This unusual and highly competitive annual team competition pits the
best 12 players from the Burovian Realm against the 12 best players from
the "rest of Vexillium" (i.e. the "International" team).  It is the only
team competition in golf other than the Vexillium Cup of Golf (a strokeplay
tournament featuring national teams of two).  National pride plays a big
role in this matchplay format competition.  The Realmers play to
represent their Burovian homelans, as much as the Internationals want to
beat them, representing their own countries as part of the joint
international effort against the Burovians!  The teams are derived from
the Order of Merit standings two weeks before the Golden Chalice
Matches:  the top-8 players from the Realm, and the top-8
international players qualify automatically.  Each team's captain will
then make 4 captain's pick selections, from the pool of which players he
thinks will do the best for their team.

The competition is played out over 3 days:  days one and two feature
team play, with 5 foursomes and 5 fourballs played in the morning and
afternoons, respectively, each time two players sitting out on both
teams.  The core of the competition, however, is the man-to-man
matchplay on Sunday, featuring 12 singles matches, in which nerves of
steel are needed - it is regarded as the ultimate test in matchplay
golf, even more so than the Vexillium Matchplay Championship, in which
players compete for themselves.  The added dimension of being part of a
team and having to perform well for your mates and your country makes
for unmatched drama, moments of brilliance and triumph, as well as
moments of utter despair and failure.  The team to first win 12 1/2
points from match play will win the Golden Chalice.  In the event of a
tie, the team holding the Chalice will retain it for another year.

The Golden Chalice Matches are also unusual in that the players play for
the love of competition and national pride, and receive no compensation
other than a reimbursement for their expenses.  With their wives and
families, as well as their countries urging them on, and in front of
otherwise in golf rarely seen partisan crowds, giving the home team a
real advantage, this event is truly exciting, and a real celebration of
the game of golf!  Many players feel it a greater honor to be part of a
winning Golden Chalice team than to even win a major championship!
 

The 299 Burovian Realm Golden Chalice Teams:   Valdemar Oostingverde Nicholas Siggis Nick Leuwenzaan Matthias Rothies, Jr. Subhas Sunilam Oliver Straswell James Nithz Pietrich Kluffen Dragon Tay Joshua Klagstein Ramon Nestor Kirch Charlie Von Chicken

The 299 International Golden Chalice Team:   Shaul Disbach  Quincy Holland  Pancho McFeeley  Patrick Coulfax  Guillaume Ouesreche  Helyimar Gortsidler  Leopard Birch  Jeff Orford  Ernesto Gnorelia  Evan Burchard  Rod Sinclair  Jose Maria McGurk

Morning foursomes:

McFeeley/McGurk DEFEAT Oostingverde/Straswell ...3 and 2
Ouesreche/Birch DEFEAT Von Chicken/Nithz ...2 and 1
Gnorelia/Gortsidler and Rothies/Klagstein ...match halved
Sinclair/Orford LOSE TO Sunilam/Tay ...3 and 2

Afternoon Fourballs:

Disbach/Coulfax and Siggis/Leuwenzaan ...match halved
Holland/Orford DEFEAT Von Chicken/Kirch ...1 up
Sinclair/Birch DEFEAT Rothies/Straswell ...2 and 1
McFeeley/McGurk DEFEAT Oostingverde/Kluffen ...1 up

TOTAL SCORE:  Realm 2 - International 6

SATURDAY:

Morning Foursomes:

McFeeley/McGurk LOST TO Sunilam/Tay ...2 up
Holland/Burchard DEFEAT Oostingverde/Straswell ...3 and 2
Disbach/Coulfax LOST TO Rothies/Klagstein ...1 up
Ouesreche/Birch DEFEAT Nithz/Kluffen ...3 and 2

Afternoon Fourballs:

Disbach/Coulfax LOST TO Rothies/Klagstein ...2 and 1
Gortsidler/Sinclair and Nithz/Kirch ...match halved
Holland/Orford and Sunilam/Kluffen ...match halved
Gnorelia/Burchard DEFEAT Siggis/Leuwenzaan ...2 and 1

TOTAL SCORE AFTER SATURDAY: International 10, Realm 6

SUNDAY:

Singles:

Sinclair LOST TO Kluffen ...3 and 2
Coulfax LOST TO Nithz ...4 and 2
Orford LOST TO Kirch ...5 and 3
Ouesreche LOST TO Von Chicken ...6 and 5
McFeeley LOST TO Tay ...3 and 2
Birch LOST TO Siggis ...5 and 4
Gnorelia DEFEATED Straswell ...1 up
Gortsidler LOST TO Oostingverde ...2 and 1
Burchard and Sunilam ...match halved
McGurk DEFEATED Klagstein ...1 up
Holland LOST TO Leuwenzaan ...4 and 3
Disbach DEFEATED Rothies ...4 and 3

TOTAL FINAL SCORE: International 13 1/2, Realm 14 1/2

Burovian Realm wins the inaugural Golden Chalice Matches!!

Top Scorers:

International:

McGurk          3-1-0  3.0 - a great Captain's pick, inspirational to his team
Birch             3-1-0  3.0 - expected stalwart performance, but crushing singles loss
Gnorelia         2-0-1  2.5 - still continues to impress with solid play, great singles win
Burchard        2-0-1  2.5
Holland          2-1-1  2.5
Ouesreche      2-1-0  2.0
McFeeley        2-2-0  2.0 - not quite up to expectations, was upset in singles by Tay
Disbach         1-2-1  1.5 - disappointing despite singles win over Rothies
Sinclair         1-2-1  1.5 - the other Captain's pick
Orford           1-2-1  1.5
Gortsidler      0-1-2  1.0 - not much was expected from him, but two halves
Coulfax          0-3-1  0.5

Realm:

Tay                3-0-0  3.0 - the surprise top performer for the Realm, beat McFeeley twice
Sunilam         2-0-2  3.0 - the other Westermarcian also played very well!
Klagstein       2-1-1  2.5
Rothies         2-2-1  2.5
Siggis           1-1-1  1.5
Leuwenzaan  1-1-1  1.5 - not bad for a 19-year old
Kirch            1-1-1  1.5
Kluffen         1-2-1  1.5 - captain's pick did OK
Nithz            1-2-1  1.5
Von Chicken 1-2-0  1.0 - other captains pick came through with big 6 and 5 singles win
Oostingverde 1-3-0  1.0 - top ranked player did not do too great
Straswell        0-4-0  0.0 - disappointing performance all around