{"id":101942,"date":"2026-07-12T13:45:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T10:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golf.ee\/?p=101942"},"modified":"2026-08-11T15:02:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T12:02:15","slug":"the-estonian-team-has-won-silver-medals-at-the-european-team-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.golf.ee\/en\/the-estonian-team-has-won-silver-medals-at-the-european-team-championships\/","title":{"rendered":"The Estonian team has won silver medals at the European Team Championships!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The dramatic finish to the final meant that Estonia had to settle for a close 4\u20133 defeat to Ireland in the European Team Championship final. An almost fairytale journey therefore ended with silver medals, an achievement that everyone in Estonian sport and of course all golf fans, can be extremely proud of. Results<\/a><\/p>\n

After the morning foursomes, the score was tied at 1\u20131. Kevin Christopher Jegers and Markus Varjun lost their match 4&3, while Mattias Varjun and Ralf Johan Kivi managed to defeat their opponents on the final hole after coming back from two holes down.<\/p>\n

The afternoon therefore brought five individual match play contests. The first battle unfortunately ended quickly, as Stuart Grehan showed why he had recently won The Amateur Championship, defeating Richard Teder 5&4 in a repeat of their semi-final encounter. The remaining matches became increasingly tense.<\/p>\n

Carl Hellat levelled the overall score at 2\u20132 by defeating Gavin Tiernan 2&1. Tiernan was the player who had ended Teder\u2019s run in the quarter-finals of The Amateur Championship a year earlier before going on to reach the final. Moments later, however, Markus Varjun had to concede a 2&1 defeat to Matthew McClean, leaving Estonia 2\u20133 down again.<\/p>\n

In the final two matches, Mattias Varjun and Kevin Christopher Jegers were fighting to keep Estonia\u2019s hopes alive. There were moments when it looked as though everything was over, but eventually both matches went to extra holes.<\/p>\n

Mattias Varjun defeated Caolan Rafferty on the second extra hole, while Kevin Christopher Jegers\u2019 match also reached the second extra hole. When his opponent hit his tee shot into the water, it seemed as though the champagne could already be put on ice. However, Thomas Higgins produced an excellent third shot from the left side of the water and left himself with a great opportunity for par.<\/p>\n

Jegers unfortunately failed to reach the green with his second shot, but played a solid chip. Then it happened\u2026 The experienced Irish players had been putting extremely well throughout the day and Higgins also made the long putt he needed for par. That put Jegers under immense pressure and, unfortunately, he missed the crucial putt, losing both the hole and the match.<\/p>\n

A year earlier, in the semi-final against Denmark, it was anchor man Higgins who had been the \u201cvillain\u201d, losing to Denmark\u2019s lead player Kristina Hjort Bressum on the second extra hole, with Ireland eventually having to settle for fourth place on home soil. This time, however, the team gave captain Damien Coyne a wonderful birthday present.<\/p>\n

The Irish team also included three players aged over 30, all of whom had been part of the national team for many years. This made them the most experienced team in the tournament, and unfortunately, experience can make all the difference in situations like these. In later conversations with members of the Irish delegation, it emerged that Ireland had not followed the age-limit approach when selecting its national team, unlike many other countries.<\/p>\n

The result gave Ireland its seventh European Team Championship title, with its previous victory dating back to 2008, when Shane Lowry was among those in the team. The tournament was held at Royal Park Golf & Country Club, and Estonia had also been promoted to Division I for one year at that time. In 2024, at the same venue, Estonia achieved its previous best result of fourth place. Now, on home soil, the team has won the first medal in its history \u2014 silver!<\/p>\n

Comments from head coach Gon\u00e7alo Pinto and the players<\/p>\n

Gon\u00e7alo Pinto: \u201cI am incredibly proud of what this team achieved at the European Amateur Team Championship. Winning a historic silver medal is a remarkable achievement for Estonian golf and reflects the dedication, discipline and character that every player showed throughout the week.We grew stronger day by day, taking on some of the strongest national teams in Europe, including the Netherlands, France and Ireland, all of whom were considered title favourites. The players embraced every challenge with great resilience, confidence and belief in their abilities.<\/p>\n

