Racing Club de France La Boulie have succesfully retained the European Men's Club Trophy at Golf du Médoc Resort.
The French club, searching for their third title in four years, got their title defence off to a solid start in Round 1. Despite play being suspended after just 35 minutes due to fog, St Andrews Trophy player, Frederic Lacroix, returned a three-under-par 68 which was matched by teammate, Raphael Le Bot to put the team in second place on six-under-par.
However, it was Englishman, David Langley, that stole the spotlight on Day 1. The Castle Royle player went bogey-free to shoot a six-under-par 65 and give his team a one-shot lead over the defending champions.
Extensive delays due to fog on the second day of competition meant Round 2 had to be finished on Saturday morning, with the final groups still needing to play five holes. A three-under-par 68 by Langley and a two-under par 69 by Timothy Shin took the English team to 12-under-par, two ahead of the top-performers in Round 2, RCG El Prat of Spain, and four-clear of RCF La Boulie.
Heading into the final round, Gytteggard golfclub of Denmark were also in the mix. The team, which featured European Amateur Champion, Nicolai Hojgaard, and his twin brother Rasmus, looked poised to repeat final-day comebacks that have won the pair the Toyota Junior World Cup and Eisenhower Trophy for Denmark this year.
Gyttegaard moved up the leaderboard after the front-nine of Round 3, but Castle Royle still maintained a narrow two-shot lead over the Danish club, and a three-shot lead over RCF La Boulie, and RCG El Prat, who briefly held the lead after five holes on the final day.
It was the defending champions that caught fire on the back-nine however, collectively making eight birdies and an eagle through holes 10-14, five of which came from captain, Lacroix, to propel themselves to the top of the leaderboard on 14-under-par with just four holes to play. They would hold on to lift the trophy for the second successive year and for the seventh time in their history.
Round 1 and 2 leaders, Castle Royle, dropped five shots in the last three holes to fall out of the medal places and finish fourth on six-under-par, while Rasmus Hojgaard made a crucial birdie on the long par-3 17th to take Gyttegaard to 11-under-par and edge over RCG El Prat for second place. The Spanish club claimed the bronze medals, and also had the player with the lowest individual total. Eduard Rousad Sabate carded rounds of 69 (-2), 68 (-3), and 68 (-3), and birdied the 54th hole to top the strong field on eight-under-par, one shot ahead of Lacroix.
RCF La Boulie will return to Golf du Médoc Resort in 2019, where they will attempt to win three titles in a row, a feat already achieved by the club between 1995 and 1997.
Full Results: http://scores.golfbox.dk/Shared.aspx?l=http://www.ega-golf.ch/golfbox-result-widget/0&m=t&h=/competition/1747175/leaderboard
