WOLSTENHOLME SEEKS ANOTHER AUSSIE TITLE
Gary Wolstenholme has the chance to land a swift Down Under
double after being included in a four-strong party of Elite
Squad members to represent the English Golf Union in the Riversdale
Cup and the 100th Australian Amateur Championship later this
month.
The veteran England International and Walker Cup star won
the New South Wales Medal near Sydney at the start of February
and now has the opportunity to add to his ever increasing
tally of international successes in Melbourne.
Wolstenholme will be accompanied to Australia by Lee Corfield,
Matthew Richardson and Michael Skelton, all four players having
recently returned from competing in the Jones Cup in America.
The Riversdale Cup will be played over 72 holes of stroke
play at the Riversdale Golf Club, Mount Waverley, Melbourne,
on 11th–14th March, while the Australian Amateur is
scheduled for 17th–20th March at Royal Melbourne (West
Course) and Woodlands Golf Club, followed by the match play
stages over the next three days.
Melbourne will be nothing new to Wolstenholme. The 44 year
old spent a year at Melbourne Grammar School during his youth
when living in the city with his late father Guy, so the two
events will present something of a ‘homecoming’
for England’s most capped International.
"I lived in Melbourne for a year in 1973-74 but I wasn’t
playing serious golf then," says Wolstenholme. "I
have played Royal Melbourne. I was invited for a round with
former Open Champion Peter Thomson some years ago, which was
a great honour. I don’t know the other courses but Riversdale
is not one of the longest so it might suit my game. Having
broken my duck in Australia in the New South Wales Medal it
would be nice to do well in the Aussie Amateur, especially
as it’s the centenary event."
Corfield, 22, a full England cap since 2002, finished runner-up
in last year’s Amateur Championship at St Andrews. He
is also a former winner of the Lytham Trophy and the West
of England Stroke Play and helped England triumph in the Sherry
Cup last year.
Richardson, 20, has enjoyed a string of successes in recent
years at boys and senior levels, culminating in his victory
in the Brabazon Trophy at West Lancs last May. His triumph
in the European Amateur last August was the first by an Englishman
for 13 years and he also represented GB&I in the St Andrews
Trophy and England in the Home Internationals and the Eisenhower
Trophy.
Skelton, 20, was the youngest member of the Walker Cup team
that beat the United States at Ganton in 2003, having just
made his senior England debut in the Home Internationals at
Ballybunion. A former English under 16 champion, he enjoyed
a successful 2003, winning the Henriques Salver for the best
under 20 score in the Brabazon Trophy, before lifting the
Welsh Stroke Play Championship. He was also runner-up to Gary
Lockerbie in the English Amateur Championship.
The Riversdale Cup is 110 years old this year and one of
Australia’s premier amateur events, having started in
1896. A total of 215 entries were received for the 156 places
available.
The Australian Amateur is the country’s oldest championship,
having been inaugurated in 1894. There are 72 holes of stroke
play with a halfway cut to the leading 100 players and ties.
The top 32 players after 72 holes will qualify for the match
play stages.
EGU Performance Director Nigel Furniss commented “This
is another great opportunity for members of the Elite Squad
to compete against international fields at quality venues.
I expect Gary, Lee, Matt and Mike to be pushing for the titles
on offer in Australia.”
The only English winner of the Australian title in recent
years has been Warren Bennett in 1994, while other past champions
include Michael Campbell, Greg Chalmers and Matthew Goggin.
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