This week is the turn of the prestigious Real Club de Golf de Sotogrande Cup, European Nations Championship, which as usual will bring to the Cadiz course the best players of the continent. From February 18 to 21, the best amateur golf will be seen in Spain.
The Spanish men’s team -which has two consecutive seventh places after two years finishing in third position- is made up of Mario Galiano from Malaga, Iván Cantero from Asturias, Xabier Gorospe from San Sebastian -all of them members of the Blume National School- and Víctor Pastor from Córdoba. The captaincy is for Pablo Fisas, while Txomin Hospital is the coach.
The Spanish team (handicap +16.8) has before it the option of recovering the protagonism slightly lost in the last two editions. For such a mission it is entrusted, mainly, to the extraordinary moment of the number 4 of the World Ranking, Mario Galiano, winner this year of the Balearic Cup.
The task is complicated. The English team (+18.7), led by two-time European champion Ashley Chesters, and 14 other teams will put everything on their side to shine in the beautiful Andalusian setting. In addition, will play in Sotogrande Italy, Ireland, Germany, Sweden, France, Denmark, Holland, Czech Republic, Austria, Norway, Belgium, Portugal, Switzerland, Slovakia and three teams of RCG Sotogrande.
For its part, the Spanish women’s team, winner of three titles in the last five years (2010, 2011 and 2013), is formed by the Balearic Luna Sobrón -current European Individual champion-, Silvia Bañón from Alicante and Natalia Escuriola from Castellón. The powerful trio led by María Barreiros, only surpassed in handicap by Switzerland, +10.9 to +10.5, will face nine others.
The list of participants is completed by Germany, Czech Republic, Belgium, Austria, France, Italy, Holland and Wales.
Players like the Swiss Gioia Carpinelli (+4.9) and Albane Valenzuela (+4.5), the Germans Leonie Harm (+4.9) and Olivia Cowan (+2.9), the Welsh Chloe Williams (+2.9) or the Czech Marie Lunackova (+3) will be important in the future of the competition. Everything points to it.
According to the rules, each participating country presents a men’s team composed of 4 players and a women’s team composed of 3 players, whose daily results -the three best in the case of the boys; the two best in the case of the girls- are computed to establish the classification. The competition is held under the stroke play modality throughout the four days of the event. The individual competition is held at the same time.
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