The selection criteria for Team Europe have been confirmed for the 2018 Junior Ryder Cup, which will take place at Disneyland Paris®, on September 24-25.
The European Team will again comprise 12 amateur players – six boys and six girls – from any European Golf Association member country who are under the age of 18 as of January 1, 2018. In order to qualify, players cannot be members of a US college golf team as of the first day of the match.
The European Captain, Maïtena Alsuguren, has, with the assistance of the EGA and Ryder Cup Europe, identified the selection system based on an analysis of the important tournaments and championships in which the best European juniors will compete in during the lead-up to the Junior Ryder Cup team announcement on August 20, 2018.
The team will be selected by Alsuguren, who will be supported by a selection committee made up of representatives from Ryder Cup Europe and the EGA.
The Boys’ Amateur Champion and the Girls’ British Open Amateur Champion, if both eligible, will be automatically selected. The captain and the selection committee will take particular note of performances in the following events:
Boys:
The Amateur championship, Royal Aberdeen and Murcar Links, Scotland, 18 – 23 Jun
European Amateur Championship, Royal Hague Golf & Country Club, Netherlands, 27 – 30 Jun
European Boys’ Team Championship, Golf Resort Kaskada Brno, Czech Republic, 10 – 14 Jul
European Amateur Team Championship, Faldo Course Berlin in A-ROSA Sharmützelsee, Germany, 10 – 14 Jul
The Boys’ Amateur (champion gains automatic selection), Royal Portrush and Portstewart, Wales, 14 – 19 Aug
Girls:
Ladies’ British Open Amateur Championship, Hillside, Southport, England, 26 – 30 Jun
European Girls’ Team Championship, Forsgårdens Golfklubb, Sweden, 10 – 14 Jul
European Ladies’ Amateur Team Championship, Golf Club Murhof, Austria, 10 – 14 Jul
European Ladies’ Amateur Championship, Penati Golf Resort – Heritage Course, Slovakia, 25 – 28 Jul
Girls’ British Open Amateur Championship (champion gains automatic selection), Ardglass Golf Club, Northern Ireland, 14 – 18 Aug
In addition, the captain and the selection committee will analyse the results of the best boys and girls ranked in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) and Women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings (WWAGR).
Selectors will also look at strong performances in national open-level and WAGR/WWAGR Elite, A and B events.
Alsuguren said: “It’s a real honour to captain Europe once again at the Junior Ryder Cup. Now that the qualifying events have been finalised, I am starting to get excited about seeing the team take shape next year.
“The standard of both male and female junior golfers is very high in Europe, and although we may not have a strong recent record, I’m certain that the team we will take to Paris next September will be of the highest quality.”
America has won the last five editions of the Junior Ryder Cup, with Europe’s last victory coming in Ohio, in 2004. The 2006 contest was tied.
The 2018 Junior Ryder Cup will be the tenth staging of the event, which has seen some of the world’s greatest players pass through its ranks. Reigning Masters Tournament champion Sergio Garcia played in the 1995 exhibition match, and, four years later, was a member of Europe’s Ryder Cup Team in Brookline.
Two-time Major winner, Suzann Pettersen, took part in both the 1997 and 1999 editions of the Junior Ryder Cup, while four-time Major champion, Rory McIlroy, formed part of the victorious European side of 2004.
Hunter Mahan, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Lexi Thompson are some of the global stars who have represented the US team.