Tyke stars in action
The England squad featured Alex Fitzpatrick, front left
There were mixed fortunes for the Yorkshire players who represented their country in the European Team Championships
England narrowly missed out on the chance to win the European Men’s Team Championship for a record 12th time when they lost to hosts Sweden in the final at Llunghusen.
Hallamshire’s Alex Fitzpatrick claimed a top-10 finish as England finished second behind Ireland in the 36-hole stroke play qualifier and they went on to defeat both Wales and Scotland by 4-3 before losing 4.5-2.5 to the home team in a keenly contested final in which all but one of the matches went at least as far as the 17th green.
The English team comprising Tom Sloman, Fitzpatrick, Ben Jones, Tom Plumb, Harry Hall and Matty Lamb were the first to put a point on the board when Sloman and Plumb recorded their third foursomes win of the tournament with a 2&1 win over Ludvig Aberg and Christoffer Palsson but David Nyfjall and Vincent Norrman ensured the scoreline was level at lunch with a 4&3 victory over Fitzpatrick and Lamb.
In the afternoon Hall made it three out of three in the singles with a 2&1 victory over Norrman and Plumb also halved with Nyfjall but that was not quite enough to see the team over the line. The result means that England have won three silver medals in a row having also achieved that feat in Austria in 2017 and then again in Germany 12 months later.
There was a fifth-place finish for the English team at the European Boys’ Team Championship where hosts France won in front of their own fans at Chantilly, north of Paris.
England, represented by Hallamshire’s Barclay Brown, Conor Gough, Max Hopkins, Sheffield born Joe Pagdin, Rotherham’s Brabazon winner Ben Schmidt and Robin Williams lost 4-3 to Ireland in the opening round of match play but then defeated Italy 3.5- 1.5 before rounding things off by beating Spain by the same scoreline.
The English girls’ team comprising Jessica Baker, Rosie Belsham, Ellie Gower, Huddersfield’s Charlotte Heath, Euphemie Rhodes and Caitlin Whitehead finished fifth in qualifying at the European Girls’ Team Championship at Parador El Saler in Spain but then lost 4-3 to Spain, 3-2 to The Netherlands and 3.5-1.5 to Sweden. Denmark won for the first time beating Spain in the final.
Two Yorkshire players have been named in a revised squad of players in contention for a place in the Great Britain and Ireland team for the Walker Cup match at Royal Liverpool next month.
Hallamshire’s Alex Fitzpatrick and Bailey Gill from Lindrick Golf Club have made it through – but there’s no place for Malton & Norton’s David Hague or Sheffield born Joe Pagdin, who were also both named in the original 26-man squad back in April.
Three new English players have also been added to the new 16-man squad. Matty Lamb (Hexham), David Langley (Castle Royle) and Joshua McMahon (Wallasey) have all been drafted in, in recognition of their results in recent weeks.
The trio join Jake Burnage (Saunton), Fitzpatrick, Gill, Harry Hall (West Cornwall), Ben Jones (Northamptonshire County), Tom Plumb (Yeovil) and Tom Sloman (Taunton & Puckeridge).
That means there are 10 English players in the new 16-man squad who had a get-together at Royal Liverpool during the last week of July.
“We have been monitoring results of the players originally selected since we last got together as a squad while also keeping an eye on the performances of other players not included,” said GB & I captain Craig Watson.
“We have brought in three new players who have had encouraging results in recent events and we look forward to working with them and the other players.”
The new 16-man squad also includes Ireland’s Mark Power (Kilkenny), Conor Purcell (Portmarnock), Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk) and James Sugrue (Mallow) and Scotland’s Sandy Scott (Nairn) and Euan Walker (Kilmarnock Barassie).
The Walker Cup is to be played at Royal Liverpool on September 7-8 when GB & I will be aiming to win back the trophy after losing 19-7 at the Los Angeles Country Club two years ago.
