Fisher included in Costa Ballena squad
 Oliver
Fisher, the youngest ever Walker Cup player, is included in
a strong England team to compete in the Costa Ballena Quadrangular
match in Spain at the end of January.
The 17 year old from Essex (pictured left) will line up alongside
Elite Squad members David Horsey, John Parry, James Ruth and
Paul Waring, plus A Squad member Gary Boyd at Place Costa
Ballena Golf Club on 25th - 27th January.
Fisher has enjoyed a superb 2005. After helping England to
third place in the Toyota World Junior Golf Cup Challenge
in Japan, he made his full England debut in the victorious
six-man squad that won the European Men's Team Championships
at Hillside in July. He was unbeaten in his singles during
the Walker Cup in Chicago when he became the youngest ever
GB&I player, just short of his 17th birthday, was a member
of England's Home Internationals team and helped win the mixed
Spirit International in America. In individual events, Fisher
finished joint runner-up in the Brabazon Trophy, reached the
semi-finals of the Amateur Championship and the England Amateur
Championship before tasting victory in the Duke of York Champions
Trophy, the Daily Telegraph Junior Championship and the final
of the Faldo Series.
Horsey, whose career hit a new level when he reached the
final of the English Amateur at Hollinwell in 2004, has also
scaled the heights this year. The 20 year old won the Cheshire
Championship to earn a place in the English Champions Tournament
which he took by storm, winning by seven strokes after shooting
a closing 64, two shots inside the course record at Woodhall
Spa. He recently partnered Gary Wolstenholme in the Juan Carlos
Tailhade Cup in Argentina following his inclusion in the Elite
Squad for 2006.
Parry, the Yorkshire champion, who finished joint third to
Horsey at Woodhall Spa, won the Danish Amateur Championship
during the summer. That earned him an entry to the Vietnam
Open on the Asian Tour in which he played all four rounds.
The 19 year old from Harrogate, a former boy international
and winner of the McEvoy Trophy, was also fourth in the inaugural
South of England Stroke Play Championship at Walton Heath
and helped Yorkshire win the English County Championship.
Ruth, 20, from Devon, has been capped at all levels over
the past five years and has represented England at home and
abroad. He made his full England debut against France at Sandwich
last year when included in the Elite Squad for the first time
and also played in the Home Internationals. He also helped
his club Tavistock win the English Champion Club Tournament
and played for Devon in the County Finals as he did again
this autumn. A former winner of the Berkhamsted Trophy, this
year he has won the St Mellion International, finished third
in the Berkshire Trophy, represented England against Spain
and again in the Home Internationals and reached the last
16 of the English Amateur.
This year has also been a defining time for Waring. After
enjoying a successful international career at under 16, boys
and youth levels, the Cheshire lad sustained what proved to
be a long-standing injury in the autumn of 2004 which sidelined
him for the best part of a year. He celebrated his recovery
by becoming English champion over his home course at Bromborough
in July then made his long overdue full England debut in September's
Home Internationals at Royal St George's.
Boyd has been on the England scene for several years but
is still only 19, having won the EGU Gold Medal as an 11 year
old back in 1998. Capped at under 16 and boys levels, he was
Midland Youths champion last year, finished third in the Carris
Trophy (under 18s), and represented GB&I in the Jacques
Leglise Trophy. This year, Northamptonshire-based Boyd finished
runner-up in the Hampshire Hog, reached the quarterfinals
of the English Amateur and represented the EGU in the Chiberta
Grand Prix in France, the Saab International and European
Amateur Championship, both in Belgium.
The inaugural International Match Costa Ballena Golf in 2001
saw England emerge victorious against Germany, Sweden and
Spain, a success that was followed by successive runners-up
spots. However, victory was achieved again when the tournament
was staged last January.
Like last year, the team will face opposition from Finland,
Germany and Spain in a competition that is played on a round
robin basis, each match comprising three morning foursomes
and six afternoon singles.
England Team:
Gary Boyd (Northants County)
Oliver Fisher (West Essex)
David Horsey (Styal)
John Parry (Harrogate)
James Ruth (Tavistock)
Paul Waring (Bromborough)
Non-travelling reserves: Matthew Baldwin
(Royal Birkdale) and James Morrison (St George's Hill)
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