A brilliant showing from Spalding Golf Club saw them finish fourth in the European Men’s Club Trophy in Portugal at the weekend.
After qualifying by becoming the first Lincolnshire side to win the English championship, the playing trio of James Crampton, Simon Richardson and Darryn Lloyd more than held their own against some of Europe’s best amateurs on the challenging Troia course.
Spalding ended the 24-team three-day competition on a score of +10, only behind winners Rosendaelsche (-4) from The Netherlands, French side Biarritz (-1) and Danish outfit Smoroum (+4).
Team captain Paul Johnson described it as ‘an amazing achievement’ and felt the club would have finished higher but for an unlucky tee time on the second day when the wind picked up.
Lloyd, with a level par 72, and Richardson’s one over 73 had them in third place at the end of day one.
The windy conditions coupled with small greens made playing difficult on day two and Spalding slipped to 10 over par 10th position with Richardson posting a three over par 75 and Lloyd a six over 78.
But they bounced back on day three, Crampton shooting a one under par 71 and Simon Richardson a one over par 73.
“A great adventure and a very fine result for the trio,” Johnson said. “They produced fine scores on a technically difficult track.
“It caps off a fine season as English Club Champions, Lincolnshire Elsham foursomes winners and Lincolnshire Bramley singles victors.
“We’ve a set of players who are proud to represent the club and teams of whom the whole club can be
proud of.”
