University golfers break top four in Europe

Already ranked number one in the British University league tables, the Exeter side were specially selected to represent Great Britain for the tournament alongside last year’s winners the University of Stirling.

The competition saw horrendous weather conditions hit the Saint Saëns course, France, where teams from across Europe went head to head over four rounds.

University of Exeter Scholar Chris Fleming formed part of the seven person Exeter squad and explained his experience.

He said: “The tournament consisted of 72 holes played over four days, with 18 teams competing from seven countries. The standard of golf was extremely high with several national amateur champions in the field, as well a Swedish player who recently won the first stage of qualifying school for the European Tour.

“Neither team [University of Exeter men’s and women’] got off to the best of starts on a very wet and muddy course. The men’s team posted an aggregate counting score of 222 (+9) and the women’s a score of 171 (+29). However, it must be noted that the Exeter Women’s team only consisted of two players as opposed to the three of other teams.”

“Over the next two days things improved with the Men’s team moving up the leader board; closing the gap on the Irish team Maynooth in third. Some of the counting scores included two strong level par rounds from myself and a superb 69 (-2) from Danny Vallis. The Women’s team also improved with Katie Bradbury firing a fantastic 67 (-4) on day three, one of the lowest rounds of the tournament.

“More solid golf was played to end the week with Laurie Potter and Ben Leigh both shooting their lowest rounds of the week 72 (+1). Despite the efforts of the team on the final day, it was not enough to turn over the deficit and to finish in the medals. However the Men’s Team finished in a very respectful fourth and the Women’s Team in fifth.”

 The result cements the University of Exeter Golf Club as a powerhouse of young golfing talent, having already won the British Universities National Championship and Southern Premier League earlier in the year.

High Performance Golf Manager, Craig Townsend praised the team’s efforts. He said: “Being selected to represent Great Britain is a huge honour and testament to the performance of these players over the last 12 months. All of the team members played their part in these results, the men coming very close to snatching a podium position.

 “From an individual perspective it was great to have three of our men’s team, Chris Fleming, Chris Johnston and Laurie Potter in the top 20 and Katie Bradbury finishing fifth in the women’s event..

“Personally I am really pleased with the whole squads performance, they have represented the University with distinction and shown real promise for the upcoming British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) season.”

Final Scores:
Men’s Team: 4^th – 872

16^th Chris Fleming 76-71-71-76

18^th Chris Johnston 73-75-73-74

19^th Laurie Potter 79-73-73-72

25^th Ben Leigh 73-80-76-72

31^st Danny Vallis 80-81-69-74

Women’s Team: 5^th - 639

5^th Katie Bradbury 81-76-67-71

13^th Immy Vessey 90-82-88-84

Full results can be found at on the official EUSA Golf website.