England's men won the Nations Cup for Europe’s leading amateur players by a single stroke from hosts Spain at Sotogrande on the Costa del Sol.
England's men won the Nations Cup for Europe’s leading amateur players by a single stroke from hosts Spain at Sotogrande on the Costa del Sol.
The English team of Ashley Chesters, Ben Stow, Nick Marsh and Paul Howar held on as the Spanish chased them all the way to the finish. England had been five strokes ahead after 36 holes and they remained four clear with only one round to play. But Spain rallied and came up just one shot shy of catching the English quartet.
France finished in third place and Ireland came fourth. The Scottish Golf Union decided not to enter a team of four to defend the title they won last year as their top players are still on winter training in South Africa.
Mario Galiano of Spain won the individual tournament with Jack Hume of Ireland in tied fourth. Ashley Chesters and Ben Stow were the top English finishers in tied sixth place.
FINAL TEAM TOTALS 1 ENGLAND 897 2 SPAIN 898 3 FRANCE 902 4 IRELAND 904 5 NETHERLANDS 910 6 ITALY 915 7 NORWAY 918 8 SWEDEN 928 9 DENMARK 930 10 AUSTRIA 936 11 SWITZERLAND 940 T12 CZECH REPUBLIC 945 T12 GERMANY 945 14 PORTUGAL 948 15 BELGIUM 959 16 SLOVENIA 1009
LEADING MEN'S INDIVIDUAL TOTALS par 288 (4x72) 1 287 Mario Galiano (Spain) 74 70 71 72 2 295 Robbie Van West (Netherlands) 78 70 69 78 3 297 Marcus Kinhult (Sweden) 75 74 73 74 T4 298 Langasque Romain (France) 79 73 72 74, Jack Hume (Ireland) 75 76 71 76
SELECTED TOTALS T6 299 Ashley Chesters (England) 76 74 75 74, Ben Stow (England) 79 72 73 75 T11 303 Gavin Moynihan (Ireland) 75 79 76 73, Nick Marsh (England) 80 72 74 77 T21 308 Paul Howard (England) 77 76 79 76 T25 310 Gary Hurley (Ireland) 78 78 81 73 T35 313 Colm Campbell (Ireland) 79 84 74 76
