Old Links course praised as England retain crown

England defended the trophy which they won at Ballyliffin in Ireland last year and they have now won the under-18 team event 16 times since 1996.

An English victory was sealed during the morning foursomes against Scotland when they took a 4-1 lead, which meant that they could not be caught.

England captain Derek Hughes was full of praise for his young team.

He said: "I'm obviously very pleased.

"The boys have done very well and the new boys Robin Williams and Joe Pagdin have done very well.

"It's not just winning the games, it's how they've fitted into the squad. This is a great competition and Joe, who's 15, coming over from Florida, he's never experienced anything like this before. He's absolutely loved it, the whole thing.

"The course has been very good. It's in really good condition. We had that heavy rain on Tuesday when the greenkeepers did a great job. When the boys got back out on the course after the rain delay it was excellent. It's a good venue and everything about the week has been first class."

The Old Links course came in for widespread praise.

Gordon Watt, the Scotland captain: "They were beautiful greens and the whole course is in great condition."