YOUNG TRIO HEAD NORTH SEEKING A SUCCESSFUL FINNISH
Three players who seem destined for greater things have been
selected to represent the English Golf Union in the 54-hole
Finnish Open Amateur Championship at Helsinki Golf Club on
4th-6th August.
James Morrison from Surrey, Yorkshire’s James Mason
and Robert Steele from Warwickshire will seek to extend England’s
success in the event.
Morrison, 20, was a member of the Surrey team that won the
English County Championship at Worksop last autumn and is
enjoying a fine 2005, which began with a successful trip to
Australia last winter. In recent weeks Morrison has finished
runner-up in the Surrey Championship at Royal Mid Surrey after
shooting 63 in the qualifying and he helped Surrey reach the
finals again after winning the South East qualifier at Stoke
Park.
Mason, 23, is one of a successful Rotherham contingent and
achieved his biggest triumph to date when he won the 25th
anniversary Tillman Trophy at Royal Cinque Ports last month.
Prior to that he finished joint runner-up in the West of England
Strokeplay Championship and equalled the course record of
64 in the Lagonda Trophy at Gog Magog, Cambridge.
In 2002, Steele reached the semi-finals of the English Amateur
Championship at Walton Heath when still a teenager. Now 22,
the Kenilworth man, who finished fourth in the County Champions
tournament at Woodhall Spa in 2003, can shoot low scores.
He returned a record 66 in the first round of the Brabazon
Trophy at West Lancs last year and a record-equalling 65 at
Coventry on his way to winning the Midland Open Amateur. This
year, Steele finished joint fourth in the Berkshire Trophy,
qualified for the Open Championship at St Andrews, and is
currently a member of the England B training squad.
The Finnish event has proved successful for English players
in recent years. Ross Fisher won the title in 2003, 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 in each round.
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