The race to qualify for the 2025 European Junior Ryder Cup team is nearing the halfway point with four events now complete for both boys and girls.
The German International Amateur Championships for Boys and Girls, played at Golf Club Bad Saarow near Berlin, were the latest qualifying events contributing to automatic selection for Stephen Gallacher’s team.
Six players will automatically earn their spots on the 12-player European team - set to take on the USA this September - through a season-long ranking system organised by the European Golf Association.
Despite missing the last two counting events, Hugo Le Goff (FRA) maintained his lead in the Boys’ ranking, thanks to two outstanding early-season performances. The French 16-year-old won the Spanish International Amateur Championship, one of the most prestigious amateur events in Europe of all age categories, at the beginning of March to take the early lead in the boys’ qualifying race.
Denny Kloeth was the biggest mover in the Boys’ top 10 after the German events last week. The Dutch junior benefited from a tied runner-up finish at the Faldo course in Berlin to jump from 9th to second position in the rankings. He rises just above fellow Dutchman, Björn Driessen, who stayed in the top three despite a finish outside the top 40 in Germany.
Lev Grinberg (UKR), who finished the German Boys’ event in a tie with Kloeth, moved up to 6th from 15th and looks back in contention for a second consecutive Team Europe call-up.
An unexpected winner emerged at the Boys’ event in Germany. Sweden’s Filip Grave, who has relatively little experience in international events in Europe, clinched one of the continent’s biggest junior prizes last week, and did so convincingly. Grave posted a five-under-par total over three rounds, finishing five shots clear of Lev Grinberg and Björn Driessen in second. As this was only his second qualifying event towards the Junior Ryder Cup team, Grave currently sits 16th in the rankings but has the potential to climb significantly if he maintains this form.
The competition is nevertheless extremely tight at the top of the boys’ ranking. A lot of movement is expected in the coming busy weeks as players get more events in their score tallies.
On the girls’ side, Spain’s Nagore Martinez has taken the lead. The winner of the 2025 Spanish International Amateur Championship took the top spot from Louise Uma Landgraf, who was absent from the German event last week and drops to second place. A top-15 finish in Germany was enough to move the Spanish player into pole position in the Girls’ Ranking.
Charlotte Naughton was the player of the week on the Arnold Palmer Course at Golf Club Bad Saarow. The English junior lifted the trophy with a total score of five-under-par, leaping from 10th to third in the Girls’ standings.
Angela Revuelta (ESP) finished runner-up last week as the only other player to complete three rounds with an under par total, and moves up to ninth position in the Girls’ classification.
The month of June will see both The Amateur and European Amateur Championships contested, both counting towards the Boys’ Ranking. With both tournaments among the strongest amateur events in the world, participating juniors will have the chance to earn significant points, though they’ll face tough competition.
On the girls’ side, the prestigious Women’s Amateur Championship in mid-June will be the next counting event, shortly followed by the Annika Invitational Europe and the Flogas Irish Women’s Amateur.
ABOUT THE JUNIOR RYDER CUP
Six boys and six girls will take on the United States in New York from September 23-25, 2025, with the first two days of the Junior Ryder Cup being played at Nassau Country Club before the decisive singles matches are held at Bethpage Black, the Ryder Cup venue, on the eve of the 45th edition of the biennial contest between Europe and the United States.
Three boys and three girls will earn a place on the European Junior Ryder Cup team through a season-long ranking system, which has been organised by the European Golf Association, while the remaining six players will be selected by Stephen Gallacher, the European Junior Ryder Cup Captain.
Players will earn points for the Rankings based on their finishing position in selected elite amateur events in 2025 and these points will be allocated using the World Amateur Golf Ranking system. The qualification process will end following The R&A Girls’ and Boys’ Amateur Championships on August 16, 2025.
Boys and girls who are citizens of a European country as defined by the International Golf Federation’s Nationality Policy by no later than January 1, 2025, under 18 years of age on January 1, 2025, have not represented a non-European country in an international golf competition during 2025, and who are not enrolled at, or committed to attend, a college in the USA during 2025 are eligible to participate in the 2025 Junior Ryder Cup.
The Junior Ryder Cup has produced a plethora of golfing stars and once again in 2025 the best male and female junior amateurs from Europe and the USA go head-to-head in the mixed event.
Rory McIlroy, Nicolai Højgaard and Nicolas Colsaerts, the 2023 European Ryder Cup Vice-Captain, all triumphed in the junior event before also winning the Ryder Cup, while Suzann Pettersen, Carlota Ciganda and Emily Kristine Pedersen succeeded as amateurs before lifting the Solheim Cup.
