FOUR NEW CAPS IN BOYS HOME INTERNATIONALS SQUAD
Daniel Denison and Grant Slater, joint winners of the Carris
Trophy at Burnham and Berrow last week, and third-placed Alex
MacGregor have been named in the England squad for the Boys
Home Internationals at Royal St David's, Harlech, Wales, on
5-7 August.
Slater, 17, from the Carlyon Bay club in Cornwall, is one
of four new caps in the 11-strong squad that will defend the
trophy England won convincingly in 2002 in Scotland. Under
the captaincy of Paul Waring (Bromborough), the other newcomers
are Andrew Bravant from Hertfordshire, Paul Grannell from
Cheshire and Essex champion Lloyd Kennedy.
The rest of the line-up is Ben Evans (Rye), Martyn Hamer
(Worsley Park Marriott), Tommy Hunter (Ilford) and James Ruth
(Tavistock).
Waring is the lone survivor from the team that emerged victorious
in last year's Home Internationals at Blairgowrie, when Ruth
was a reserve.
Slater, who led throughout the Carris Trophy only to be caught
by Denison, is a former Cornwall Boys and South West Boys
champion. He was capped at under-16 level against Scotland
and the England Girls under-18 side last year and is a member
of England's School of Excellence.
Bravant, the 18 year old son of the secretary at South Herts
Golf Club, has been a prominent performer in recent years.
After losing to Spanish ace Pablo Martin, in the first round
of last year's British Boys Championship, he has finished
third in the Hertfordshire Boys, sixth in the McEvoy Trophy
and equalled the Cooden Beach course record with 67 in the
Boys South East Qualifying. He was well placed in the Carris
until he fired a final round of 80.
Grannell, 17, came close to earning his first under-18 cap
when he was named as reserve for the team that contested the
Westfriese Junior Masters in Holland a few weeks ago. A former
under-16 international, he won the Faldo Series event at Carden
Park this year and carded a 69, the lowest return of the final
round, to finish joint tenth in last week's Carris Trophy.
Another member of the School of Excellence, 18 year old Kennedy
won the Essex title at Hainault last month with an 11 under
par total of 277, winning by five shots from Hunter and by
eight from England under-16 international Oliver Fisher.
Denison, 18, was a member of the Yorkshire team that won
the English Boys County Championship last year and was the
individual winner in the Yorkshire Inter Union Junior Team
Championship. This year, he made his under-18 debut in the
Westfriese Junior Masters in Holland and also played in the
European Boys Team Championships in the Czech Republic. His
joint victory with Slater in the Carris Trophy was his first
national title.
Evans, who won't turn 17 until December, is the youngest
member of the team. But he has been an under-16 international
for the past two years after finishing runner-up in the English
Under-14 Championship in 2000. A member of the School of Excellence
for the last two years, he also made his under-18 debut in
the Westfriese Junior Masters.
Hamer, the Lancashire Boys champion, was another to make
his under-18 debut in Holland before being a member of the
England team for the European Boys Team Championships. The
17 year old son of former England international Stephen Hamer,
he was capped at under-16 level in 2001 and was a member of
the winning Lancashire team in the Boys County Finals that
same year.
Hunter, who will celebrate his 18th birthday on the opening
day at Royal St David's, has enjoyed an eventful summer. After
winning the McEvoy Trophy in April, he was named as reserve
for the World Boys Team Championships in Japan, then earned
his first under-18 call-up for the Westfriese event where
he finished tied fourth.
When the team for the European Boys Team Championships was
announced he was again named as reserve but stepped into the
squad for the Czech Republic when Gary Boyd pulled out through
injury. He also finished runner-up to Lloyd Kennedy in the
Essex Championship.
MacGregor has been an under-16 international for the past
two years and also made his under-18 debut in the Westfriese
Masters. Standing 6' 4" tall and only 17, the Cornishman
finished seventh in the McEvoy Trophy in April and finished
a shot behind the winners in last week's Carris Trophy.
Ruth, 18, is the third West Countryman in the team. He made
his under-18 debut in the European Boys Team Championships
last month, an honour that followed two years as an under-16
cap culminating in his selection for the World Boys Team Championships
in Japan last month. In individual events, the Tavistock teenager
finished third in the 2000 McGregor Trophy, third in last
year's McEvoy Trophy, while winning the South West Boys Championship.
This year he won the Bernard Darwin Trophy at Rye, shooting
a course record 66 in the process.
The 2001 McGregor Trophy was Waring's first major success,
while the 18 year old from Cheshire was capped at under-16
level against Italy and Scotland as well as helping England
to victory in the Boys Home Internationals. Last year he won
the Cheshire Boys Championship, finished third in the McEvoy
Trophy, and was a member of the GB&I team in the Jacques
Leglise Trophy.
Waring has already had two representative call-ups this year,
for the World Boys Team Championships in Japan and the European
Boys in the Czech Republic before being appointed England
Boys captain.
England has won the Boys Home Internationals for the past
five years. Previous to that Ireland were the winners in 1997.
The full team for Royal St David's is:
Paul Waring (Bromborough), Andrew Bravant (South Herts),
Daniel Denison (Howley Hall),
Ben Evans (Rye), Paul Grannell (Sandiway), Martyn Hamer (Worsley
Park Marriott),
Tommy Hunter (Ilford), Lloyd Kennedy (Chelmsford), Alex MacGregor
(Killiow),
James Ruth (Tavistock), Grant Slater (Carlyon Bay). Non-travelling
reserve: David Horsey (Styal).
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