Congratulations must go to Sam Astle who won the 36-hole Junior Club Championship at Oxley Park. Two fantastic scores of 74 and 73 secured the title, despite a second round charge from runner-up Yaz Oakley (80&72). A great turnout from our low handicap juniors.
The Swedish Open, a key event in the European Disabled Golf Association (EDGA) calendar, has been hailed as a great success with victory going to home nation player Johan Kammerstad. Thirty-nine golfers with a disability teed it up at the beautiful venue of Kalmar Golf Klubb, in the south-east of the country next to the Baltic Sea.
EDGA Tournament Observer Craig Thomas noted this was very well received with 10 players, including two female golfers, competing on the course. Sveinbjorn Gudmundsson and Elin Ólafsdottir won their categories to make it a double triumph for Iceland.
"All the players deserve great credit for the way they embraced the challenge at Kalmar, the Swedish Open produced some fantastic performances which will stay long in the memory. Great thanks are due to the referees who did a really good job, all the organisational staff, the Swedish Federation and the whole team at Kalmar GolfKlubb who made us all feel so welcome; they were fabulous. Finally, a massive thank you to the brains behind the event, Mattias Cleasson of Handigolf, who did so much for the players to make this tournament very special. We are all grateful to Mattias."
With just one month to go until this year's Ryder Cup, the European team is now confirmed. European captain Darren Clarke named his three Ryder Cup picks on Tuesday afternoon:
Martin Kaymer
Lee Westwood
Thomas Pieters
I suppose we could have picked Lee Westwood based on his past experience and his performance in the majors this year.
Could Clarke have done anything but pick Thomas Pieters after he requested to play with him in last week's Made in Denmark event where Pieters shot a first round 8-under-par and then went on to win the tournament? This came on the back of his 4th place finish at the Rio Olympic Games. Talk about form.
Martin Kaymer's selection, however, could be seen as the debatable one. However if you recall, he did hole the winning putt in 2012 and has valuable experience to offer.
So a mix of youth and experience seems to be the case here with six rookies on the European side. Let's hope we can look forward to some more great golf just as we saw at Medinah Country Club in 2012 when it was last in America.
