Ben Bolton chips in beauty from bunker as England claim glory in Spain

Staffordshire's Bolton, 18, chipped in from the short-side bunker to go from 1-down to all square as his singles clash against a Switzerland rival was halved - and a dramatic Octagonal Match title final ended 4.5-4.5.

The dream finale was an fitting finish to the event for the Enville Golf Club product, who added six points out of a possible eight from his matches played to help England to success in the round robin format.

His form in the foursome event was perfect, with a 100 per cent record alongside Dylan Shaw-Radford against opposition from Ireland, The Netherlands, hosts Spain and Switzerland in the final.

England claimed the title in the Costa Ballena Ocean Golf Club event in Cadiz with three wins and a draw. The match play event featured three foursomes each morning and six singles in the afternoon.

England's squad consisted of Bolton, Tom Osborne, Shaw-Radford, Charlie Rusbridge, Daniel Hayes, Eliot Baker, Ben Gorvett and lead coach Rob Watts.

And it was the Staffordshire starlet who held his nerve from an unenviable position at the death to seal glory.

Performance manager Ben Gorvett said: "Overall we're very pleased and we dealt with the week well. We had the intensity we wanted on and off the course and we always tried to have that winning mentality throughout. We showed this in the group stages with some dominant performances and we got the result we wanted.

"Credit must go to the Switzerland team who showed their quality and it was a fantastic battle to the very end.

"We were well prepared for what the final was going to bring and we were pleased with our morning outcome, but as the games went on it was very up and down, and we felt it was going to come down to some of the tight matches at the end.

"Ben Bolton came down the last 1-down, and with spectators and his teammates watching, he holed a bunker shot for birdie which gave us the half point to tie the match.

"This result is fantastic for all involved and it puts us in good stead for 2025, which is a big year for us with Home Internationals, European and World Championships, and for the players looking for Walker Cup selection too."

Bolton's singles record were a halve against Switzerland, a 1-down loss against Spain, a 5&4 win against The Netherlands and a 1-up against Ireland.