St Andrews Links Blog

SALJGA on tour

The West Course at Wentworth is one of the most recognisable golf courses in the world. High profile tournaments such as the PGA Championship and the World Matchplay have placed the famous piece of land into the hearts and minds of golf fans. Just our luck then, because in August a team of St Andrews Links juniors from our SALJGA programme were invited to travel down and play a match against the Wentworth juniors.

This is an annual match that has been running for over a decade and has built a strong and lasting friendship between two great golfing destinations.

Myself, fellow Golf Academy Instructor, Fintan Bonner and eight of our junior golfers headed to Edinburgh Airport for the journey down to the south of England. We were all understandably excited and looking forward to the trip, hoping to keep a hold of the trophy we won last year when Wentworth visited us here at the Home of Golf.

Wentworth boasts three fantastic courses and the first round of matches was played over the Edinburgh Course. You might be forgiven for thinking that the West is the marquee course that is head and shoulders above the others but you would be completely wrong! The Edinburgh Course is one of the finest inland courses myself or Fintan have ever been lucky enough to play! We thoroughly enjoyed the round, as did the juniors as we drew the session 2-2, leaving the match evenly poised going into Day 2.

In the evening we were treated to a beautiful meal in the piano room in the Wentworth Clubhouse. This was a real privilege and the hospitality extended to us was exceptional. The food, needless to say, was absolutely delicious!

Sunday morning arrived and we were greeted with some glorious sunshine. We were all extremely excited to take on the famous West Course. From the first tee shot to holing out on 18, the course did not disappoint! The layout and condition of the course was first class, not to mention the stunning scenery.

The Wentworth juniors put on a great show of golf to take the day 4-0, meaning the home team claimed a convincing 6-2 victory.

The weekend concluded with a small trophy presentation before we said our goodbyes for another year and jetted off back to Scotland.

The SALJGA team loved the experience of playing at such a prestigious venue and we’d like to take this opportunity to thank the entire Wentworth staff for a truly enjoyable weekend. Next year it will be our turn to play host and we very much look forward to welcoming the Wentworth juniors and for a chance to reclaim the trophy!

Words by Blair Cross, Academy Instructor

Header image credit: www.wentworthclub.com