The 1997 European Amateur Team Championship took place 25–29 June at Portmarnock Golf Club in Portmarnock, County Dublin, 10 kilometres north-east of the city center of Dublin, Ireland. It was the 20th men's golf European Amateur Team Championship.
Venue
There were strong winds on the links course during the tournament.
Format Each team consisted of six players, playing two rounds of an opening stroke-play qualifying competition over two days, counting the five best scores each day for each team.
The eight best teams formed flight A, in knock-out match-play over the next three days. The teams were seeded based on their positions after the stroke play. The first placed team were drawn to play the quarter-final against the eight placed team, the second against the seventh, the third against the sixth and the fourth against the fifth. Teams were allowed to use six players during the team matches, selecting four of them in the two morning foursome games and five players in to the afternoon single games. Games all square at the 18th hole were declared halved, if the team match was already decided.
The eight teams placed 9–16 in the qualification stroke-play formed flight B and the six teams placed 17–22 formed flight C, to play similar knock-out play, with one foursome game and four single games in each match, to decide their final positions.
Teams A record number of 22 nation teams contested the event. Teams representing Croatia and Slovakia both took part in the championship for the first time. Each team consisted of six players.
Players in the teams CountryPlayersChristoph Bausek, Urs Kaltenberger, Gerald Stangl, Uli Weinhandl, Niki ZitnyJack Boeckx, Stefan Boschmans, Didier de Vooght, Quentin d'Ursel, Francois Nicolas, Raf van BeginBozidar Ivacic, Zlatan Juras, Darko Ljubanovic, Miro Raic, Drazen Slamar, Branko StoterMiroslav Holub, Pavel Nic, Martin Peterka, Petr Safarcik, David Zelinka, Jan ZitterbartSøren Hansen, Klaus Molholm, Christian Kjaergaard, Lars Storm, Mads Vibe-Hastrup, Peter ThomsenMatthew Blackey, Matt Carver, Justin Rose, Shaun Webster, Robert Wiggins, Gary WolstenholmeCarl Johan Kask, Tiit Kask, Marko Palm, Mait Schmidt, Henry Talvik, Enrico VilloKalle Aitala, Mikko Manerus, Mikael Mustonen, Ari Pasanen, Pasi Purhonen, Henri SalonenOlivier David, Grégory Havret, François Illouz, Georges Plumet, Christophe Ravetto, Fabrice StolearFlorian Bruhns, Tobias Dier, Felix Lubenau, Philip Neels, Benjamin Schlichting, Stephan Wittkop, Kristinn Bjarnarsson, Thorsteinn Hallgrimsson, Örn Aevar Hjartarsson, Thordur Olafsson, Björgvin Sigurbergsson, Björgvin ThorstenssonRichard Coughlan, Jody Fanagan, Noel Fox, Peter Lawrie, Garth McGimpsey, Keith NolanLuca Fracassi, Alessandro Napoleoni, Biagio Paolillo, Stefano Reale, Massimiliano Secci, Carlo ZarettiMarten van den Berg, Rutger Buschow, Niels Kraay, Maarten Lafeber, Ralph Miller, Vincent RotenburgChristian Aronsen. Knut Ekjord, Anders Eriksen, Morten Haeraas, Ørjan Larsen, Morten OrvelandAlfredo Castilho Cunha, Sean Corte-Real, Stephane Castro Ferreira, Alexandre Henriques, Alfonso Martins, Jorge RodriguesMichael Brooks, Alastair Forsyth, Barclay Howard, Graham Rankin, Craig Watson, Steven YoungJan Balna, Pavel Kamas, Michal Oravec, Viliam Masar, Radoslav Sip, Juraj ZarisJuan Carlos Agüero, Sergio García, José Manuel Lara, Raúl Quirós, Oscar Sanchez, Juan VizcayaJoakim Bäckström, Mattias Eliasson, Peter Hanson, Daniel Olsson, Henrik Stenson, Jonas TorinesMarc Chatelain, Alexandre Chatelain, Ronald Groflin, Alain Krapl, John Lee, Nicolas SulzerJamie Donaldson, Nigel Edwards, David Park, Mark Smith, Yestin Taylor, Mark Pilkington Winners The host nation Ireland won the opening 36-hole competition, with a 39-over-par score of 759, 24 strokes ahead of defending champions Scotland on 2nd place, while the difference between the 2nd and 8th placed teams were 17 strokes. Four of the Irish players finished within the top nine individually. For the first time since 1975, eight-time-winners England, with future professional major-winner Justin Rose in the team, did not make it to the quarter-finals, finishing ninth.
There was no official award for the lowest individual score, but individual leader was Keith Nolan, Ireland, with a 7-over-par score of 149, one stroke ahead of fellow country man Noel Fox.
In the windy conditions on the second day of the stroke-play competition, 109 players in the 132-man-field failed to broke 80, including future European Tour winners Henrik Stenson, Søren Hansen, Sergio Garcia, Maarten Lafeber, Peter Hanson, Grégory Havret, Jamie Donaldson and Martin Wiegele.
Team Spain won the gold medal, earning their first title, beating defending champions team Scotland in the final 4.5–2.5.
Host nation Ireland earned the bronze on third place, after beating Sweden 5.5–1.5 in the bronze match.
Results Qualification round
Team standings PlaceCountryScoreTo par1375-384=759+392380-403=783+633387-397=784+644387-398=785+655385-408=793+736391-403=794+747396-402=798+788398-402=800+809397-406=803+83T10 *400-404=804+84392-412=80412393-414=807+8713395-413=808+8814401-410=811+9115402-411=813+9316407-426=833+11317414-420=834+11418421-432=853+13319441-446=887+16720465-468=933+21321490-505=995+27522516-539=1055+335 * Note: In the event of a tie the order was determined by the best total of the two non-counting scores of the two rounds.
Individual leaders PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par1Keith Nolan70-79=149 +52Noel Fox76-74=150 +6T3Peter Lawrie75-76=151+7Raul Quiros75-76=151T5Tobias Dier77-77=154+10Alastair Forsyth75-79=154Mikko Manerus74-80=154Garth McGimpsey78-76=154Jonas Torines77-77=154 Note: There was no official award for the lowest individual score.
Flight A
Bracket
Final games 4.52.5S. Garcia / O. Sanchez 3 & 2G. Rankin / C. WatsonJ.M. Lara / R. QuirosB. Howard / S. Young 2 & 1Sergio GarciaSteven Young 7 & 6Oscar Sanchez AS *Graham Rankin AS *Juan Carlos Aguero 1 holeMichael BrooksRaul Quiros 1 holeAlastair ForsythJosé Manuel Lara 2 & 1Craig Watson * Note: Game declared halved, since team match already decided. Flight B
Bracket
Flight C
First round elimination matches 41 50 Second round elimination matches 4.50.5 50 Match for 21st place 50 Match for 19th place 50 Match for 17th place 32 Final standings PlaceCountry45678910111213141516171819202122
Sources:
See also Eisenhower Trophy – biennial world amateur team golf championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. European Ladies' Team Championship – European amateur team golf championship for women organised by the European Golf Association.
References
External links European Golf Association: Full results