1997 European Ladies' Team Championship
The 1997 European Ladies' Team Championship took place 9–13 July at Nordcenter Golf & Country Club in Åminnefors, Finland. It was the 20th women's golf amateur European Ladies' Team Championship. Venue. The hosting club was founded in 1988. Its first course, the Fream course, situated in Åminnefors, close to Pohja in the province of Southern Finland and part of the Uusimaa region, 70 kilometres west of Helsinki, Finland, was designed by architect Ronald Fream. The course meanders across a varied landscape from a lush seashore towards a forest plateau full of steep elevation changes and  the old park area of a manor house. A second 18-hole-course, the Benz course, located on a forest plateau, was designed by Bradford Benz and inaugurated in 1993. The championship course was set up with par 72. Format. All participating teams played two qualification rounds of stroke-play with six players, counted the five best scores for each team. The eight best teams formed flight A, in knock-out match-play over the next three days. The teams were seeded based on their positions after the stroke-play. The first placed team was drawn to play the quarter  final against the eight placed team, the second against the seventh, the third against the sixth and the fourth against the fifth. In each match between two nation teams, two 18-hole foursome games and five 18-hole single games were played. Teams were allowed to switch players during the team matches, selecting other players in to the afternoon single games after the morning foursome games. Games all square after 18 holes were declared halved, if the team match was already decided. The eight teams placed 9–16 in the qualification stroke-play formed flight B , to play similar knock-out  match-play, with one foursome game and four single games, to decide their final positions. Teams. 16 nation teams contested the event. Each team consisted of six players. Players in the leading teams Other participating teams Winners. Team Italy and team France tied the lead in the opening 36-hole qualifying competition, each with a score of 7 over par 727, three strokes ahead of team England. Italy earned first place on the tie breaking better total non-counting scores. Individual leader in the 36-hole stroke-play competition was Karine Icher, France, with a score of 7 under par  137, two strokes ahead of Janice Moodie, Scotland. Team Sweden won the championship, beating Scotland 4–3 in the final and earned their third title. Team France earned third place, beating Wales 5–2 in the bronze match. Results. Qualification round Team standings Individual leaders Flight A Bracket Final games Flight B Bracket Final standings Sources: