The Junior Vagliano Trophy and Jacques Leglise Trophy matches produced two pieces of history when the contests finished at West Lancashire.
However, an unprecedented fifth straight win for the best junior men from the Continent of Europe in the Jacques Leglise had to take a back seat to Great Britain and Ireland’s breakthrough victory in the Junior Vagliano Trophy.
After seven straight times watching the top girls from the Continent of Europe win the trophy, the home side finally took the silverware.
Shortly after the Continent of Europe ran out 12-10 winners of the Jacques Leglise Trophy, GB&I eked out an 8-7 victory in the Junior Vagliano Trophy.
Irish non-playing captain Deirdre Walsh and her six girls ended 13 years of frustration since the inaugural 2011 contest. Last year’s 9-9 draw at Royal Dornoch was the closest any GB&I team had come.
“This is unbelievable,” Walsh said. “I’m absolutely delighted for the girls. They believed in themselves, they really did, and they went out to win their own points. They didn’t run away with themselves, or get ahead of themselves. They focussed on their own matches. They went out to do a job and they did it.
“We were so close last year, and to do it this year is such a thrill. It’s a huge achievement for these girls.”
GB&I built up a 5-4 lead after the morning foursomes, splitting the session 1½ points apiece. It meant Walsh’s team needed three singles wins from six to make history.
They didn’t get off to the best of starts with the Continent of Europe winning the first three matches.
However, Olivia Costello of Ireland and English players Lauren Crump and Charlotte McNaughton came through to get the home side over the line.
Walsh credited one match with propelling her side to victory, pointing to the half point McNaughton and Costello earned in their foursomes contest against the French pair of Louise Uma Landgraf and Alice Kong.
The GB&I girls were four down after six holes but fought back to earn the crucial half point that gave them the advantage heading to singles play.
“That halve was vital this morning, absolutely vital,” Walsh said. “It was a game changer because it gave us momentum for this afternoon. We went into lunch confident, knowing that we could win the cup for the first time. It made the difference.
“It’s just such an achievement to beat the best from the Continent of Europe. These girls can be proud of themselves.”
European captain Myrte Eikenaar also picked that shared foursomes match as the difference over the two days.
“It was fine margins this week but that half point in the morning foursomes was so important for GB&I,” Eikenaar admitted.
“It gave them the lead and we had to fight harder. We gave it our best, but GB&I just had that edge and they deserved to win. It’s good for the match that they’ve finally won because they’ve been getting closer and closer, but we’ll be looking for revenge on the Continent next year.”
So too will Chris King’s GB&I Jacques Leglise team. As with the Junior Vagliano Trophy, the foursomes proved crucial.
The Continent of Europe won all four morning matches, meaning they needed just 2½ points from nine singles to retain the trophy. They went on to win 3½.
“Traditionally foursomes might not look like our strength,” Continent of Europe captain Pierre Relecom said. “But we had natural pairs from same nationalities that made it easy for me to pick my pairings. There was magnificent golf this morning from both sides, but my team just played better.
“It’s a huge thing to win the cup five times in a row. It proves the federations are doing a good job of bringing up some good golfers. We shouldn’t underestimate the skills of these players. There is plenty of talent which makes it really easy for me to captain a team like that.”
King’s team also featured an abundance of talent. Just not enough to turn around a four-point disadvantage.
“You just have to take your hat off to Pierre and the Continent of Europe,” King said. “They played cracking golf and it was a massive ask this afternoon to expect us to win seven of the singles.
“These boys can take a lot of positives away from this. There were so many good performances. We had a lot of future stars here this week.”
