A golf team representing Norwegian shipowners, including some familiar names such as Westye Hoegh and Bryn Skaugen, hoped to wrest back the Anglo-Norwegian Cup from their British counterparts — to kick off the celebrations ahead of this year’s Nor-Shipping event.

But under the weight of expectation, after two days battling it out on the fairways of Walton Heath Golf Club near London, they suffered one of their heaviest defeats in the cup’s 70-year history.