CHAMPIONS AND INTERNATIONALS LINE UP IN BOYS COUNTY FINALS
A host of national champions and internationals will be
on view when the English Boys County Finals take place at
Pannal Golf Club, Harrogate, Yorkshire, on 29th - 31st August.
The four regional winners taking part are Gloucestershire,
Lancashire, Shropshire & Herefordshire, and Surrey and
all will field players with international experience.
Only Gloucestershire have never won the Boys County title,
but the South West winners are justifiably confident that
they have a good chance of making the breakthrough this time.
Their team includes Oscar Sharpe, the first player to hold
the English under 14 (Reid Trophy) and under 16 (McGregor
Trophy) Championships in the same year and also Adam Carson,
runner-up in the recent Reid Trophy, and Chris Lloyd, third
in the Reid.
Success has denied Lancashire the services of newly-crowned
British Boy champion Matthew Nixon. Following his outstanding
victory at Royal Aberdeen last weekend, Nixon has been included
in the GB&I team to meet Europe in the Jacques Leglise
Trophy in the Czech Republic.
However, the Northern Group winners can also call on internationals
in the shape of Tommy Fleetwood and Jack Senior as well as
Sam Stuart, who has been successful in recent championships.
Fleetwood was runner-up in last year’s English under
16 Championship and was capped at under 16 level against Scotland.
Senior is another under 16 cap while Stuart finished equal
tenth in the Carris Trophy and was a semi-finalist in the
British Boys.
Surrey field internationals in Tim Chatfield and Billy Fowles,
the latter having been capped in this month’s Boys Home
Internationals after which he reached the quarter finals of
the British Boys, while Tommy Hayes finished third in the
Scottish Boys Championship.
Ashley Chesters is Shropshire and Herefordshire’s international,
having been capped at under 16 level against Scotland last
year. He is also a former Midland Boys champion. The Midland
regional champions also include Oliver Farr, the county’s
boy champion, winner of the Eden Trophy at St Andrews recently
and the individual winner in the boys and men’s regional
qualifying. Also pencilled in is Tom Lowery, a Welsh under
16 cap, and Richard Prophet, who moved from Worcestershire
this year and won the Shifnal club championship with a record
score.
Lancashire have the best record in the competition with victories
in their only final appearances, in 1990 and 2001, while Shropshire
and Herefordshire took the title in 1992.
Although Gloucestershire have never been successful, they
were runners-up in the inaugural final in 1986 and again ten
years later, while Surrey won on their only previous final
appearance in 2000.
The County Finals are contested on a round robin basis, each
match consisting of three foursomes and six singles, all over
18 holes. In the first round of matches on 29th August, Gloucestershire
will play Shropshire and Herefordshire, while Lancashire meet
Surrey.
Teams:
Gloucestershire
Stuart Baker (Tewkesbury Park)
Adam Carson (Long Ashton)
Oliver Glaze (The Kendleshire)
Ed Kennedy (Broadway)
Chris Lloyd (The Kendleshire)
Oscar Sharpe (Minchinhampton)
Kyle Trewin (The Kendleshire)
Lancashire
Martin Edge (Hesketh)
Tommy Fleetwood (Formby Hall)
Steven McGlynn (Blackburn)
James Robinson (Southport & Ainsdale)
Jack Senior (Heysham)
Sam Stuart (Chorley)
Michael Williams (Formby Hall)
Shropshire & Herefordshire
Sam Baker (Burghill Valley)
Jamie Britain (Shifnal)
Ashley Chesters (Hawkstone Park)
Matthew Davies (Kington)
Oliver Farr (Ludlow)
Tom Lowery (Ludlow)
Ricky Pharo (Hawkstone Park)
Richard Prophet (Shifnal)
Surrey
Tom Berry (Wentworth)
Tim Chatfield (Clandon Regis)
Tom Hayes (West Byfleet)
Billy Fowles (Wentworth)
Andrew Cooley (Chobham)
Henry Smart (Walton Heath)
Leigh Smith (Surrey National)
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