The PGA of Italy successfully defended their title at the 2022 CPG International Team Championship leading from start to finish at Costa Navarino in Greece.

PGA Professionals, Michele Reale, Gregory Molteni and Andrea Rota took advantage of very consistent play and strong team bonds across 54-holes at The Dunes Course for a three-over par combined total.

The PGA of Italy Team become the first winners to be presented with Sandy Jones Trophy, newly named in memory of the CPG’s former Chairman and renowned golf leader who passed away in late 2022.

“Winning the first time was special, but this time we also beat some tough competition, and it is an honour to be the first PGA to win the Sandy Jones Trophy,” said Molteni.

“We make a good team as we played together in many courses, so we know each other very well,” added Rota. “We started great the first two rounds considering the wind, and at the end we managed to hold on, so we are very happy.”

“We are proud of ourselves as the course at Costa Navarino was very good and very difficult,” said Reale. ”But I think it is the best place in Europe and we love it.”

Second place fell to the PGA of Germany, and professionals Ann-Kathrin Lindner, Martin Hastie and Ben Parker. Despite a one-under 70 from Parker and a level-par 71 for Hastie, the team were not able to close the gap finishing at nine-over for the week.

Patrick Patzel, Hanspeter Bacher and Florian Kepp from the PGA of Austria were a further three shots behind on 12 over par thanks to under par rounds from Bacher and Kepp.

The International Team Shield, – an event that runs alongside the ITC that is specifically for CPG Member Country PGAs with 100 Members or less – was won by the PGA of Greece team for the third time in four years. The team made up of Costa Navarino locals, Themis Ginis, Konstantinos Kotsovos and Chryssanthos Diakou, finished tie-6th in the overall Championship standings.

“It is great that we have won it three times now,” said Diakou. “I hope we will at one point be able to compete at the top with the other PGAs – we were in third position after two rounds and even though we could have played a bit better today then I do not think we are too far from that.”

For full final scores from the 2022 CPG International Team Championship visit https://cp.golf/2022ITC.

For more information on Aegean Airlines visit aegeanair.com and for more information on Costa Navarino visit costanavarino.com.

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For 10 years he was junior coach for the regional team and for another 2 years the coach of the Swiss women’s national team. From 2011 to April 2017, he served as President of the Swiss PGA, continued as an expert and leader of Y+S courses in Magglingen and spent more than 30 years as a golf teacher at GC Zumikon.

We all appreciated Bruno as a reliable, helpful and experienced golf instructor, but also as a good friend. His professional competence as well as his kind, generous and calm manner were highly appreciated throughout the Swiss golf scene. We have lost a respected personality with him – Bruno Griss was an important pillar of our golf community.

Our heartfelt condolences and sympathy go to the entire bereaved family, to whom our thoughts go in these difficult hours and days.

This article originally appears courtesy of the Swiss PGA – Find out more at swisspga.ch

Christoph Guenther took the professional honours at the AESGC International Pro-Am at Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club [AESGC] in UAE, after consistently low scoring throughout the week edged him ahead of the field.

The PGA of Germany Professional duelled in the desert with the PGA of Belgium’s Guillaume Watremez all week but was able to come out on top with a final round 68 for a -13 total.

“It is really, really good to win. It’s my second time here in Al Ain…I’ve worked really hard the last couple of months on my game so it feels really good to get rewarded,” said Guenther.

“I knew I was one ahead coming down 18 and I thought just go for it anyway. I’m not very good at laying up, so I just hit the best three wood of the week and knocked it on the green and two putted. I think my team really, really enjoyed it – Al Ain has got a real character to it and AESGC is just a course you are happy to play again and again. That’s why the team and I really enjoy coming here.”

Despite a week of rounds in the 60s, Watremez was unable to catch the eventual winner, but took second place on -11, followed by Erik Lindwall (PGA of Sweden) and Alex Wrigley (PGA of Great Britain & Ireland) in a tie for third at -9.

Watremez might not have taken the individual honours, but together to with his team of Benoit Pierlot, Philippe Van Durme and Michel Goffin, the team event was wrapped up in style with a total of 365 points. Just three points behind after four rounds of competition were the team of Kanatbek Kurbanaliev, Lee Vladimir, Dominov Ravshan and Elyor Akromov with 362 points, followed by Linus Netterlid (PGA of Sweden), Pierre Malteskog, Tomas Carlsson and Peter Öhlin with 339 points in third place.

For full final scores from the 9th AESGC International Pro-Am visit https://cp.golf/9thAESGC, and for more information on Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club visit aesgc.com.

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