The captains of the EGA’s 2024 Continent of Europe teams have been confirmed.
The three individuals will lead their amateur and junior teams against Great Britain & Ireland in three separate matches this summer.
Spain’s Carlos De Corral will captain the Continent of Europe men’s team for the first time at Royal Porthcawl in the St Andrews Trophy at the end of July.
Played every other year, the St Andrews Trophy sees two nine-man teams of elite European amateurs go head-to-head. The R&A selects the GB&I team, while the Continent of Europe side is fielded by the EGA. The match has featured many of Europe’s golfing stars throughout the years including Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Shane Lowry, Sergio Garcia, Luke Donald, Martin Kaymer and many more.
De Corral is far from a stranger to elite amateur golf. The Spaniard has represented his country in all age categories as a player and more recently as a captain. He has led his country’s teams multiple times, including at the World Amateur Team Championship and at the European Boys’ Team Championship, where he’s earned gold and silver medals.
The current sports’ director of the Madrid Golf Federation is a two-time European Mid-Amateur Champion having won the event back-to-back in 2017 and 2018.
“To be the Captain of the St Andrews trophy is a dream come true for me” said De Corral.
“To have the opportunity to spend the week with the future stars of golf is something very special and to do it in GB&I, where the game of golf started, is even more special.”
“We will have a very strong team and we know that we can win anywhere but the most important thing for all of us is to spend an unforgettable week together and create life-long friendships.”
De Corral will take over the reins from former team captain, Yves Hofstetter (SUI), who led the side in the last three editions of the match.
Joachim Fourquet has finished his term as captain of the Continent of Europe Jacques Léglise Trophy team. The Frenchman led the side through its most successful run in the history of the match, claiming four consecutive wins as captain.
He'll be replaced by a former member of the team who will return as captain more than 20 years on after playing in the match. Belgium’s Pierre Relecom will lead the Continent of Europe boys’ side as they look for a team-record fifth consecutive victory.
Relecom, who has represented Belgium numerous times on the international stage including at the World Amateur Team Championship, competed in the Jacques Léglise Trophy as a junior in 2003.
Impressively, he has won all possible national championship categories in Belgium, at U14, U16, U18, U21, Men’s, Foursomes, and interclub levels. The Belgian played professionally for nine years, with a Challenge Tour victory and multiple European Tour seasons on his golfing CV before regaining his amateur status in 2019.
“I'm honored and thrilled to be able to lead a team of young and promising talents in an event that ranks high in my heart” said Relecom.
“The memories I was able to create in the Jacques Leglise Trophy are there for life and that's what this event is about to me, building cross-border friendships.”
Myrte Eikenaar (NED) Will captain the Continent of Europe U16 girls’ team for a fourth straight year. The former Dutch national team player has already led the six-player team to victory twice against GB&I, with the 2023 match at Royal Dornoch finishing in a tie.
Eikenaar, who works in the sports department of the Royal Dutch Golf Federation (NGF), is a two-time European Mid-Amateur Ladies’ Champion and helped the European Ladies’ Patsy Hankins Trophy team to its first ever victory against Asia-Pacific in Spain last year.
This year’s Junior Vagliano match will be held in parallel with the Jacques Léglise Trophy at West Lancashire Golf Club in England in late August.