ONE WEEK TO GO – TEAMS FINALISED FOR EUROPEAN GOLF TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
With one week to go until the historic European Golf Team Championships tee off at Gleneagles, teams have been finalised with players from 15 nations set to compete for medals across five days of competition.
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In a ground-breaking format, both male and female professionals will compete in a revolutionary Mixed Team format as well as a Men’s and Women’s Team event, as part of the innovative multi-sport Glasgow 2018 European Championships.
Teams from Great Britain will lead the way with a maximum representation of six teams – three each in both the men’s and women’s event – while Sweden will be represented by five in total, two men’s teams and three women’s.
Four-time Major winner Dame Laura Davies, will headline the women’s draw playing with Solheim Cup star Georgia Hall, while 2019 Solheim Cup European Team Captain Catriona Matthew will get the chance to see the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles in competitive action when she lines up alongside England’s Holly Clyburn for the second GB team.
In the Men’s Championship, Callum Shinkwin and Lee Slattery will play together in the first Great Britain team while an all-Scottish team of Connor Syme and Liam Johnston will be hoping for victory on home soil. Michael Hoey will represent Ireland alongside Neil O’Briain looking to follow up on his last victory in Scotland at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in 2011.
Elsewhere, male players ranked in the top 3 for their nations outside of those competing in the US PGA Championship, will represent Italy, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Norway, Iceland and Poland.
Michael Hoey said: “It’s always an honour to represent Ireland, so I am looking forward to teeing it up with Neil at Gleneagles. It’s always amazing for us playing close to home in Scotland, the atmosphere created by the fans always makes it special for us, the venue is spectacular and with the team element added to this event, it is definitely going to be a lot of fun for everyone involved.”
Olivia Cowan, who will represent Germany, added: “I am really excited to be playing for Germany again. That’s the one thing I really miss about being an amateur is playing the European Team Championships for Germany. Being in a team and representing your country is the best feeling. And I'm happy about having Karo as my partner, we are good friends and I think we'll make a great team.”
The European Golf Team Championships will take place at Gleneagles in Scotland from 8-12 August 2018, featuring a 50/50 gender split in the field with male and female professionals competing for equal prize money in both a Men’s and Women’s Team match play Championship, as well as an 18-hole foursomes stroke play Mixed Team Championship.
Players will represent their countries with 16 teams of two players competing in the Men’s and Women’s Team events, before combining to form teams of four (two men and two women) in the Mixed Team Championship.
Qualification for the Championships has been via the European Golf Team Championships Points Tables for men and women, which are based on men’s Official World Golf Ranking Points and women’s Rolex Ranking Points earned from tournaments finishing between Monday 10th July 2017 and Monday 9th July 2018 with a maximum of three teams representing any one nation in each event.
The full team lists for the Men’s and Women’s Team Championships are:
Men’s Team Championship
Women’s Team Championship
GREAT BRITAIN 1
Callum Shinkwin & Lee Slattery
GREAT BRITAIN 1
Georgia Hall & Laura Davies
ITALY 1
Lorenzo Gagli & Guido Migliozzi
GREAT BRITAIN 2
Catriona Matthew & Holly Clyburn
SPAIN 1
Pedro Oriol & Scott Fernandez
ICELAND
Olafia Kristinsdottir & Valdis Thora Jonsdottir
GREAT BRITAIN 2
Rhys Enoch & Charlie Ford
FRANCE 1
Celine Herbin and Astrid Vayson de Pradei
GREAT BRITAIN 3
Connor Syme & Liam Johnston
GERMANY 1
Olivia Cowan & Karolin Lampert
PORTUGAL
Jose-Filipe Lima & Ricardo Santos
GREAT BRITAIN 3
Meghan Maclaren & Michele Thomson
NORWAY
Jarand Ekeland Arnoy & Kristian Krogh Johannessen
SWEDEN 1
Emma Nilsson & Lina Boqvist
SPAIN 2
Santiago Tarrio Ben & David Borda
SPAIN
Noemi Jimenez & Silvia Banon
SWEDEN 1
Per Langfors & Johan Edfors
GERMANY 2
Isi Gabsa & Leticia Ras-Anderica
ICELAND
Birgir Hafthorsson &
Axel Boasson
NORWAY
Marianne Skarpnord & Marita Engzelius
POLAND
Adrian Meronk &
Mateusz Gradecki
FINLAND
Ursula Wikstrom & Noora Komulainen
ITALY 2
Francesco Laporta & Alessandro Tadini
FRANCE 2
Justine Dreher & Manon Molle
IRELAND
Michael Hoey & Neil O’Briain
SWEDEN 2
Johanna Gustavsson & Julia Engstrom
DENMARK
Martin Ovesen &
Niklas Norgaard Moller
AUSTRIA
Christine Wolf & Sarah Schober
BELGIUM
Christopher Mivis & Lars Buijs
SWEDEN 3
Cajsa Persson & Linda Wessberg
SWEDEN 2
Daniel Jennevret &
Mikael Lundberg
BELGIUM
Chloe Leurquin & Manon De Roey
Confirmed team lists and pairing for the Mixed Team Championships are (NB – additional teams may be added):
GREAT BRITAIN 1
Callum Shinkwin & Laura Davies
Lee Slattery & Georgia Hall
GREAT BRITAIN 2
Charlie Ford & Catriona Matthew
Rhys Enoch & Holly Clyburn
GREAT BRITAIN 3
Liam Johnston & Meghan Maclaren
Connor Syme & Michele Thomson
SPAIN
Pedro Oriol & Silvia Banon
Scott Fernandez & Noemi Jimenez
NORWAY
Jarand Ekeland Arnoy & Marita Engzelius
Kristian Krogh Johannessen & Marianne Skarpnord
SWEDEN 1
Johan Edfors & Emma Nilsson
Per Langfors & Lina Boqvist
SWEDEN 2
Mikael Lundberg & Johanna Gustavsson
Daniel Jennevret & Julia Engstrom
ICELAND
Birgir Hafthorsson & Valdis Thora Jonsdottir
Axel Gradecki & Olafia Kristinsdottir
BELGIUM
Christopher Mivis & Manon De Roey
Lars Buijs & Chloe Leurquin
The European Golf Team Championships will form part of the Glasgow 2018 European Championships. To be staged every four years, the European Championships will combine the existing European Championships of Athletics, Aquatics, Cycling, Gymnastics, Rowing and Triathlon. The first edition is being held in 2018 in a unique sporting partnership between Host Cities Glasgow and Berlin.
The European Golf Team Championships is the only new event being staged as part of Glasgow 2018 and will take place at the famous Jack Nicklaus-designed Gleneagles PGA Centenary Course – the same venue that hosted Europe’s memorable victory over the USA in The 2014 Ryder Cup and will also host The 2019 Solheim Cup in September next year.
Tickets are now on sale for the European Golf Team Championships with adult prices from £10 for practice days and £15 on competition days. Children under the age of 16 are admitted free when accompanied by an adult.
The Championships will be broadcast across the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the umbrella body for European free-to-air channels, with a potential audience of 1.03 billion. In the UK the Championships will be broadcast on the BBC, meaning it will be the only domestic live golf event shown on UK terrestrial television.
As part of the inaugural European Championships in 2018 around 3,000 athletes will visit Scotland for six events (Aquatics, Cycling, Golf, Gymnastics, Rowing and Triathlon) while a further 1,500 athletes will compete in Berlin as part of the European Athletics Championships.
