Wales bidding for European glory in three competitions

WALES bid for glory in three of the four European Team Championships being staged next week across the continent.

They do not have a side in the women’s event but, after promotion to the top flight, the boys have great hopes of making an impact in the Czech Republic.

Aberconwy Trophy and Trubshaw Cup winner Tom Froom (Nefyn & District) helped the boys return to the top table courtesy of a second-placed finish in Division Two last year at Krakow Valley, Poland, and will now look to repeat that with the men this year.

He will be joined at Rosa Private, Poland, by joint Berkshire Trophy winner Matt Roberts (Vale Resort), Ben Chamberlain (Padeswood & Buckley), Jake Hapgood (Southerndown), Gaelen Trew (Wentworth) and Tom Williams (Wrexham).

The field will play 18 holes of stroke play on day one and two with the five lowest scores from each team’s six players counting towards the overall total.

Stroke play qualifying will determine a seeded order for the match play with the top eight advancing to Flight A to fight for the title, and promotion.

The top two will then receive an invitation to next year’s European Amateur Team Championship unless the hosting nation is exempt, in which case, the thirdplaced team shall also receive an invitation.

The following eight will battle it out in Flight B.

Aled Greville (Ashburnham) and Tom Peet (Pyle & Kenfig, pictured) also helped the boys gain promotion and they return to the team this year alongside Irish Boys Amateur Open Championship and North Wales Boys Open Championship winner Archie Davies (Carlisle), James Ashfield (Delamere Forest), Reuben Bather (Maesdu), and Tom Matthews (Oswestry). The tournament, at Kaskada, Czech Republic, will follow the same rules as the men’s with 16 teams competing. The top eight teams after stroke play qualifying will advance to Flight A and compete for the title. The bottom eight will battle it out in Flight B. Wales are also making a return to the European Girls’ Team Championship at Forsgarden, Sweden, with a strong team. Welsh Ladies Amateur champion Lea-Anne Bramwell (Abergele), Scottish Girls Open winner Ffion Tynan (Minchinhampton) and Mid Wales Girls Open champion Darcey Harry (Vale Resort) will lead the team that also contains Ffion Evans (Newport Links), Eleanor Willis (St Pierre) and Carys Worby (Newport Links). After 36 holes of stroke play qualifying, the top eight will advance to Flight A, the following eight will go through to Flight B, while the remaining teams will play a roundrobin tournament in Flight C.

Meanwhile, St Mellons’ Nigel Evans rose to the top of the Senior Men’s Order of Merit after finishing as one of three runners-up at the Welsh Open Seniors Championship, four strokes off English winner Rupert Kellock (Sunningdale).

After rounds of 72 and 73 at Pennard, North Wales Senior Open Championship winner Evans carded a level-par 71 in the third and final round with his four birdies cancelled out by two bogeys and a double bogey on the 12th.

But his 54-hole score of 216 saw him sit level with English duo Tim Whittaker (Beaconsfield) and Ian Attoe (Worplesdon).

Kellock’s victory on 212 was made all the more impressive after he shot a triple bogey on hole three in his final round.

Phillip Sutton, of Dunstable Downs, finished tied for 13th with a nine-over 222, making him the second-highest Welsh finisher.

Royal Porthcawl’s Richard Jones hit 224, 11-over par, to finish 20th, with Michael Calvert (Walmley) and Adrian Bragg (Radyr) both tied for 30th on 228.

Newport’s Andrew Williams and Nigel Phillips (East Sussex) were two shots further back, tied for 37th.

With just two events left in the OOM schedule, the race for the top four is hotting up, but some of the main challengers are staying away from Sunday’s South Wales Senior Open at Cardiff.

Gwent stars Evans and Williams will take it as an opportunity to strengthen their place in the top four, while Glamorganshire’s Nick Grimmitt, 2017 Irish Seniors Amateur Open Championship winner, and Welsh international Glyn Rees (Fleetwood) will take it as a chance to make up some ground.

The top four in the OOM at the end of the season will be guaranteed a place at the Senior Men’s Home Internationals.

Former Celtic Manor star Rhys Enoch will feature in this month’s Open Championship at Carnoustie after guiding his way through Final Qualifying.

Enoch, now affiliated with Truro, hit rounds of 72 and 70 at Notts (Hollinwell) to pick up the third and final qualifying place ahead of English duo Tomasz Anderson and Jack Singh Brar, who both carded a 143 total.