ENGLAND SEEK FURTHER SUCCESS IN FINLAND
Michael Skelton (Middlesbrough GC), Lawrence Dodd (Thetford
GC) and James Ruth (Tavistock GC), all squad members of the
EGU’s World Class Performance Programme will represent
England in the 54-hole Finnish Open Amateur Championship at
Helsinki Golf Club on 5th-7th August, just a few weeks after
England won the European Boys Team Championships in Finland.
Elite Squad member Skelton enjoyed a highly successful 2003
in which he won the Welsh Open Amateur and finished runner-up
in the English Championship, two performances that heralded
a full England debut in the Home Internationals in Ireland.
Before that he earned selection for the Walker Cup team at
Ganton last September and helped GB&I win the trophy for
the third successive time. He is a member of the Walker Cup
squad for next year’s matches in Chicago.
He was a member of the England team that won the Sherry Cup
in Spain earlier this year and was also called up for the
international with France at Royal St George’s in May.
A Squad member Dodd, 20, won the Greek Amateur Championship
on his first foreign assignment last year and he has made
continued progress this season, finishing runner-up in the
West of England Stroke Play Championship and in the Peugeot
Classic in France.
In the latter, Dodd, along with fellow A Squad members James
Smith and Paul Waring, won the Nations Cup for England.
A Squad member Ruth, 19, a former under 16 and boy international,
earned his first full England cap against France at Royal
St George’s, gaining a late call as replacement for
the injured Ross Fisher.
Among Ruth’s recent successes have been victories in
the Barnard Darwin Trophy last year, when he also helped Devon
triumph in the English County Championship, while this year
he won the Berkhamsted Trophy and the Royal North Devon Easter
Medal with a course record 66.
England has enjoyed success in the Finnish event in recent
years. Ross Fisher won the title last year, beating Gary Wolstenholme
in a play-off, while Wolstenholme won the title in 1996.
Apart from the individual championship, England have also
been successful in the Nations Cup which is decided over the
opening 36 holes, the best two cards to count. Two years ago
the trio of Lee Corfield, Jonathan Lupton and Richard Walker
won the title by a shot.
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