May 14 through 18, saw over 70 golfers, representing Swedish Golfing Societies from seven European Countries descend on Divonne, just across the border from Geneva. Though on French soil, the hosts were SGK Suisse. In addition to them and ourselves, Belgium, Germany, France, Portugal, and Spain were in attendance.
Golf de Divonne Les Bains is a hilly, challenging course any day, and having endured a substantial amount of rain in the weeks before the meeting, meant that every player had to really bring their A-game, all three days.
Day one – Wednesday.
The morning was 18 hole Stableford competitions in four categories: Men hcp 1-17.0, Men 17.1-30 as well as Ladies 0-23.0, and Ladies 23.1-36, all competing for the RSGS Centenary Challenge Cup. The Cup went to the overall best score, across all categories, and was won by Stefan Schlyter of Portugal.
For those who weren’t exhausted from the morning, The Paris Challenge Cup was played for over 9 holes in pairs in the afternoon. Gunilla Assmundson from RSGS teamed up with Wibeke Wahrer from Portugal and won the trophy.
Another honourable mention goes to Catharina Jacobsson of France who made a Hole-In-One on the 18th hole! In addition to the trophies and honour of winning, UBS had generously stocked the prize table with champagne and Bose audio accessories.
Day two – Thursday.
Again, the morning saw the four categories competing for the Sweden Challenge and Divonne Stableford prizes, the lower hcp groups playing medal and the higher Stableford. The five top medal players’ scores (from each country) were also summed up to reveal which four teams would be playing for the London Challenge Cup.
Thanks to a formidable round by Gunilla Assmundson (71 net), and a strong performance by the rest of the team, RSGS secured a place in the Friday play offs.
Day three – Friday.
The first tee time was at 7 am, and RSGS was playing France. All five of our players did well, but the competition was tough. It came down to Göran Nilsson, who beat Hans Jacobsson of France on the 20th hole, securing our place in the finals. Despite putting up a good fight, Spain beat RSGS to secure the London Challenge Cup. France went on to beat Switzerland for third place.
In addition to this, once again, 18 holes Stableford was played across 4 categories. Inger Savén and Christine Lofberg of RSGS won their respective Ladies Categories, meaning the wins for RSGS were more than at any previous International Meeting.
Those players who have been to previous international meetings enjoyed meeting old friends, and those who joined for the first time made new ones.
Thank you, Switzerland, for having us and for organising all the incredible prizes and give-aways from, amongst others,: UBS, Helvetic Trust, DAGMAR, Nordisk Design, OKB, Skincode, Davos GC, Engadin GC, Läckö GK, Lägern GK, Skaftö GK – incredibly generous prizes throughout.
Next year’s International Meeting will be in Portugal, May 21-25 at Praia d’el Rey and West Cliffs.
