Paul Lawrie has been chosen to captain Europe at the 2020 Junior Ryder Cup in Wisconsin, where his team will attempt to win the event for the first time since 2006.
Held just before the Ryder Cup itself, the Junior Ryder Cup sees the best male and female junior amateurs from Europe and the USA go head-to-head in a mixed event. Next year’s renewal takes place at Blue Mound Golf and Country Club in Milwaukee from September 21-22.
Lawrie boasts a rich Ryder Cup pedigree, having represented Europe at the 1999 and 2012 Ryder Cups, while the 50-year-old Scotsman’s involvement in junior golf started in 2001 with the launch of the Paul Lawrie Foundation, which provides opportunities for juniors to start playing golf.
“As soon as the call came in, I didn’t need long to think about taking on the role,” said Lawrie. “To be able to lead a team of the best juniors in Europe against America will be a completely novel experience for me. In terms of how I see the game growing, it’s an important role.
“It’s going to be full-on over the next ten months. I’m really looking forward to getting to some events during the year and watching the kids play. I’m absolutely delighted that I have been asked to Captain the Junior Ryder Cup team.
“My wife, Marian, and I started the Foundation to get as many kids into the game as we possibly could. I bring a huge enthusiasm for junior golf to the role; it’s where the game needs to be – sadly that still gets lost on some members at golf clubs not treating juniors how they deserve to be treated. Today’s juniors are tomorrow’s adults, and that’s an important message.”
Both the European and US Junior Ryder Cup teams will feature six boys and six girls who must not have turned 18 before January 1, 2020 and must not be enrolled to play college golf in the USA during 2020. The selection process for the European Junior Ryder Cup team, including confirmation of qualifying events, will be announced shortly.
The biennial contest has seen numerous players go on to succeed at the highest levels of the game, with Sergio Garcia, Rory McIlroy, Suzanne Peterson and Carlota Ciganda among the roll call of past European Junior Ryder Cuppers.
In 2018 at Golf Disneyland Paris, USA triumphed 12½-11½.