1959 European Amateur Team Championship


The 1959 European Amateur Team Championship took place 22–27 June on the Real Club de Golf El Prat outside Barcelona, Spain. It was the first men's golf European Amateur Team Championship.

Venue

The championship took place in strong heat at Real Club de Golf El Prat, Barcelona, Spain. The club was founded in 1912. It was at the time a private club and the course was situated in El Prat de Llobregat, 15 kilometers south of the city center, close to the Barcelona-El Prat Airport. In 1997, when the airport expanded, the club had to move its course and in 2003 the club established 45 holes in Terrassa, 30 kilometers north of Barcelona. The club hosted the professional tournament Open de Espana in both 1956 and 1959 and had done so several times since.

Format

All participating teams played two qualification rounds of stroke-play over two days, counting the four best scores out of up to six players for each team. The four best teams formed flight A. The next four best teams formed flight B.
The winner in each flight was determined by a round-robin system. All teams in the flight met each other with six players in each team and the team with most points for team matches in flight A won the tournament, using the scale, win=2 points, halved=1 point, lose=0 points. In each match between two nation teams, three foursome games and six single games were played. The teams were allowed to change players from one day to another, but not during a day from morning to afternoon.

Teams

Nine nation teams contested the event. Each team consisted of a minimum of six players.
Players in the leading teams
CountryPlayers
Henri de Lamaze, Marius Bardana, Yves Caillol, Philippe Chassigny, Jean-Louis Dupont, Gaëtan Mourgue D'Algue
Juan Antonio Andreu, Iván Maura, Enrigue Muro, Eduardo de la Riva, Fransisco Sanchiz, Ignacio Urguijo
Ola Bergqvist, Gustaf Adolf Bielke, Gunnar Carlander, Per-Olof Johansson, Göran Lindeblad, Bengt Möller, Nils Odqvist,* Elis Werkell
Hermann Ernst, Jost Burghartz, Werner Götz, Hans Lampert, Dietrich von Knoop, Hermann Tissies

* Note: Odqvist entered the tournament as non-playing captain, but since Lindeblad and Möller was not able to play on 25 June in Sweden's match against Spain and Bielke and Carlander was not able to play on 26 June in Sweden's match against West Germany, due to food poisoning, Odqist played in those two matches.
Other participating teams
Country

Winners

Team Sweden won the championship, earning 5 points in flight A. Team France finished second, ahead of host country Spain.
Individual winner in the opening 36-hole stroke-play qualifying competition was Dietrich von Knoop, West Germany, with a score of 2-over-par 146. Henri de Lamaze, France, shot a new course record in the second round, with a score of 69 over 18 holes at the El Prat course.

Results

Qualification rounds
Team standings
PlaceCountryScoreTo par
1304-308=612+36
2320-295=615+39
3311-311=622+46
4319-305=624+48
T5315-319=634+58
T5315-319=634+58
7321-316=637+61
8327-319=646+70
9335-343=678+102

Individual leader
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Dietrich von Knoop74-72=146+2

Note: There was no official recognition for the lowest individual score.
Flight A
Team matches
Team standings
CountryPlaceWTLGame pointsPoints
121015.5–11.55
220114.5–12.54
310214–132
401212–151

Flight B
Team matches
Team standings
CountryPlaceWTLGame pointsPoints
530020–76
620114.5–12.54
710214–132
800321.5–5.50

Final standings
PlaceCountry
4
5
6
7
8
9

Sources: