys Pugh (Vale of Glamorgan, WAL), Neil Raymond (Corhampton, ENG), Graeme Robertson (Glenbervie, SCO) and Ben Taylor (Walton Heath, ENG).

The Jacques Leglise Trophy Match: Harry Ellis (Meon Valley, ENG), Matthew Fitzpatrick (Hallamshire, ENG), Alex Gleeson (Castle, IRL), Patrick Kelly (Boston West, ENG), Gavin Moynihan (The Island, IRL), Bradley Neil (Blairgowrie, SCO), Max Orrin (North Foreland, ENG), Toby Tree (Worthing, ENG) and Ashton Turner (Kenwick Park, ENG).

The St Andrews and Jacques Leglise trophy matches offer spectators a rare opportunity to see some of the world’s best amateur golfers, men and boys, in morning foursome and afternoon singles matches over two days of competition.

In recent contests GB&I has been represented by leading players at the peak of their amateur careers including current World No 1, Rory McIlroy, Padraig Harrington, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Tom Lewis. While the Continent of Europe has counted Ryder Cup Captain, Jose Maria Olazabal, Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer and Edoardo and Francesco Molinari among its ranks.

When both matches were last played together in 2010 at Golf Club Castelconturbia in Milan, Italy, the Continent of Europe were the victors, 14 to 10 in The St Andrews Trophy men’s match and 15½ to 8½ in The Jacques Leglise boys match. Overall, match results favour GB&I 24-4 in the St Andrews Trophy Match and 34-10 in the Jacques Leglise Match.

Portmarnock Golf Club has hosted the St Andrews Trophy Match on one previous occasion in 1968 when GB&I triumphed, 20 -10.