GOLF ST ANDREWS TROPHY:PAUL CUTLER is the sole Irish representative on the Britain and Ireland St Andrews Trophy team to take on Continental Europe as play gets under way at Castelconturbia Golf Club near Milan today.

Cutler (21). won the prestigious Lytham Trophy in May and reached the quarter-final of the British Amateur Championship at Muirfield in June.

The Portstewart man represented Ireland at the Home Internationals and won two points from his three singles matches.

Nigel Edwards’ Britain and Ireland side arrived in Italy as defending champions of the biennial team event after their 13½-10½ win at Kingsbarns, Scotland, in 2008. Continental Europe have to go back to 1998 for their most recent win (14-10) when the event was last played in Italy at Villa d’Este.

“I’m pleased we have a balanced team made up of players who all have undoubted talent and proven track-records in matchplay competition,” Edwards said.

Two nine-man teams will play four morning foursomes and eight afternoon singles on each of the two days at the Robert Trent Jones Sr-designed layout, which has held the Italian Open in 1991 and 1998.

The Jacques Leglise Trophy match, contested by under-18 boys representing Britain and Ireland and Continental Europe, runs simultaneously at the same venue and follows the same format, but is played annually. Britain and Ireland won 14½-9½ at Ganton last year and have won eight times in all to Europe’s six victories.

Ballyemena’s Dermot McElroy, fresh from his victory in the Irish Boys title event, is joined by Irish Youths champion Paul Dunne of Greystones in the team.

McElroy and Dunne helped Ireland win the Boys Internationals at Southernness earlier this month.

BRITAIN AND IRELAND (for St Andrews Trophy, Castelconturbia GC, Milan, Italy): James Byrne, Laurie Canter, Paul Cutler, Ross Kellett, Tom Lewis, Matthew Nixon, Eddie Pepperell, Michael Stewart, Darren Wright.