Grehan and Tiernan help Great Britain and Ireland win back St Andrews Trophy in Madrid
Great Britain and Ireland celebrate winning the St Andrews Trophy in Spain. Credit: The R&A.
Stuart Grehan and Gavin Tiernan played their part as Great Britain and Ireland secured an impressive win at the St Andrews Trophy in Spain.
Grehan teamed up with Eliot Baker to win his morning foursomes before Tiernan beat Swede Alfons Bondesson 3&2 in his singles as GB&I eased to a 16½-8½ triumph over the Continent of Europe at Real Club de la Puerta de Hierro in Madrid.
They claimed the trophy won by the Continent of Europe at Royal Porthcawl last year as England’s Luke Poulter, son of Ian, took them over the winning line with a one-hole victory over Gunnlaugur Arni Sveinsson from Iceland.
Poulter, 21, finished in style when he holed his bunker shot for an eagle on the 18th to seal the success, moments after Sveinsson had made his own remarkable eagle from 100 feet.
GB&I Captain Dean Robertson watched his side win all four sessions over the two days of the match, including two unbeaten foursomes sessions. Robertson’s fellow Scot Cameron Adam won all four of his ties as he shone in Spain.
GB&I now hold the Curtis Cup, the Vagliano Trophy and the St Andrews Trophy thanks to a hat-trick of successes inside the last year.
Former European Tour winner Robertson, who will also lead GB&I against the United States of America in the Walker Cup at Cypress Point in September, looked for a fast start and his team achieved it.
GB&I headed into day two with an 8-4 advantage, needing just five more points to win back the trophy. Their success yesterday was underpinned by almost claiming maximum points from the morning foursomes ties, winning the session 3½-½.
Their momentum continued this morning after another unbeaten foursomes display, again claiming the session 3½-½ to build a commanding 11½-4½ lead.
England’s Tyler Weaver and Connor Graham from Scotland won both of their foursomes matches, as did another English-Scottish pairing of Dominic Clemons and Adam.
Graham and Adam both qualified to play in The 153rdOpen at Royal Portrush last week and they continued to impress in Spain.
With GB&I needing just one-and-a-half points from the final nine singles for outright victory, Weaver was six up after just eight holes against Filip Jakubcik – the European Amateur Champion who also competed at Royal Portrush – before sealing a 6&5 win. Weaver was unbeaten across his four matches, winning three-and-a-half points.
Tim Wiedemeyer from Germany pulled a point back for the home side after inflicting a first defeat for Graham by the margin of 4&3, before Poulter’s magic at the last secured the overall team victory.
Poulter was also unbeaten in four games, so too winning three-and-a-half points.
France’s Hugo Le Goff and Claes Thrane Borregaard from Denmark then delivered singles wins for the hosts, but GB&I’s Gavin Tiernan secured his first point of the match after beating Bondesson 3&2.
England’s Eliot Baker also ended the overall match unbeaten, finishing with a victory over Spain’s Sergio Jimenez Romero by one hole.
Estonian Richard Teder, another amateur to play at Royal Portrush last week, beat Grehan 2&1 before Adam closed with a triumph over Dane Kristian Hjort Bressum by 2&1.
In the last six stagings of the St Andrews Trophy, GB&I have now won three times and retained the trophy after a draw at Prince’s in 2016.
For final scoring from the St Andrews Trophy, please click here.
Doyle shines in Carris Trophy
Meanwhile, Cork’s John Doyle continued his ascent in the amateur ranks when he finished second in the Carris Trophy — the English Boys' Under-18 Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship — at Luffenham Heath.
He shot an incredible eight under 62 in round two, eventually finishing just a shot behind France’s Callixte Alzas.
