Day 1 of the 2025 Jacques Léglise Trophy is in the books, and the Continent of Europe set itself on the right track to retain the cup. This week’s home side leads 8 to 4 at the halfway mark, thanks to a dominant performance in Friday’s afternoon singles at the Royal Golf Club of Belgium.
Fota Island’s John Doyle is Ireland’s only representative for Great Britain and Ireland but this was a day to forget in a very memorable season as he lost both his foursomes and singles matches.
Playing alongside Ben Bolton, they were beaten 6&5 in the morning foursomes by Boys Amateur champion Guus Lafeber and Edwin Sjodin before Doyle suffered a 3&2 defeat to Stepan Plasek of the Czech Republic.
The four morning foursomes ended up with the visitors leading by one, although Lafeber and Sjödin scored the very first point for the Continent of Europe. Oli Blackadder and Sam Marshall came up with a 3&2 victory in match number 3, before Dion Regan and Jack Swift closed the session with a second full point for Great Britain & Ireland.
A few minutes earlier, Hugo Le Goff and Callixte Alzas won hole 17 to go 1 up in the top match. But they had to settle for a half after a brilliant drive by Toby Peters on the final par 4 that came to a rest three meters away from the cup.
Eight points were still up for grab in the afternoon singles, where Great Britain and Ireland took the lead in most matches on the front 9, but then had to face a steady fight back from the Continent of Europe. Scotland’s Oli Blackadder eventually brought the only full point of the session to his team, beating Lev Grinberg, 3&2.
Toby Peters overcame a three-hole deficit to halve his match against Sweden’s Edwin Sjödin, but the six other contests all ended up with a win for the local side. France’s Tom de Herrypon went bogey-free thru 15 holes to earn his point, as Lafeber remained undefeated by winning the top match.
Four morning foursomes and nine afternoon singles will be the schedule for the second and final day at Royal Golf Club of Belgium.
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