WOLSTENHOLME SEEKS MISSING LINK AT ALWOODLEY
Gary Wolstenholme, England's most capped player, can achieve
two more milestones in his distinguished career when the English
Amateur Championship gets underway at Alwoodley Golf Club
in Leeds on Monday 28 July.
The 42-year-old from Leicestershire amazed everyone when
he won his second Amateur Championship at Royal Troon last
month, but he has yet to win the English title. It is a major
omission on his vast portfolio but if he could succeed at
Alwoodley he would become only the second Englishman to hold
both titles simultaneously.
Michael Bonallack performed the feat twice, in 1965 and '68,
when at the height of his powers. And Wolstenholme, the Director
of Golf at Kilworth Springs Golf Club, has another incentive
in that his late father Guy was English champion in 1956 and
'59.
In the Championship, which runs from Monday 28 July to Saturday
2 August, Wolstenholme begins his bid at 11.16am on Monday
against Craig Morrow (Ulverston).
Reigning champion Richard Finch has been given a day off
before beginning his defence in his native Yorkshire. He will
not be called on until 9.24am on Tuesday when he faces an
all-Yorkshire first round tie against Steven Uzzell (Ganstead
Park).
Finch, 26, from Hull Golf Club, won the title at Walton Heath
a year ago, beating Giles Legg from Dorset 6 and 5 in the
36-hole final. Legg, the Secretary/Manager at Dudsbury Golf
Club, is in the field again and a Monday starter against Joe
Ferguson (Cleobury Mortimer).
Finch is one of the 16 seeded players, Wolstenholme included,
only three of whom have not been capped by England at full
international level. They are James Heath, Sam Osborne, and
Gary Lockerbie.
The 20-year-old Heath (Coombe Wood) is a member of the 2003
Walker Cup squad as well as England's Potential 'A' squad
and has been an under-16 and boy international since 1998.
His first round opponent on the Monday is James Shield (The
Oxfordshire).
Osborne, 21, from the Wentworth Club, reached the semi-finals
last year before being beaten by Finch, and battled through
to the quarter-finals of this year's Amateur Championship.
He also has a Monday tie against fellow Surrey man Ryan Harrison
(Bramley).
Lockerbie has come close to a full cap, having been named
as reserve for last year's Home Internationals and having
represented England in this year's Spanish and Portuguese
Amateur Championships. The 20-year-old from Penrith, a former
Carris Trophy winner, opens up with a first round tie against
Nick Korynevsky (Cumberwell Park), also on Monday.
Martin Sell (Wrag Barn), beaten finalist in last year's Amateur
Championship at Royal Porthcawl, takes on Jon Poulton (Leatherhead)
on Monday, while Richard Walker (Frodsham), the reigning Portuguese
Open Amateur champion, tackles Alex Smith (Walsall).
Other seeds with Monday ties are Oliver Wilson (Coxmoor)
against Steven Mitchell (Chart Hills), Paul Bradshaw (Gainsborough)
against Adam Ward (Whittington Heath), Yasin Ali (Ealing)
against Matthew Allen (Horne Park), and Brabazon Trophy winner
Jonathan Lupton (Middlesbrough), the first seed in action
at 7.32am in a Roses battle against Michael Jones (Royal Liverpool).
Lee Corfield (Burnham & Berrow), 20, is the first seed
on the tee at 7.24am when the opening round continues on Tuesday.
He faces a tough tie with 29-year-old Greg Evans (Ealing),
winner of the English County Champions Tournament last year
and a quarter finalist in the Spanish Amateur last February.
Ross Fisher (Wentworth), 22, just capped for the first time
in the European Men's Team Championships, takes on Lancashire's
Joe Senior (Heysham), while Matthew Richardson, who made his
England debut against Spain at Lindrick in May, faces Andrew
Herridge from nearby Pannal.
David Skinns (Lincoln), 21, back from college in the United
States, has a potentially tricky tie with Jonathan Young (Brokenhurst
Manor), while Graeme Clark (Doncaster) is the last seed in
action in one of the final first round ties against Edward
Richardson (Southern Valley) at lunchtime on Tuesday.
This will be the first occasion that the English Amateur
has been staged at Alwoodley, but not the first time in Leeds.
Nearby Moortown Golf Club has hosted the Championships on
four occasions, the most recent being in 1994 when Mark Foster
won the first of his two successive titles.
A total of 256 players will line up for the first round.
Play starts at 7am on Monday 28 July and the Championship
reaches its climax on the following Saturday when the final
will be staged over 36 holes.
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