Estonian national team players finished in Portugal

On Saturday, the Portuguese International Amateur Championship concluded. The tournament was played at Amendoeira Golf Resort (par 72), where members of the Estonian men’s national team Richard Teder, Kevin Christopher Jegers, Mattias Varjun, and Ralf Johan Kivi also competed.

The tournament was won by England’s Harley Smith, who finished six shots ahead of second place. Smith recorded a total score of -9 (71, 66, 70, 72). Second and third place were shared by Mads Heller and Oscar Couilleau, both finishing at -3. Heller secured second place thanks to a better back-nine score. His rounds were 70, 68, 75, 72, while Couilleau’s were 67, 70, 76, 72.

The best Estonian performance came from national team captain Varjun, who finished tied 10th with a score of +3 (73, 71, 75, 72). He was followed by Teder in tied 22nd place with +6 (70, 74, 73, 77). Jegers was the last Estonian to make the cut, finishing tied 37th at +12 (71, 76, 75, 78). Kivi did not make the cut, finishing at +13 (78, 73, 78). Results

Varjun’s comments on the tournament: “The whole week was played in quite extreme conditions. At times, it was very close to the point where the ball could have started moving on the greens due to the wind, and we also had heavy rain. Many pins were placed on slopes or hilltops where the ball didn’t want to stay still in the wind. The most important thing was to avoid big numbers; on some holes it was perfectly fine to play for bogey. What I was most satisfied with in my own game was that I managed to put together a score in each round in one way or another. There is room for improvement in all areas, but the work is ongoing, and there were also many positives to take away.”