BRABAZON TROPHY ATTRACTS PRESTIGE FIELD FROM ACROSS THE
WORLD
 Golfers
from 26 nations, including debutants from Chile, Turkey and
the Ivory Coast, are among a total entry of 410 for the Brabazon
Trophy being played at Ganton Golf Club in North Yorkshire
on 19th - 21st May.
The Brabazon, or to give it its official title, the English
Men’s Open Stroke Play Championship, is one of the most
prestigious events in the world-wide amateur game, and has
attracted arguably the strongest field in Europe. The entry
list is littered with internationals, including five of last
year’s Walker Cup team and all but one of the 12 members
of the European team currently playing Asia in the Sir Michael
Bonallack Trophy in New Zealand.
Apart from those countries already mentioned, there are also
entries from Slovenia, the Czech Republic and the United States
as well as the rest of Europe, while the handicap cut-off
is scratch, with over 50 players in that category on the reserve
list.
Once again, there will be two days of qualifying at Ganton
with 120 players competing on Wednesday 17th May and another
120 on the 18th, the leading 17 from each day plus ties joining
the 105 exempt players for the competition proper.
Among the exempt is Gary Wolstenholme (pictured left - photo
courtesy of Tom Ward) whose portfolio of major victories doesn’t
include the Brabazon. But he has a good chance of redressing
that omission simply because the championship is heading for
glorious Ganton, one of his favourite courses and where he
has already tasted victory.
Wolstenholme knows he will face a strong opposition, not least
from his England colleagues. Also, his Walker Cup team-mate
Lloyd Saltman is defending the title he won at The Oxfordshire
a year ago, while Oliver Fisher and James Crampton, joint
runners-up to the Scot last year, are also competing.
Six times a Walker Cup player, twice Amateur champion, and
the most capped England international, Wolstenholme has come
close to winning the Brabazon but his best finish to date
is third at Hollinwell in 1992. Yet he is optimistic of putting
matters right this year.
“Ganton is one of my favourite courses and it suits
my game,” he says. “It is one of the best inland
courses in the country with fantastic turf and is an excellent
test of golf. It also has one of the finest finishes you can
find.”
Wolstenholme first played at the North Yorkshire venue in
the 1987 Brabazon, the last time the championship was played
there. “I fell in love with the course then because
it is just a majestic place to play,” he adds.
But there is a more pressing reason for the Leicestershire
man’s feeling that this could be his year. He has achieved
key victories at Ganton - in the 1991 Amateur Championship,
when he beat America’s Bob May 8 and 6 in the final,
the 1998 British Mid Amateur Championship, and in the 2003
Walker Cup, when he played a key role in the GB&I success.
“That match was very special because it gave us a third
successive victory,” he recalls. “We received
great support from the Yorkshire crowd on that occasion. They
are avid golf fans up there and I expect many of them will
come along to the Brabazon.”
The Brabazon opens the EGU’s season of championships
but the timing has not always been kind to Wolstenholme. “Traditionally
I don’t play my best golf in Brabazon week,” he
confirmed. “I’m not always in the best of form
but I’m working hard to see that doesn’t happen
this time, while I will be coming off some tough competition
this time.”
He will have played the Sherry Cup in Spain, the Bonallack
Trophy, and the international against France at Medoc in Bordeaux,
a course that possesses many of Ganton‘s characteristics.
This will be the fourth time the Brabazon has been played
at Ganton. Philip Scrutton won on the first occasion in 1952,
while Jeremy Robinson came from behind to win in 1987. In
between, Guy Wolstenholme, Gary’s late father, carried
off the trophy in 1960, which is another reason why another
Ganton victory would be treasured by the England veteran.
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