Matt Wallace and Eddie Pepperell, both winners on this year’s European Tour, will represent England when GolfSixes returns to Centurion Club in St Albans from May 5-6.
England is the highest ranked of the eleven qualifying teams who join defending champions Denmark and four wildcard entries to form a 16-team field in the second staging of the six-hole competition.
The confirmed qualified teams from around the world are: England, France, Australia, Thailand, Italy, South Korea, South Africa, USA, Spain, Scotland and Sweden.
Pepperell claimed his maiden European Tour victory at the Qatar Masters in February, while Wallace won a tplay-off against countryman Andrew Johnston to win the Hero Indian Open earlier this month. Wallace is now looking forward to teeing it up in the unique GolfSixes event for the first time.
The 27 year old from Hertfordshire said: “Playing in front of a home crowd is an exciting prospect and something I’ve always looked forward to. Last year, it looked as if there were a lot of kids enjoying the whole experience, so it should be a lot of fun to play in front of so many young fans and hopefully get them excited about golf.”
He added: “I think it’s a great idea to have new and different formats like this on the European Tour, and, with the wildcard teams in the mix this year, there could be some intriguing match ups. Eddie and I have both had good starts to the year, and the chance to team up to represent England is really exciting. I’m sure we’ll have a good laugh on the course and hopefully give the home fans plenty to cheer about.”
European Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjørn and Solheim Cup Captain Catriona Matthew will become the first male and female professionals to play together in a competitive match play format on the European Tour when they form the ‘Captains Team’ as one of the four wildcard entries. An ‘England Women’s Team’ comprising Charley Hull and Georgia Hall will be joined by a ‘European Women’s Team’ of Norwegian Suzann Pettersen and England’s Mel Reid, with the final wildcard team to be confirmed shortly.
Defending champions Lucas Bjerregaard and Thorbjørn Olesen will return to represent Denmark in the fast-paced competition as the 16 teams go head to head for a total prize fund of €1 million with the eventual winners receiving €100,000 each.
The teams will compete over six holes in a group stage, with teams split into four groups of four, before the top two from each group progress to the knockout stages – the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, a third/fourth place play-off match and the final.
In the group stages, three points will be given for victory with one point awarded for a draw and the matches will be played in a greensomes match play format.
Once again the six holes will be themed, with the shot clock hole returning – with a penalty imposed if players take longer than 30 seconds per shot – alongside the long drive and closest to the pin holes.
CONFIRMED TEAMS
DENMARK: Lucas Bjerregaard, Thorbjørn Olesen
ENGLAND: Matt Wallace, Eddie Pepperell
FRANCE: Romain Wattel, Alexander Levy
AUSTRALIA: Wade Ormsby, Sam Brazel
THAILAND: Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Thongchai Jaidee
ITALY: Renato Paratore, Edoardo Molinari
SOUTH KOREA: Jeunghun Wang, Soomin Lee
SOUTH AFRICA: George Coetzee, Haydn Porteous
USA: Julian Suri, David Lipsky
SPAIN: Pablo Larrazábal, Adrian Otaegui
SCOTLAND: Richie Ramsay, Scott Jamieson
SWEDEN: Alexander Björk, Joakim Lagergren
WILDCARD TEAMS
- CAPTAINS TEAM: Thomas Bjørn, Catriona Matthew
- ENGLAND WOMEN’S TEAM: Charley Hull, Georgia Hall
- EUROPEAN WOMEN’S TEAM: Suzann Pettersen, Mel Reid
- TO BE CONFIRMED.
Tickets for the event are on sale now for £16 for adults and £5 for children from http://et.golf/clscgA.