Team Sweden triumphs over England and Germany at the European Nations Cup
The Swedish duo of Anna Nordqvist and Sophie Gustafson successfully defended the European Nations Cup as Sweden defeated England and Germany at the La Sella Golf Resort.
The European Nations Cup, also known as the European Ladies Golf Cup, is an annual tournament that is played in the Valencian Cup format which is a variation on foursomes. Each player on a team starts with one ball and alternate shots and swaps balls until he has made the number of shots expected to reach the green (one for a par 3, two for a par 4 and so on). The team then decides which ball to play and then take alternate shots.
The Swedish duo started the final round with a birdie, bogeyed the 7th and then made another birdie on the 9th to stand one stroke ahead of team England. But four birdies on the back nine took gave them a three stroke advantage as they finished with a four under 68 and a total score of 21 under par.
"It was absolutely fantastic. I couldn't be happier, standing here," Nordqvist said after the win. "We had a fun team this week and it was exciting to pull out some great golf out there, so we're really happy."
They were whole heartedly supported by a contingent of Swedish fans who had come all the way to Spain and enthusiastically cheered on their team. "It means a lot having so many Swedes around here cheering us on. They had this birdie song today so you want to laugh every time they did it. They made a big effort to come here and there were a lot of people by the 18th green so it was very exciting,"
The English pair of Laurie Davies and Melissa Read momentarily held the joint lead after shooting a 31 on the front nine. They could not maintain their momentum in the final nine holes and only managed a 35 even after an amazing eagle putt on the 18th hole. The German pair of Anja Monke and Caroline Masson had a superb final round and made seven birdies to finish with a 65. But it wasn’t enough to overtake the Swedish pair who had dominated the tournament throughout.
Tags: