Junior Ryder Cup Qualifying: Keeling & Tejedo Lead

Sean Keeling and Rocio Tejedo lead the race to qualify for the 2023 European Junior Ryder Cup Team.

A busy three weeks have seen four events completed in which players earned points towards automatic selection for Team Europe.

On the boys’ side, the two biggest individual European amateur events of the year were recently contested, The Amateur Championship in England and the European Amateur Championship in Estonia.

On the girls’ side, The Women’s Amateur Championship in England and the Annika Invitational Europe in Sweden both had many points on offer.

12 junior (U18) players will be chosen for the team that will compete with the USA in Rome from 26 to 28 September ahead of the 44th edition of the Ryder Cup. Half of the players will automatically earn spots on the team through the season-long qualifying ranking while the remaining half will be selected by captain, Stephen Gallacher (SCO).

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GIRLS

Rocio Tejedo (ESP) maintained her lead in the girls’ ranking despite not competing internationally in the last few weeks. Having two wins and two top-three finishes in her pocket from the early events, and with each players’ four best scores being counted for the ranking, it is likely the Spaniard has already secured an automatic selection for the team.

Sweden’s Nora Sundberg has held on to second place in the girls’ ranking. The winner of the 2023 Spanish Amateur Championship finished in a tie for 9th after losing in the round of 16 in England, scoring significant points towards the ranking.

Meja Örtengren finished in a tie for 33rd at the Women’s Amateur. The event being the Swede’s fourth counting event this season, the result was enough to jump her into the third and final automatic qualifying spot. Spain’s Andrea Revuelta, who also reach the round of 16 in England, sits just outside one point of Örtengren in fourth.

BOYS

In the boys’ ranking, two events open to all ages which featured many of the best amateur players in the world meant high-finishes would be hard to come by for the juniors.

Golf Ireland’s Sean Keeling missed the cuts in both England and Estonia despite a 36-hole score of par at The Amateur and a 54-hole score of -6 at the European Amateur. The steady scores earned points nonetheless, helping the 16-year-old move back to the top spot the boys’ ranking. Germany’s Peer Wernicke and Scotland’s Connor Graham sit in second and third positions, both within just a point and a half of Keeling, after both also missing the cuts in England and Estonia.

Lev Grinberg (UKR) is currently the closest challenger to the top-three. The 15-year-old was one of just three junior players to make the cut last week at Pärnu Bay Golf Links. A T31 finish in Estonia has moved him to within half a point of the automatically selected top-three.

Sweden’s Simon Hovdal (currently 9th) was the highest eligible junior finisher at The Amateur Championship, while Denny Kloeth (NED) (currently 16th) achieved the same at the European Amateur Championship. The pair have only competed in three counting events so far this year, so could be players to watch for big jumps in the rankings if they perform will in the next events.

EUROPEAN TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

The stroke play qualifying rounds of the European Team Championships, taking place from 11 to 15 July will be the next opportunity for the juniors to score points. Most of the players will likely be representing their countries in either the European Boys’ or Girls’ Team Championships to be played at Golf Club de Genève (SUI) and Golf d’Hossegor (FRA) respectively.

However, some of the top junior players may get call ups for their countries’ men’s or ladies’ squads instead. The European Amateur and Ladies’ Team Championships, taking place in Belgium and Finland, will also offer points towards the ranking for these players.

The full standings of both the boys and girls rankings can be downloaded below:

ABOUT THE JUNIOR RYDER CUP

The Junior Ryder Cup is a biennial international match contested between 12-player junior teams from Europe and the USA.

This year’s match will be held from September 26-28 in Rome. The first two days of play will be held at Golf Nazionale before the decisive singles matches are held at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, the Ryder Cup venue, on the eve of the 44th edition.

ABOUT THE 2023 EUROPEAN JUNIOR RYDER CUP QUALIFYING RANKINGS

Three boys and three girls will earn places on the European Junior Ryder Cup team through a season-long ranking system, which has been organised by the European Golf Association. The remaining six players will be selected by Stephen Gallacher, the European Junior Ryder Cup Captain.

Boys and girls who are citizens of a European country as defined by the International Golf Federation’s Nationality Policy, under 18 years of age on January 1, 2023, and who are not enrolled to play college golf in the USA during 2023 are eligible to participate in the 2023 Junior Ryder Cup.

Players will earn points for the Rankings based on their finishing position in selected elite amateur events in 2023. These points will be allocated using the World Amateur Golf Ranking system, with each player’s best four results counting towards their final point totals. The qualification process will end following The R&A Girls’ and Boys’ Amateur Championships on August 20, 2023. The full list of events can be found below:

BOYS EVENTS

GIRLS EVENTS

*Points for the European Team Championships will be awarded based on finishing position in the stroke play qualifying only. The allocated points will be based on WAGR’s standard ‘power’ and distribution method.