England, represented by Eddie Pepperell and Matt Wallace, and the England Women’s Team of Georgia Hall and Charley Hull will go head-to-head at GolfSixes after the draw for this year’s competition was made at host venue Centurion Club in St Albans, near London.
Hall and Hull made the draw alongside Lucas Bjerregaard, who won the inaugural event for Team Denmark with Thorbjørn Olesen, for the group stage of the second edition of GolfSixes, which takes place from May 5-6, 2018, and tickets are available to buy now HERE
The two England teams will also face Sweden and South Africa in Group D.
The Captains Team of 2018 Ryder Cup Captain Thomas Bjørn and 2019 Solheim Cup Captain Catriona Matthew were drawn alongside 2016 runners-up Australia, Spain and South Korea in Group B.
Team Denmark will take on Thailand, the United States and the European Women’s Team of Suzann Pettersen and Mel Reid.
The final wildcard team, Ireland, represented by Paul Dunne and Gavin Moynihan, were drawn against France, Italy and Scotland in Group C.
The 16 teams will compete over six holes in a group stage, with teams split into four groups of four, before the top two teams 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 popular 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. The innovative six-hole competition will have a festival feel with a centrally-located Fan Zone full of entertainment for all the family.
Player quotes
Georgia Hall: “It should be a great match. I’ve never played with Matt or Eddie before, so we’ll see how it goes, but I just can’t wait for the week to get started.
“We play against the same players every week so for us to play against the men is a big change but I think it will be awesome. I’m ready to give it my best against them. I can’t wait. It’s in England which is quite rare for females who play in the LPGA to play at home.
“I think the big thing is that this is something different, it’s only six holes so you get a result quite quickly and then the next team comes along. I think it’s great for fans.
“Me and Charlie have known each other since we were ten and played throughout England together and Solheim Cup in a match together. We have similar games, we’re quite aggressive, so I think it will be a good week.”
Charley Hull: “I’ve played with Eddie before. He’s a really nice guy and he’s playing some good golf so it will be fun to play with him.
“I’m really looking forward to it, it’s going to be good fun to try something different. I haven’t really played in an event like this before.
“It’s a good thing for golf and I think the fans will enjoy it too. It will be good fun, the home fans will get to see two sides with the women and the men playing. I think it will get all different people into the event.”
Lucas Bjerregaard: “It was a lot of fun last year and just a great event, we’re looking forward to defending. It was great to see all the kids last year just having a blast. Everyone in the fanzone and out on the course, people just seemed to think it was a lot of fun.
“I think the fact that it’s only six holes makes it so much easier for kids to enjoy. It’s not a whole day, and there’s lots of other stuff they can do. It was just an amazing couple of days and I’m really looking forward to it again.
“GolfSixes started a whole bunch of things last year like the shot clock, and now we have the Shot Clock Masters event. They are trying new things and are not afraid of it. I can’t remember ladies and men playing against each other in matches like these before so it’s going to be very interesting and I think we’re going to have a tough time beating them.
“We don’t interact that much between the two tours and it’s a great way to start that up a bit more. Hopefully and I think it’s going to be a great success as well. It’s going to be a lot of fun, as I said it will be tough to beat them but I hope it’s really good because that could start something going down the line.”
ST ALBANS, ENGLAND – APRIL 12: Charley Hull of England, Lucas Bjerregaard of Denmark and Georgia Hall of England pose for a photo after selecting for the draw during the GolfSixes Media Day at The Centurion Club on April 12, 2018 in St Albans, England. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)
Full group stage draw
Group A
Denmark – Lucas Bjerregaard and Thorbjørn Olesen
Thailand – Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Thongchai Jaidee
USA – Daniel Im and David Lipsky
European Women – Suzann Pettersen and Mel Reid
Group B
Australia – Sam Brazel and Wade Ormsby
South Korea – Jeunghun Wang and Soomin Lee
Spain – Pablo Larrazábal and Adrian Otaegui
European Captains – Thomas Bjørn and Catriona Matthew
Group C
France – Alexander Levy and Romain Wattel
Italy – Matteo Manassero and Renato Paratore
Scotland – Scott Jamieson and Richie Ramsay
Ireland – Paul Dunne and Gavin Moynihan
Group D
England – Eddie Pepperell and Matt Wallace
South Africa – George Coetzee and Haydn Porteous
Sweden – Alexander Björk and Joakim Lagergren
England Women – Georgia Hall and Charley Hull
–ENDS–
About the European Tour
The European Tour celebrates men’s professional golf on a global stage. In 2018, the European Tour International Schedule will feature a minimum of 47 tournaments in 30 countries, including eight Rolex Series events, all part of the Race to Dubai.
Celebrating the global connectivity of the European Tour and Dubai, the Race to Dubai is a season-long competition to crown the European Tour’s Number One player, an honour which in 2017 went to England’s Tommy Fleetwood for the first time, and which, since 2009, has also been achieved three times by Rory McIlroy, twice by Henrik Stenson, and once each by Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Luke Donald.
Since its formation in 1972, the European Tour has witnessed 27 Members celebrate a total of 53 Major Championship titles between them, enjoyed ten Members attaining the pinnacle of World Number One and has celebrated its diversity as players from 36 different countries have won on the Tour.
The European Tour also manages the Challenge Tour, which featured 27 tournaments in 21 countries in 2017, and the Senior Tour, which featured 16 tournaments in 12 countries in 2017 and which, from the 2018 season onwards, will be known as the Staysure Tour. It is also the Managing Partner of Ryder Cup Europe, the body which, alongside the PGA of America, administers golf’s greatest team contest, The Ryder Cup. In 2018, the 42nd staging of the biennial contest between Europe and the United States of America will take place at Le Golf National, France, from September 28-30.
The European Tour broadcasts live coverage of its tournaments to more than 490 million homes in more than 150 countries every week, generating in excess of 2,200 global broadcast hours for each event. It also enjoys the support of many of the world’s leading business brands with Rolex, BMW, Emirates and Titleist as Official Partners.
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