Golf Sixes: Scotland claim third place at inaugural event

Denmark's Olesen and Lucas celebrate on the fifth green during the final match against Australia

Scotland claimed third place at the inaugural Golf Sixes event in St Albans as Denmark took the title.

Scottish duo Richie Ramsay and Marc Warren beat Italy in a nearest the pin contest on the play-off hole.

Pre-tournament favourites England, represented by Ryder Cup team-mates Chris Wood and Andy Sullivan, had lost 2-1 to Italy in the quarter-finals.

Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen and Lucas Bjerregaard claimed a 3-1 victory over Australia in the final.

Denmark had finished second in Group A on Saturday and wins over France and Italy saw them through to the final.

Australia, who also finished second in their group on day one, overcame Thailand in the quarters and Scotland in the semi-finals on Sunday.

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"It's been a great week and I'm really happy to hear it's coming back because we really enjoyed it," Olesen said.

Denmark won the event with a 3-1 final victory over Australia

Asked about the tournament as a whole, Scotland's Ramsay added: "It's really good. It's like everything - we need a bit of traction. We'll go away and tell people what it was like.

"We take this first concept and refine it so it becomes really, really attractive for folk coming in."

Earlier in the day, England lost to Italy when Wood drove out of bounds on the last and Sullivan's tee shot found a fairway bunker to give the upper hand to their opponents.

Shot clock penalties

Sullivan said the players enjoyed playing to a shot clock. "We had such a long time, we had ages and it's embarrassing when we're playing on the Tour and it is taking so long.

"I personally think they need to be stricter with it. This week everyone was quicker because they knew as soon as it [the shot clock] went to zero they were getting a shot penalty. In a normal event you have that little bit of leniency.

"It's highlighted you really don't need 40 seconds. It proves everyone can play that quick - it's just the fact that when it's not on them, they won't. It's up to the Tour to push that and get on them."

Andy Sullivan hits his second shot on the fourth hole on the shot clock during the Group A match between England and India during day one

The shot clock was used on the fourth hole, with players initially allowed 40 seconds to hit their shots in the first two group matches, before that was reduced to 30 seconds for the remaining sessions.

Only one player in the whole weekend, American Paul Peterson, incurred a one-shot penalty for exceeding the shot clock in his side's draw with Wales, which ultimately cost the left-hander and partner David Lipsky a place in the quarter-finals.

Golf Sixes format

Sixteen teams, each representing their country, are split into groups of four, with the top two in each group advancing to Sunday's quarter-finals, with the semis and final following on the same day.

The greensomes format sees both players tee off, with one ball then being chosen and alternate shots taken.

Each of the six holes has a theme, including a long-drive contest, nearest to the pin and a 40-second shot clock.

The European Tour offered a prize fund of 1m euros (£850,000) for the event, which is similar to the World Super Six tournament that took place in Perth in February.