England’s women’s and men’s teams – featuring Longhirst Hall-based Charlotte Naughton and Lindrick’s Tom Osborne – completed an emphatic 19.5-10.5 victory in the biennial match against Spain at La Galiana Golf Resort.
England led 10.5-4.5 after the first day – thanks to a 3.5-1.5 win in the morning foursomes and a commanding 7-3 win in the afternoon singles. A 3-2 win in the morning foursomes on Saturday – including a mammoth 8&7 win for Eliot Baker and Ben Bolton – saw England take a strong lead heading into the final singles session, where they triumphed again 6-4, to take the Seve’s hands trophy back to England.
England’s star performer was Matilde Santilli – who won 3.5 out of four points in her first England women’s appearance. Meanwhile, Charlotte – also representing England’s women’s team for the first time – won her day two single match 7&5 and teamed up with Amelia Wan to win her day two foursomes having lost both her matches on day one. Tom won both his singles matches, and added half a point to England’s total alongside Daniel Hayes from their two morning foursomes matches.
England Golf men’s performance manager Ben Gorvett said: “We’re really pleased to come away with the win, our 17th win out of the 20 occasions we’ve played this fixture. We always pride ourselves on bringing a strong team to play Spain and this match is always played in the right spirit, but also with true competitiveness.
“Both the men and women won their respective genders which is always pleasing to see and we’re very proud of this young but quality team we’ve assembled, with several players making their full senior caps. It was very pleasing how the players handled themselves on the back nine and how they kept their composure on the final day, despite being exhausted due to the heat and terrain.
“It’s a very proud occasion for all players and staff, and it’s something that will be remembered for a very long time. We’re pleased we can bring Seve’s hands back to England for another two years before we compete again on home soil.
“It’s been a fantastic start to both the male and female programmes this year, where we’ve had a number of individual and team wins, and England U16s beating Spain too. We’re looking forward to competing on the European stage and seeing more individual success over the coming months.
“This early season success wouldn’t have been possible without the great support of our coaches and support staff, particularly Rob Watts and Steve Robinson who have done a fantastic job in keeping the guys motivated and focused to earn another tremendous victory.”