Special recognition must go to Mattias Varjun, who had an outstanding tournament, finishing the week unbeaten while also playing a decisive role as playing captain. Finally, I would like to thank the players and everyone who contributed to this team. It has been a great honour to coach this group over the past seven months, and I am sincerely grateful to have been part of such a special moment in Estonian golf history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Captain Mattias Varjun: \u201cAn incredibly powerful ending to a long journey for us. Most of the guys have been playing these championships for more than ten years, and this was the fourth time we competed together as the same team. Over the years, we started at the very bottom in the second division and slowly but surely worked our way upwards. I am extremely happy that on two occasions we have managed to realise our potential and achieve results that show we clearly belong among the best teams in Europe. It was especially special to produce our best performance in front of our home crowd and with their support. I believe we gave both ourselves and our supporters an unforgettable week of golf.A huge thank you goes to the boys, who showed class throughout the week both in hitting the golf ball and in everything surrounding the game. Thanks also to everyone in our support team, especially Kristo, Gon\u00e7alo and Joonas. Achievements like this are not possible without a strong support system. Finally, thank you to everyone who came to watch and support us. Your presence and support could be felt every step of the way this week. Estonian golf breathed and played as one, and it was incredible to see. Long live Estonia!\u201d<\/p>\n

Carl Hellat: \u201cThe European Team Championship is over and we came incredibly close to achieving the best possible result. A great job by the entire team. Thank you also to everyone who supported us, and hopefully it was just as tense for you as it was for me, if not more so. My personal goal was simply to make the top eight and then at least beat one country from there, but what our team achieved was absolutely incredible. As for my game, every day got better. In match play, it didn\u2019t matter which country we faced \u2014 they are all strong. This year we simply had enough quality to compete with them, along with a huge desire to beat everyone. At this point, this is the most memorable tournament of my golf career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kevin Christopher Jegers: \u201cI was very happy with my own game. I managed to come back from difficult situations and win holes when they were needed most. Markus and I worked well together in the foursomes, we dominated our opponents during the first two days, but unfortunately we couldn\u2019t repeat that on the final day. Going to extra holes in the singles match was incredible, and the huge crowd walking along with us made it even better. I tried to enjoy it as much as possible because you don\u2019t get many opportunities to be in a situation like that. Unfortunately, I had to accept a defeat on the second extra hole, which was very painful, but I was still happy that we had made it that far and had the opportunity to play in a final for the gold medal at all. A huge thank you to everyone who came out to support us, as well as those who watched the live broadcast from home. Now it\u2019s back to practice, because I need to get even better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Markus Varjun: \u201cSo far, this has been one of the coolest experiences of my life. Representing my country at such a high level and playing really well is something that is priceless to me. Sharing this experience with my best friends is something that money could never buy. A huge thank you to everyone who supported us, and a huge thank you to the Estonian Golf Association. I wish the next generation of young players who will represent the men\u2019s national team the very best of luck. The European Amateur Team Championship will definitely be one of the things we miss the most when we move on to professional golf.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ralf Johan Kivi:
\n\u201cWinning a silver medal at the European Team Championship is a very important achievement for both me and the Estonian team. The team spirit was strong throughout the entire tournament, and I believe that was exactly what helped us achieve success by staying together during the difficult moments. Personally, I was not completely satisfied with my stroke-play rounds \u2014 especially my putting could have been better. However, the match-play format gave us the opportunity to start with a clean slate, and there every hole and every point had to be fought for individually. I am especially happy that I was able to contribute to Estonia reaching the semi-finals, and also to earn a point in the foursomes on final day. The tournament was extremely well organised and the course was in excellent condition despite the changing weather. It was a real pleasure to play there, the organisation was world-class, and the live broadcasts were the icing on the cake for Estonian golf fans. Looking back at the matches today, I would also like to praise the professional work of commentators Martin J\u00e4rve and Kristo Tohver, as well as all the supporters who backed me and the team at the crucial moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The dramatic finish to the final meant that Estonia had to settle for a close 4\u20133 defeat to Ireland in the European Team Championship final. An almost fairytale journey therefore…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":99374,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49],"class_list":["post-101942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eng","tag-national-team"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.golf.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.golf.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.golf.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.golf.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.golf.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101942"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.golf.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101960,"href":"https:\/\/www.golf.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101942\/revisions\/101960"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.golf.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.golf.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.golf.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.golf.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}