TEENAGE QUARTET OFF TO SOUTH AFRICA
 Four
members of England's Under 18 Squad are off to the sunshine
of South Africa in the New Year to compete in an inaugural
Quadrangular Match against Canada, the Netherlands and hosts
South Africa.
The group, which will comprise Ashley Chesters from Shropshire,
Hampshire's Sam Hutsby, Dale Smith from Yorkshire, and Hertfordshire's
James Watts, will carry English hopes in the tournament being
staged at Mabalingwe Golf and Country Club on 15th - 18th
January.
Chesters, at 16 will be the youngest of the group but is
an emerging talent. He is the reigning Midland boys champion
and has been capped at under 16 level over the past two years
including recently against Scotland under 16s and the English
Girls under 18 team.
The other three players called up are all 17 year olds.
Hutsby, capped at under 16 level last year, moved up to the
boys team in 2005 and helped England successfully defend the
Boys Home Internationals at Woodhall Spa. He also represented
the EGU in the German Junior Masters and the Turkish Amateur.
Smith, another under 16 cap, helped Yorkshire to a share
of the Boys County Championship in 2004 and win the title
this year. He has been a member of the under 18 squad for
two years.
Watts was a team-mate of Hutsby in the victorious Boys Home
Internationals side and also played in the Turkish Amateur
this summer. Another former under 16 international, he won
the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters in June.
The quadrangular contest will involve two foursomes and four
singles each day,
The Mabalingwe Country Club course was voted the best new
course in South Africa by Golf Digest magazine in 2004. It
is the work of Peter Matkovitch, renowned designer of several
layouts in southern Africa including Leopard Rock, lies within
1200 hectares of bushveld around an hour and a half north
of Pretoria and has its own game reserve.
Prior to arriving at Mabalingwe, the team, minus Watts, will
compete in the Ernie Els Junior Tournament at Glendower in
Johannesburg on 12th and 13th January. This is a 54-hole stroke
play tournament with a cut after the first round, the leading
60 players and ties contesting the final two rounds. Watts,
who has school examinations to complete, is delaying his travel
to South Africa and will join the others in Johannesburg after
the Ernie Els Tournament.
England Team:
Ashley Chesters (Hawkstone Park)
Sam Hutsby (Lee-on-Solent)
Dale Smith (Saltburn)
James Watts (East Herts)
Non-travelling reserve: Jack Hiluta (Chelmsford)
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