Sundridge Park Junior Team travel to Sweden Thursday 25th July saw our Sundridge Park Junior Team travel to Sweden to contest the Jesper Parnevik Trophy against our old friends from Täby GK. It was a very early start seeing us meet at SPGC at 3am on the 25th for our 7:10am flight from Heathrow Terminal 5. Surprisingly the boys were very chirpy considering the amount of sleep had by most. When we arrived at Täby we had a fantastic welcome lunch followed by a round of golf. The course was in stunning condition and it really set us up for a great week of golf. During the trip, our juniors stayed with host families giving them a great insight into the Swedish way of life, a great experience. Our second day saw us play Wasby GK, the greens were incredibly quick with a lot of grain which provided a very different challenge, however the boys loved it. It was fantastic to see that even though it was only the second day, the nations were mixing very well. Day three saw us visit Stockholm GK, a very quirky, tight golf course with some great elevation changes. It provided a different challenge to day two and the boys thoroughly enjoyed it. Day four saw a welcome return to Täby, a late tee time saw the boys make the most of the 5 hole par 3 course at Täby, a fantastic facility that our boys couldn’t get enough of. Louie Cameron won the week-long competition between the boys as to whom would have the lowest score over the 5 holes, he achieved a great score of -2. The main course was again stunning which lead very nicely into one of the thrills of the week. Day five saw us visit the 5th ranked golf course in Sweden, Ullna. Ullna is the home club of European Ryder Cup star Alex Noren. The course was amazing, the greens had been spiked and sanded and yet still ran at 11 on the stimpmeter as well as incredibly smooth and true. The staff there were very friendly and helpful which all added up to a great day. Louie Cameron won the Ullna Challenge with a great score of 36 points! Our final day before flying home saw us compete against Täby in our 36 hole Ryder Cup style match. Foursomes in the morning and singles in the afternoon. The teams were evenly matched which was evident after the morning foursomes with the score at 2-2 - our 2 points coming from the teams of Louie Cameron/Josh Hutchings and Max Murray/Lennon Hill. The afternoon singles proved a tough test. The match came down to the final matches on the course and unfortunately we were on the wrong end of a 7-5 scoreline, it could really have gone either way. Despite the trophy staying in Sweden, the week was a huge success. As Junior Organiser, I was immensely proud of the boys for the way they conducted themselves all week, they really did the club, their parents and themselves proud. The host families said how well behaved they were and that they didn’t want them to go.
Next year sees the Swedes return to English soil. Fingers crossed we can wrestle the trophy back. It will be a tough ask but no doubt another fantastic week. |