ENGLAND BANK ON EXPERIENCE AGAINST EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS
England will field eight members of the side that regained
the Home Internationals title last September for the match
with Spain at Puerta de Hierro Golf Club in Madrid on 15th
and 16th April.
The eight are Lee Corfield, Robert Dinwiddie, Adam Gee, Gary
Lockerbie, Matthew Richardson, James Ruth, Steven Tiley and
Gary Wolstenholme. There is also a recall for Jamie Moul,
currently in the England A Squad, who was a reserve for the
2004 Home Internationals.
“As the reigning European Champions we know Spain are
going to be a tough side to beat. But we have a very strong
team who are certainly capable of winning.” says Anthony
Abraham, England’s Chairman of Selectors.
Both Dinwiddie and Tiley, who marked their full England debuts
in the Home Internationals at Prestwick last September, are
returning from college in America to play. Dinwiddie, the
22 year old from Durham, won six times on the college circuit
in 2004, while Kent-based Tiley, also 22, secured a victory
in the past month across the Atlantic.
Gee, Moul and Ruth were all capped for the first time against
France at Royal St George’s last year, while Gee, 24
from Surrey, recently finished joint second in the South African
Stroke Play Championship.
Corfield, Lockerbie, Richardson and Wolstenholme are all
seasoned campaigners in international golf.
Corfield, 22 from Somerset, made his full England debut in
the 2002 Home Internationals and finished runner-up in last
year’s Amateur Championship at St Andrews.
Cumbria-based Lockerbie, 22, earned his first full cap in
the 2003 Home Internationals, following his victory in the
English Amateur Championship and recently won the Sunningdale
Foursomes with professional Paul Jenkinson.
Richardson, 20, from Middlesex, made his full England debut
in the last match with Spain at Lindrick in 2003 and will
defend the Brabazon Trophy at The Oxfordshire in May.
Wolstenholme, 44, already the most capped English player
of all time, has been part of the England scene since 1988
and has already tasted victory this year in the New South
Wales Medal in Australia.
England have never lost to Spain in these biennial internationals
that date back to 1985. In the most recent match two years
ago, England secured its biggest margin of victory, 17-4 with
three matches halved.
But the Spanish gained revenge two months later when they
beat England 5-2 in the final to win the European title in
The Hague. Of the current team, only Wolstenholme played in
that final.
The England team for Madrid is: Lee Corfield
(Burnham & Berrow), Robert Dinwiddie (Barnard Castle),
Adam Gee (Leatherhead), Gary Lockerbie (Penrith), Jamie Moul
(Stoke by Nayland), Matthew Richardson (The Buckinghamshire),
James Ruth (Tavistock), Steven Tiley (Royal Cinque Ports),
Gary Wolstenholme (Kilworth Springs). Reserve: Lawrence Dodd
(Thetford)
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