ENGLAND CAP THREE NEWCOMERS AGAINST FRANCE
England will field three new caps but will be without the
experience of David Skinns, Richard Walker and Gary Wolstenholme
for the bi-annual international with France at Royal St George's,
Sandwich, on 8-9 May.
The three newcomers are Adam Gee and Sam Osborne from Surrey,
and Suffolk's Jamie Moul, while the rest of the squad is Lee
Corfield, Ross Fisher, James Heath, Gary Lockerbie, Matthew
Richardson and Michael Skelton.
Wolstenholme, the most capped English player in history and
a member of five Walker Cup teams, is absent because he has
accepted an invitation to compete in the clashing British
Masters at Marriott Forest of Arden on the European Tour.
Gee, the 23 year old from Leatherhead, has come to the fore
over the past year and is now a member of the England ‘A’
Squad. Last summer he finished runner-up in the South East
Qualifying and the Midland Amateur and was third in the Tillman
Trophy at Moortown.
This year, he qualified for the match play stages of the
Spanish Amateur at Desert Springs and reached the semi-finals
of the Portuguese Amateur at Quinta de Cima. He knows his
way around Royal St George's, having won the Grand Challenge
Cup there in 2001.
Moul, 19 from the Stoke-by-Nayland club, was a reserve for
last year's Home Internationals in Ireland and his elevation
to the senior squad comes in the wake of two highly successful
years. In 2002 he won the Hampshire Salver, while finishing
runner-up in the Hampshire Hog, Selborne Salver and the Carris
Trophy. Moul was also capped for the European Boys Team Championships
and the Boys Home Internationals as well as for GB&I in
the Jacques Leglise Trophy where he was unbeaten.
Last year the Colchester-based youngster finished third in
the Irish Open Amateur and joint fourth in the Welsh Amateur
Stroke play, lost a play-off for the Suffolk Amateur Championship
but came out on top in the South East Qualifying at Ealing
after a second round 62.
Moul moved into the England Elite Squad last autumn and this
term has been to South Africa and Puerto Rico on England training
and to the United States for the Hall of Fame tournament.
Osborne, also a reserve for last September's Home Internationals,
reached the quarter-finals of the Amateur Championship and
finished third in the St Andrews Links and the Lagonda Trophies.
The 22 year old from the Wentworth club reached the semi-finals
of the English Amateur in 2002 and, with Moul, represented
England in the Chiberta Grand Prix in France last summer.
He was also included in the Elite Squad in October and went
to Australia for the Lake Macquarie tournament and the New
South Wales Medal early this year.
Corfield, the 21 year old from Somerset, made his full debut
in the 2002 Home Internationals in Wales, having just been
included in the Elite Squad. Last year, he finished runner-up
in the St Andrews Links and the St Mellion Trophies and was
a reserve for the Home Internationals in Ireland.
This year he has also been to South Africa and Puerto Rice
on England training trips. Fisher, 23, has been a fast-emerging
talent in recent years; a fact confirmed when he and professional
Simon Griffiths won the Sunningdale Fouromes last months for
the second successive year.
The big-hitter from Wentworth made his full England debut
in the European Men's Team Championship in Holland last July,
having just finished as joint winner of the Berkshire Trophy
with Australian, Andrew Blyth.
This year, Fisher has represented England in the United States
as well as being a member of the training squads in South
Africa and Puerto Rico.
Heath, 21, yet another Surrey man, was capped at full level
for the first time in last year's Home Internationals, having
been an under-16 and boy cap. A former winner of the McGregor
Trophy and of the Greek Amateur, 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.
He was also a member of the squad in Puerto Rico and helped
England to the runners-up spot in the Costa Ballena Quadrangular
match in Spain a few weeks ago.
Lockerbie, 21, the reigning English Champion following his
victory over Skelton at Alwoodley last summer, is a former
under-18 title holder. The young man from Cumbria was added
to the Elite Squad in late 2002 and has enjoyed a successful
season last year with top-ten finishes in several of the major
championships.
He was called into the full England side for his debut in
last September's Home Internationals, and then travelled to
Argentina with Skelton to win the Juan Carlos Tailhade Cup
for England. He is another who has been to Australia and South
Africa this year.
Richardson, 19, made his full England debut this time last
year in the victory over Spain at Lindrick. A winner of the
McEvoy Trophy in 2002, he went on to take the individual title
at the World Boys Team Championships in Japan and was a semi-finalist
in the British Boys at Carnoustie.
Last year, prior to winning his first senior cap, Richardson
reached the quarter-finals of the Spanish and Portuguese Amateur
Championships. This year, he has been to Australia for two
tournaments, for warm-weather training in South Africa, and
to Spain for the Costa Ballena match.
Skelton, who won't turn 20 until June, enjoyed a highly successful
2003 in which he won the Welsh Open Amateur and finished runner-up
to Lockerbie in the English Championship, two performances
that heralded a full England debut in the Home Internationals.
Before that he earned a call-up for the Walker Cup team at
Ganton and was the baby of the side that won the trophy for
the third successive time. After playing for Yorkshire in
the County Finals at Formby, he teamed up with Lockerbie for
the victory in Argentina and has also been to South Africa
and Puerto Rico this year.
Skelton, Corfield and Fisher along with the absent Walker,
who asked not to be selected for personal reasons, recently
won the Sherry Cup for England at Sotogrande. Lincolnshire's
David Skinns was not considered for selection because he has
examinations at college in America.
The inclusion of Gee and Osborne means that there are four
Surrey players in the squad, while the absence of Walker and
Wolstenholme means that England will field its youngest squad
for some time. There are three teenagers in the line-up while
the average age is less than 21.
England has a glowing record against the French. Since the
inaugural match in 1934, the French have won just three times.
They edged home 5-4 in 1939 at Morfontaine but had to wait
until 1996 for another win when they triumphed 15-9 at Sunningdale,
their only success on English soil, while they also won in
1998 at Les Bordes.
Two years ago at Chantilly, England secured a crushing 16-5
success with three matches halved.
Team:
Lee Corfield (Burnham & Berrow), Ross Fisher (Wentworth),
Adam Gee (Leatherhead),
James Heath (Coombe Wood), Gary Lockerbie (Penrith), Jamie
Moul (Stoke-by-Nayland),
Sam Osborne (Wentworth), Matthew Richardson (The Buckinghamshire),
Michael Skelton (Middlesbrough). Reserves to be named later.
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