STEPHEN Creed, from Stratford-on-Avon, helped England’s senior men’s team become European champions after a thrilling win against France in the final at Marianske Lazne in Czech Republic.
England finished third in the stroke play stages before defeating Sweden in the quarter-finals, Ireland in the semi-finals and France in the final in the match play competition to lift the trophy.
Creed topped the individual stroke play leaderboard and sunk a 38-foot putt for birdie to seal victory for his country with France missing their putt to ensure England went home as European champions.
England’s senior men’s captain, Andrew Atkinson, said: “From pillar to post the guys have all just played amazing golf.
“It was a fantastic week where everything just fitted into place.
“We were the envy of the rest of Europe through our team spirit and camaraderie and I’m so proud of the whole team.”
England established an early 4-1 lead after six holes in the final only for the game to quickly swing in France’s favour.
Ian Ashenden and Richard Jones won one-up while Trevor Foster romped to a six-and-five success in his match.
However, a two-and-one defeat for Adrian Firman and four-and-three loss for Edward Richardson meant Creed needed to win the final match of the tournament despite falling ill during the contest.
And Creed showed incredible character to hole a 38-foot putt on the 18th green to secure a 3-2 victory.
Atkinson added: “I got a call on the 12th from Stephen’s caddy saying he had double vision, stomach cramps and a headache, so we asked the referee for a 15-minute timeout and got a pair of sunglasses and some sugary drinks into him.
“He went out and lost on 12 and missed a short putt on 15 to win. The match went down 18 and the French’s approach hit a tree and ricocheted onto the green, just 15 feet from the hole.”
