Luxembourg's ladies' national golf team made history this weekend by claiming their first-ever gold medal at the European Team-Shield Championship in Bulgaria.

A stellar performance by Luxembourg’s ladies’ national golf team secured them the top podium spot at the European Team-Shield Championship, held at Pravets Golf Club in Bulgaria from 30 July to 2 August. The tournament featured eleven nations: Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey.

Marie Baertz, Emma Lahaije, Ella Miserini, and Lisa Steingrobe, under the guidance of coaches Leon Marks and Douglas McClean, clinched victory with a 2-1 win against Turkey in the final match play. The team displayed their strength from the outset, finishing first in the stroke play round with a combined score of 214, which earned them direct entry into the semi-finals. There, they defeated Malta 2-1 on Friday.

The final match consisted of one foursome and two individual matches. Luxembourg took an early lead with a win in the foursome (Emma and Lisa) and secured the gold medal with a singles victory from Marie Baertz. This marks the first time Luxembourg has brought home gold in the history of the FLG – a remarkable achievement, especially following last year’s fourth-place finish.

On the men’s side, Arnaud Castellana, Alexandre Dorier, Andrew Rojas, and Stefan Rojas placed fifth overall, concluding with a strong win on the final day. After the stroke play round, the team stood in second place with a combined score of -3, just behind host nation Bulgaria, who led with an impressive -18. In the match play stages, the team narrowly lost to Andorra 1-2 after a tense second tie-breaker hole. They went on to defeat Cyprus 2-1 and secured fifth place by beating Malta 2.5-0.5.

RTL

© Marie Baertz

In the words of FLG President Mr Marc Schmit:

“This is for sure one of the most exciting moments for the Luxembourg Golf Federation. I would like to congratulate the entire ladies’ team and the national coaches. The ladies did extremely well, and of course, the men had put up a great fight with their 5th place. As President of the FLG, I am very proud and very pleased to observe the development of both teams. We will be ready for new challenges next year.”

Congratulations to both teams on their outstanding performance. Luxembourg is proving that it can produce golf talent capable of competing on the international stage.