France has claimed double-gold in the European Senior Men's and Ladies' Team Championships.
The victories, for the senior men in Bulgaria and the senior ladies in Slovenia, are the third and fourth team titles France has earned this year behind the Boys' and European Young Masters Nations' Cup wins.
FRENCH SENIOR MEN WIN FOR FIRST TIME
The French senior men's team headed to BlackSeaRama Golf Resort & Villas with two runner-up finishes in the last three years.
After the stroke play qualifying, defending champions, England, and Ireland, looked like the strongest teams on paper more than 15-shots ahead of the rest of the field.
However neither team would make it to Saturday's Championship match. The reigning champions were convincingly upset by Denmark in the quarter-finals (4-1), while Ireland lost out to Sweden in the semis.
France's road to the final came from a tight victory over Germany in the quarters, followed by a 5-0 thrashing of Denmark in the semis.
The gold-medal match between Sweden and France was extremely tight, on a final day which saw a lengthy weather delay, and the cancellation of most other matches for final position.
France put the first point on the board in the foursomes match, but Sweden responded with two victories by the 15th and 16th holes in the singles.
With the score 2-1 to Sweden, the final two matches had to be decided in extra holes. Both went to France on the 19th, giving the French team their first ever European Senior Men's Championship title.
Rodrigo Lacerda Soares, the reigning European Senior Men's individual champion, earned his second gold medal of the year as part of the winning team.
In the match for third place, Ireland defeated Denmark to take home the bronze medals.
SENIOR LADIES END 7-YEAR WAIT FOR TITLE
France headed to CUBO Golf in Slovenia having not made an appearance in the final since 2017.
A strong result in the stroke play qualifying, earning them the second seed, set them up nicely for the match play rounds.
However, they would surprisingly have to face Spain, the reigning champions and winners of two of the last three events, in the quarter-finals.
A 4-1 victory earned them a semi-final match with Germany. On the penultimate day, the French senior ladies' team narrowly came out as winners 3-2 in a match that would go all the way to the last green.
Switzerland, making their first ever appearance in the final at the championship, were the last team to stand in France's way for the title.
A one-sided encounter, with matches finishing as early as the 12th, 13th and 15th holes gave France their first title since 2017.
The win also marked a 'double' for France in the European Senior team events.
In the match for third place, England overcame Germany 3-2 to claim the final spot on the podium.
SENIOR LADIES' TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP PHOTO GALLERY
