Last weekend, 7–9 August, the 79th Men's and 67th Women's International Amateur Championships took place in Luxembourg at Clervaux Golf Course, with the Men's Champion title returning to Luxembourg and the women's title to Belgium.
The 79th Men's and 67th Women's International Amateur Championship (INTAM) in Luxembourg was held at Clervaux Golf Course from 7 to 9 August; three days packed with sunshine, challenges, and surprises.
The champion title is back in Luxembourg on the 79th INTAM-edition, awarded to Stefan Rojas, and the 67th INTAM-edition champion title went to Belgium's Emma Defleur.
The Clervaux Golf Club of Luxembourg hosted 22 men and 17 women from five countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, who battled over three days for the champion title. The golf club, located in the north of the country, offered a beautiful pine tree landscape and a demanding hilly course to test golfers' abilities and strength.
After the first round, Stefan Rojas from Luxembourg – member of the national team, student, and player at the University of West Georgia in the US, as well as champion of the 77th INTAM previous edition – positioned himself as the leader after carding a fantastic score of -5 with six Birdies and one Eagle. Runner-up Nicolas Winandy from Luxembourg, and member of the national team too, finished in 16th place with a score of +8. Alexandre Templereau from France took the third position with an even score.
After the second day of stroke play, Rojas kept the lead, finishing the round even par, while Winandy climbed up to 4th place with a great -4, and Templereau kept the third place with a score of +3. Rojas kept fighting and got the title as the 79th INTAM champion with a score on the final round of -1, and a total of -6 for the tournament, making it difficult to beat. Winandy landed second place with a -4 on the final round to finish overall even par with a difference of six strokes between first and second place. Templereau added one more stroke to his score on the third round, finishing +1 for an overall of +4.
Regarding the 67th Ladies INTAM, Emma Defleur from Belgium, part of the Belgian team, won with a score of +7, finishing just one shot ahead of runner-up Emilia Omander from Germany, a proud member of the German team and student and player at San Diego State University. In third place was Eva Ringwald from Germany, with a score of +9, current student and player at Furman University in the US.
On the ladies' side, the top three spots were taken on the podium from day one. Emilia Omander came first after the first day, with a score of -5, with a difference of one stroke. Emma Defleur landed in second, and Ewa Ringwald in third with +3.
On the second day, Defleur left behind the two contenders with a score of +4, while Ringwald scored even, and Omander, who did not have the best day, finished her round with +9. By the last day, the places were scrambled again. Defleur arrived victorious at the podium with a score of +7 for the round and overall. In contrast, Omander scored a fantastic +4 moving as runner-up for a total of +8 and bringing down Ringwald to third place, who scored +6 for the day and +9 overall, a battle for one stroke difference between first, second, and third!
In the words of Emma, "this is a challenging course, with its ups and downs, the weather did not help, it was very hot, so it was difficult to win but I kept fighting until the very end." She is happy with the title and is looking forward to competing in the Omnium next week in Belgium and her training as a PGA coach and the formation for the Q'school.
The event concluded with a prize-giving ceremony conducted by the President of the Luxembourgish Golf Federation, Mr. Marc Schmit, who took the opportunity to thank participants and was pleased that the winner's title was earned back again to Luxembourg by the same player, Stefan Rojas, who is the only Luxembourger to win the tournament so far. He was also glad for the second place staying in the country. Nevertheless, he recognised all participants' talent, dedication, and effort, and gave thanks to all people involved in the organisation of the event. Rojas gave thanks to the hosting club, the greenkeeper for his excellent work in having the course in an excellent condition to play, to the volunteers, to the Federation for the organisation of the event and support, and to his family.
We wish all the players good luck for the future wherever their endeavor takes them and hopefully we can see them next year for the next edition of this international tournament.
