DODD SEEKS SECOND SUCCESS AT COSTA BALLENA
Lawrence Dodd, winner of the Greek Amateur Championship last
October on his maiden foreign assignment, is included in the
six-strong England team to compete in the Costa Ballena Quadrangular
match in Spain at the end of the month.
When given his first overseas chance in Greece last October,
Dodd grasped it with both hands, winning the title by ten
strokes from his Suffolk teammate Jamie Moul.
Suffolk-based Dodd and fellow 20 year old, James Heath from
Surrey are the oldest members of a party which is completed
by four teenagers, Danny Denison, James Smith, Matthew Richardson
and Paul Waring.
The team will face opposition from Finland, Germany and Spain
at Costa Ballena on 25th – 27th February and, as members
of various England squads, will gain invaluable international
competition in preparation for the coming season.
Dodd has enjoyed a highly successful career within Suffolk
and East Anglian golf. The 20-year-old from Bury St Edmunds
has won the Suffolk Championship on three occasions and is
a past match play champion of the county. He is also a former
champion at Bury St Edmunds and is the course record holder
at the club.
However, although he recently joined Thetford in Norfolk,
he will continue to play for his native county.
Heath, recently returned from college in America, is a former
under 16 champion and boy international. He was capped by
GB&I at boys’ level in 2001 and reached the semi-finals
of the British Boys’ that year at Ganton. In 2002 he
finished runner-up in the European Amateur Championship in
Portugal and preceded Dodd as the winner of the Greek Amateur.
The 20-year-old reigning Surrey champion was a member of
the 2003 Walker Cup squad and after missing out on that was
called up by England for his full debut in last September’s
Home Internationals.
Denison, who will turn 19 on 14th February, has helped Yorkshire
win the Boys’ County Finals for the past two years and
capped a successful 2003 by finishing as joint winner of the
Carris Trophy, the boys’ under-18 championship. He also
made his international debut in the European Boys’ Team
Championships in the Czech Republic then played in the Boys’
Home Internationals and for GB&I in the Jacques Leglise
Trophy.
A member of England’s A squad; Denison represented
England in the Orange Bowl in Florida just after Christmas.
Smith, the 2002 Kent Boy champion, has been included in England’s
A squad for 2004 after enjoying a successful season last year.
As a member of the School of Excellence, he represented England
in Japan and the Czech Republic and capped a fine year by
winning the Tillman Trophy at Moortown.
Prior to travelling to Spain, Smith will be in Calcutta as
part of an England squad competing in the All India Amateur
Championship.
Richardson, 18, from Middlesex, enjoyed a highly successful
2002 in which he won the individual title at the World Boys’
Team Championships in Japan and also played in the European
Boys’ Team Championships and the Boys’ Home Internationals.
He was also a semi-finalist in the British Boys’ Championship
at Carnoustie and was then called into England’s Elite
Squad for 2003.
He was a member of the squad at Costa Ballena a year ago,
where he won five of his six matches. He also reached the
quarterfinals of the Spanish and Portuguese Amateur Championships
a year ago and after maintaining his place in the Elite Squad,
has already been to South Africa and Australia with England
in recent weeks.
Waring, 19, from Cheshire, is a former under 16 international
and last year’s England boy captain. A prominent player
on the boys’ international scene for the past three
years, Waring has represented England in Japan, the Czech
Republic and Wales for the Boys Home Internationals as well
as GB&I in the Jacques Leglise Trophy.
England Captain Cec Bloice, who will accompany the team along
with coach Graham Walker, says: “Heath and Richardson
have talent in abundance and give the team experience, for
the rest it will be interesting to see how they cope with
playing at this level.
“I want to win the tournament and I think we have a
great chance if the players play to their ability. As long
as each player shows the right attitude and give a good account
of themselves that will be fine for me.”
The inaugural International Match Costa Ballena Golf was
played in November 2001 against Germany, Sweden and Spain,
with England emerging victorious. But a year ago England were
pipped by Spain on the final day, going down 6-3.
The Costa Ballena competition is played on a round robin
basis, each match comprising three morning foursomes and six
afternoon singles.
England Team:
Daniel Denison (Howley Hall)
Lawrence Dodd (Thetford)
James Heath (Coombe Wood)
Matthew Richardson (Pinner Hill)
James Smith (Sundridge Park)
Paul Waring (Bromborough)
Captain and Team Manager – Cecil Bloice
Coach – Graham Walker
|