FOUR NEW CAPS IN ENGLAND HOME INTERNATIONALS SQUAD
Gary Lockerbie, the newly crowned English Champion, and runner-up
Michael Skelton, have been named in the 11-strong England
squad for the Home Internationals at Ballybunion, Ireland,
on 17-19 September.
Lockerbie, 20, and 19-year-old Skelton were in supreme form
throughout the English Championship at Alwoodley last week
and fully deserved to contest the final with Lockerbie coming
out on top 6 and 5.
The pair are among four new caps in the England line-up,
the others being James Heath and John Kemp. The rest of the
team is: Paul Bradshaw, Graeme Clark, Colin Edwards, Ross
Fisher, David Skinns, Richard Walker, and Gary Wolstenholme.
Only four of the team - Clark, Skinns, Walker and Wolstenholme
- were in the side that finished third behind winners Wales
at Harlech a year ago.
Lockerbie, who won the England Under 18 title in 2000, was
added to the England Elite Squad last winter, and has enjoyed
a successful season with top-ten finishes in several of the
major championships culminating in his outstanding victory
at Alwoodley.
Skelton’s call comes a day after he was named in the
Walker Cup squad for the match against the United States at
Ganton two weeks prior to the Home Internationals. A former
winner of the English Under 16 Championship, he played in
the winning GB&I Jacques Leglise team at Lausanne last
year and was also a member of the Yorkshire sides that won
the Boys and Men’s County Championships.
Last winter he won the Daily Telegraph Junior Championship
at Sun City, South Africa after which he was named in the
Elite Squad. This year, Skelton won the Henriques Salver for
the best under 20 score while finishing tied ninth in the
Brabazon Trophy, then went to Prestatyn to win the Welsh Stroke
Play Championship.
Heath, 20, from Surrey, is another former Under 16 Champion
and boy international. He was capped by GB&I at boy level
in 2001 and reached the semi-finals of the British Boys that
same year at Ganton. Last year he finished runner-up in the
European Amateur Championship in Portugal and won the Greek
Amateur title at Glyfada.
The newly crowned Surrey champion was added to the Walker
Cup squad in January and while he has missed out on that,
his England call follows another solid season in which he
reached the last 16 of the English Championship at Alwoodley.
Kemp could be classed as a late developer as his inclusion
comes at the age of 35. However, his recent record is impeccable
with two British Mid Amateur titles and a runner-up, while
he also reached the quarterfinals of the US Mid Amateur last
year.
The Bedfordshire man, who was named in the England Potential
A Squad last winter, won the Midland Amateur at Woodhall Spa
and will defend the British Mid-Amateur title at St Andrews
next week with the chance of equalling Gary Wolstenholme’s
record of three wins in the championship.
Bradshaw and Edwards earn recalls to the international scene.
Bradshaw, 24, made his England debut in the 2001 Home Internationals
at Woodhall Spa but was a reserve last year despite finishing
third in the West of England Stroke Play and second in the
Irish Open Stroke Play.
He was a member of the Lincolnshire side in last year’s
County Finals in Jersey while his form has taken an upward
leap this year as he has finished runner-up in the West of
England and the Lytham Trophy. However, he was a reserve again
for the European Men’s Team Championships in Holland
and a first round loser in the English Amateur at Alwoodley.
Edwards, who turned 40 on 1st August and whose work commitments
curtail his competitive golf, last played in the Home Internationals
in 1998 at Royal Porthcawl. His most recent England cap was
against Spain at El Prat in 2001. However, he has won 47 of
his 81 matches for England and this year he has found renewed
success with joint second place in the West of England, while
he won the Somerset Championship for the 11th time.
Clark made his England debut against the Spanish in 2001,
having been a reserve for the 2000 Home Internationals. However,
the 27-year-old Yorkshire man from Doncaster has played in
the last two events as well as against Spain again at Lindrick
last May. He has an outstanding record for England with 17
victories in 26 matches.
Fisher is one of England’s more recent caps having
made his debut in the European Men’s Team Championships
in Holland in June. The 22-year-old from Surrey has also enjoyed
a successful year, finishing fourth in the Berkhamsted Trophy,
ninth in the Lytham Trophy, third in the Hampshire Hog, fourth
in the Selborne Salver and ninth in the Brabazon Trophy. A
win was just around the corner and it came in the Berkshire
Trophy when he shared the title with Australian Adam Blyth
after finishing eagle-par-birdie-birdie.
Skinns, 21, has two more years to complete at college in
the United States but is returning home to play at Ballybunion.
A former Lincolnshire and Midland Youth Champion and Lagonda
Trophy winner, he made his England debut in the 2001 Home
Internationals and also played last year at Royal St David’s.
He recently played a part in helping Europe win the Palmer
Cup in America.
Walker, 32, is an ex boy and youth international and another
who made his full debut in the 2001 Home Internationals. The
Brabazon Trophy winner that same year, he won the German Amateur
in 2002, finished runner-up in the Finnish Amateur, and played
for GB&I in the Eisenhower Trophy in Kuala Lumpur. A winner
of the Portuguese Amateur this year, he also played in the
European Men’s Team Championships before winning the
Scottish Stroke Play Championship at Turnberry.
This will be his third Home Internationals but Wolstenholme,
who will be 43 on 21st August, has been selected for every
Home Internationals since 1988. He became England’s
most capped player during the matches against Spain in May
and followed that by winning the Amateur Championship for
the second time. He was also capped for the European men’s
Team Championships and won the Scottish Stroke Play ahead
of Walker. He is competing this week in the Finnish Amateur
in Helsinki, having just been selected for his fifth Walker
Cup.
The full England team is:
Paul Bradshaw (Gainsborough), Graeme Clark (Doncaster), Colin
Edwards (Bath), Ross Fisher (Wentworth), James Heath (Coombe
Wood), John Kemp (John O’Gaunt), Gary Lockerbie (Penrith),
Michael Skelton (Middlesbrough), David Skinns (Lincoln), Richard
Walker (Frodsham), Gary Wolstenholme (Kilworth Springs)
Reserves: Jamie Moul (Stoke-by-Nayland), Lee Corfield (Burnham
& Berrow), Sam Osborne (Wentworth)
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