ENGLAND QUARTET SEEK AN AUSTRALIAN DOUBLE
Four members of England's World Class Performance Programme
Elite Group of players will head for Australia towards the
end of January to compete in the Lake Macquarie tournament
and the New South Wales Medal.
English Champion Gary Lockerbie, Sam Osborne, Matthew Richardson
and Martin Sell will all be making their first visits down
under starting with the Lake Macquarie event, which is scheduled
for Belmont Golf Club on 23-26 January.
Lockerbie is in top form at the moment having won the individual
crown as well as partnering Michael Skelton to the team title
for England in the Juan Carlos Tailhade Cup in Buenos Aires
before Christmas.
The 21 year old from Penrith won the English Amateur Championship
by defeating Skelton in the final at Alwoodley in Leeds, which
prompted the selectors to hand him his full England debut
in the Home Internationals at Ballybunion.
Osborne is on the verge of making his full England debut
after being named as reserve for last September's Home Internationals.
This followed an impressive run to the quarter finals of the
Amateur Championship, third place finish in the Lagonda Trophy
and tied fourth in St Andrews Links Trophy.
The 22 year old from the Wentworth Club reached the semi-finals
of the English Amateur in 2002 at Walton Heath and he represented
England in the Chiberta Grand Prix in France in July.
Richardson, who was Middlesex Boys Champion in 2001, has
been on the international scene for the past three years.
He was the individual winner in the World Boys Team Championships
in Japan in 2002 and also played in the European Boys Team
Championships and the Boys Home Internationals.
That year he reached the semi-finals of the British Boys
Championship, represented GB&I in the Jacques Leglise
Trophy in Switzerland, and finished runner-up in the Daily
Telegraph Junior Championship in Sun City.
Last year the 19 year old from the Pinner Hill club earned
a place in the Elite Squad and made his full international
debut against Spain at Lindrick in May. Matthew also reached
the quarter finals of the Spanish and Portuguese Amateur Championships
last spring.
Since reaching the final of the Amateur Championship in 2002,
only to lose to Spain's Alejandro Larrazabal, Sell has been
producing quality golf. He was named in England's Potential
'A' Squad last year and, like Richardson, made his full international
debut against the Spanish at Lindrick.
On the individual front, the 24 year old from Wiltshire won
the Hampshire Hog and Hampshire Salver, finished runner-up
in the West of England Stroke Play Championship and Selborne
Salver and reached the third round of the Amateur Championship.
A fifth Englishman will be in the Lake Macquarie field. Although
not part of the official England party, Gary Wolstenholme
has received an invitation from the organisers.
It will be the Walker Cup star's seventh appearance in the
event and despite his many successes, the Aussie title has
eluded Wolstenholme's grasp. The closest he has come was in
1998 when he lost to Brett Rumford in a play-off.
Leading golfing nations from around the world send teams
to Belmont while the Australians will, as usual, be tough
to beat. So the event will provide the England players with
stern early year competition.
English players have won the prestigious tournament on three
occasions, through Russell Claydon in 1989, Ricky Willison
in 1991 and Nick Dougherty three years ago. Last year Jonathan
Lupton and Richard Finch, now professionals, finished equal
fourth.
The NSW Medal is a 72-hole competition to be played from
31st January to 2nd February, one round each over the St Michaels
and Moore Park courses on the first two days, after which
the leading players tackle 36 holes at St Michaels on the
final day.
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