The Continentals made it three wins in a row in the annual Jacques Léglise Trophy as the best boys in Europe served up a feast of brilliant golf at Blairgowrie Golf Club.
FORMAT: Team matchplay – 4 foursomes both days & 8/9 singles
The visitors won by two points but the result was in doubt until deep into the final session as the GB&I fought back well on day two.
After winning the morning foursomes 3-1 to cut the gap to one, the hosts’s middle order kept their side in it but British Boys champion Albert Hansson made sure of victory in stunning fashion. The Swede was seven under for 13 holes as he demolished the unfortunate Niall Shiels Donegan (Meadow Club) 7&5 in the bottom match.
Joachim Fourquet, non-playing captain, the Continent of Europe: “I feel very happy but there’s also real relief because I was anxious this afternoon. The team started off very well this afternoon which made it more comfortable in the end. It was a great match, Great Britain and Ireland played really well to fight back.
“I watched great golf by both teams and it was very competitive. This really was a great experience for them and we all agree on that. I think we need some sleep after this, so we’ll relax tonight and have some fun, but the only drink will be lemonade!”
Chris King, non-playing captain of Great Britain and Ireland, added: “We played fantastic this morning to give ourselves an opportunity this afternoon. We played some good golf but the Europeans got off to a good early start.
“We should clawed back a couple of matches but they played very well. It’s just a shame we couldn’t get it over the line this afternoon, but eight of the team still have another year at this level.
“It’s some of the best golf I’ve seen in the Jacques Leglise Trophy and all credit to the European team, they were fantastic and what a great bunch of boys. They are a credit to their individual nations and the continent. The spirit of the match was fantastic over the two days.”
The event turned into a birdie fest. The tone was set on the opening morning where England Boys champion Dylan Shaw-Radford and Shiels Donegan combined to post a seven under for score for 17 holes in winning by two holes over Thijmen Batens (Netherlands) and Tom Haberer (Germany), who were six under par.
The visitors then had a great session on Friday afternoon and overnight led 7.5-4.5.
The following morning the GB&I Boys won three of the foursomes, Josh Hill (Trump Dubai) and Oliver Mukherjee (Gullane) critically birdieing the final two holes to win by one hole.
It set things up perfectly for the final singles where all nine players from both sides took part.
And critically for the holders they gained 2.5 points out of three in the top three matches before Shaw-Radford came alive on the back nine to win 3&1 and Frank Kennedy (Trump National) won 4&3 in a hail of birdies.
Josh Berry (Doncaster) also fought back well to gain a half whle Mukherjee birdied the last to win.
However it was not quite enough as home player Connor Graham fought valiantly before eventually succumbing to inspired Dutch ace Thijmen Batens on the final green and then Swedish star Hansson rounded things off in style, birdieing four holes in a row to finish off Shiels Donegan.