Interland WGTF Netherlands vs WGTF Great Britain & Ireland

The Netherlands has invited WGTF Great Britain & Ireland to play a national competition on Dutch soil at the Hoge Dijk golf course in Amsterdam. On June 13 and 14, 2024, the first international match between the Netherlands and Great Britain & Ireland took place.

Part 1: The team

Under the leadership of team captain Arthur van den Dool and WGTF Netherlands director Bjorn Beekman, a selection was made that was thought to be able to give the “English” a good match. This was preceded by a difficult and time-consuming selection process, not knowing what to expect. WGTF Netherlands has a lot of quality in its ranks and it was important for the captains to find the right qualities and personalities. A combination of mental toughness, physical control, passionate flexibility, endless tranquility, tortoise patience and love for the game, were the ingredients that were sought in the player(star).

With a lot of passion and precision, a team of very talented and, above all, loyal players has been put together from the WGTF Netherlands. When the intended players were asked to play for the Netherlands and represent our country, everyone immediately took their responsibility and in unison they said “YES, I am participating”.

With the players Mike den Dekker - Edmond Fokker van Crayestein - Arnoud Gast - Clive Jarratt - Rick van Kampen - Kim Kuijsters - Roelof Pijpers and Jeroen van der Sluis, the first WGTF Dutch team was born.

The performance days were on June 11 and 12 and we prepared ourselves for what was to come. The format was inspired by the Rydercup model and our team composition was carefully constructed.

Part 2: Introduction phase

On Thursday, June 13, the “English” arrived at the Hoge Dijk at 9 a.m., while the Dutch team had already completed several warm-up sessions.

The English team, consisting of 2 former Tour players and 4 single handicappers: Peter Hudson (captain) - Brian Jarvis - Keith Renton - Connor Mcann and Peter Redmond, promised to be a tough job for the Netherlands.

The captains had communicated their line-up for the first round of 9 holes “Texas scramble” 2-2. In the morning program, 3 points could be divided into the 3 doubles. The balance in the Dutch team was incredibly strong and this put the “English” at a respectable distance of 3-0. The tone had been set and there was already some euphoria within the Dutch team.

During the joint lunch we openly dreamed about victory, but at the same time we realized that the “English” in the afternoon program would have become accustomed to the Dutch grass and the conditions.

In the afternoon a fourball was played and in the 3 flights both sides played continuous level Par. This resulted in a draw in the afternoon, ending the day 4.5 - 1.5 in favor of the home country. The Dutch team was encouraged by a number of WGTF colleagues who came to watch the Interland, which put the Dutch in a winning flow.

The first day ended with a friendly and convivial dinner, where the knives were sharpened here and there and a healthy competitive tension began to arise. Later it turned out that the first day was just a warm-up for tomorrow. After all, 12 singles matches are scheduled for the final day, where 24 points can be won, so anything was still possible.

Part 3: The final day

A kind of ambitious eagerness was observed among the English in the morning and this forced the Dutch team to increase their concentration and stay sharp, the tension was palpable.

In the morning program, the Netherlands team was challenged considerably and the “English” showed and felt why golf originated with them. The fantastic play of the “English” in the singles, where almost all scores were around and below level par in the rain, was a real calling card. As a result, during the break the deficit was turned around by the “English” into a lead of 9.5 – 8.5 points in favor of the United Kingdom.
A bright spot for the Dutch team was that the morning was saved by Edmond and Mike, by both winning their singles and thus gaining 4 very important points. This meant that the Netherlands could still dream of final victory. Kim came very close to pulling off a stunt, but unfortunately after an excellent and fascinating battle they narrowly lost on the last hole with 1 down to one of their former tour players.

Time for captains Bjorn and Arthur to put together a strategic and careful layout for the last 6 singles, where at least 6.5 out of 12 points had to be won to secure the Golf Rebels Cup. A conversation with captain Peter Hudson to make it clear to him that the winners would be the hosts the following year may have put the necessary pressure on him and his team.

The tiredness of the Amsterdam nightlife was also not in favor of the “English”. The Netherlands saw opportunities to lead the way to victory, especially in the first 2 flights.
Under the leadership of Mike and Clive, they did what was expected of them and that was winning against Brain and Peter Hudson.
The latter went through the field like a cunning fox and seriously tested Clive, but Clive did not break and, like a very solid playing Mike, just won the first 4 winning points for the afternoon for the Netherlands. With this, Mike managed to win all his matches.

Part 4: It's in the tail!

Of the last 4 singles, the Netherlands still needed 1 win and 1 half to keep the Golf Rebels Cup in the Netherlands. On holes 13-14, England was in good shape with 3 of the 4 games to win and it became very exciting. Captains Bjorn and Arthur were intensively busy with calculations and analyses, not knowing that 2 players were going to rise above themselves. Rick, who came in with a round of +1 against an old tour player and thus won 2 valuable points, has shown that he can perform under pressure. Roelof and Jeroen were still in the lane and thanks to Rick's excellent win, the Netherlands only needed half a point for the win.

Jeroen showed why we can be so proud of the WGTF Netherlands and with a breathtaking sublime score of -3 on the last 9 holes, the last necessary point for the Netherlands was achieved.
As icing on the cake, Roelof also managed to score 2 points with his win, making the party even more complete. In the last flight there was still a hard fight and Arnoud unfortunately lost by 2 with an excellent round of +1. This indicates how well the “English” could handle an unknown track.

The Netherlands is undefeated and ready for more international matches, who dares to compete against this unleashed Dutch team?
There will therefore be a re-match between NL and UK in 2025 and, because of the win, again on Dutch soil to defend the GOLF REBELS cup.

This international match was made possible by WGTF Netherlands, WGTF Great Britain&Ireland, ANWB-golf and Golfrebels.