BRITISH BOYS CHAMPION NIXON NAMED IN ENGLAND UNDER 18 SQUAD
 The
English Golf Union has named 21 players to form its England
national junior squads for 2007, with 12 boys in the Under
18 Squad and nine in the Under 16 Squad.
Several have already been capped at boys or Under 16 level,
while the Under 16 Squad includes Oscar Sharpe, who holds
every national title from Under 13 to Under 16.
Included in the Under 18 Squad is Matthew Nixon (pictured
left - photo courtesy of Tom Ward), the British Boys Champion.
Three following three players, Billy Fowles from Surrey, Essex-based
Jack Hiluta and Eddie Pepperell from Oxfordshire, all of whom
made their England debuts at boys level in the Boys Home Internationals
in Scotland, also make the Squad.
Nixon, 17, from Ashton-under-Lyne Golf Club, produced a stunning
performance to win the British Boys title at Royal Aberdeen
after becoming, at 16, the youngest player to turn out for
the Lancashire first team.
Fowles, 17, who reached the quarter finals of the British
Boys only to become one of Nixon’s victims, was a member
of the Surrey team in the Boys County Finals at Pannal, while
Hiluta, 17, played for Essex in last year’s Finals at
Little Aston.
Pepperell, 15, won the English Under 14 Championship in 2005
and finished runner-up in the Under 16 Championship for the
McGregor Trophy this year, having been capped at Under 16
level.
Among others in the Under 18 Squad, Liam Brace, 16, from
Suffolk finished tied fifth in the McGregor Trophy after leading
round one, Tommy Fleetwood was a member of the victorious
Lancashire team at Pannal, while Henry Smart was in the Surrey
side.
Several Under 16 caps have been promoted to the Squad including
Adam Best from Yorkshire, Surrey’s Eamonn ‘Stiggy’
Hodgson and Gary King, and Darren Renwick from Sussex.
Northumberland’s Garrick Porteus, 16, reached the third
round of the British Boys Championship and was unbeaten on
his England debut in the Under 16 International with Scotland
at Hartlepool. He also captained the North of England to victory
against Scotland Under 16s, winning both his matches.
England Under 18 Squad
Adam Best (Cleveland)
Liam Brace (Stoke-by-Nayland)
Tommy Fleetwood (Formby Hall)
Bill Fowles (Wentworth)
Jack Hiluta (Chelmsford)
Eamonn ‘Stiggy’ Hodgson (Sunningdale)
Gary King (Tyrrells Wood)
Matthew Nixon (Ashton-under-Lyne)
Eddie Pepperell (Frilford Heath)
Garrick Porteous (Bamburgh Castle)
Darren Renwick (Worthing)
Henry Smart (Walton Heath)
Oscar Sharpe’s inclusion in the Under 16 Squad follows
a sensational season in which he won the Under 16 and Under
15 Championships at Worthing and the Under 14 and Under 13
at Gosforth. The 14 year old also won the North of England
Boys Championship and was capped at Under 16 level against
Spain and Scotland.
Sharpe’s Gloucestershire team-mate Chris Lloyd, who
finished equal third in the Under 14 Championship and tied
sixth with Tom Lewis from Hertfordshire in the North of England
Boys, is also in the Squad as is Lewis, an under 16 cap in
2005.
Cornwall’s Billy Downing, runner-up in the 2003 English
Under 14 Championship when only 11 and fourth in the North
of England Boys this year, is also named along with Jonathan
Bell from Kent, the 2004 Under 14 Champion, and Surrey’s
Tom Berry, all three of whom were in the 2006 Squad.
Also named is Adam Myers from Northamptonshire, the 2005
English Under 16 Champion and another Under 16 cap, as well
as Lancastrian Jack Brooks, the 2003 English Under 14 Champion.
Robert Gowers, 15, is a newcomer to the Squad. A member of
the Hampshire Under 18 and Under 16 sides, he won the Under
16 prize at this year’s South East Boys Championship
after finishing tied fourth.
The Squads will attend training and assessment sessions at
the National Headquarters at Woodhall Spa over the winter,
starting this month.
England Under 16 Squad
Jonathan Bell (Royal Blackheath)
Tom Berry (Wentworth)
Jack Brooks (Pleasington)
Bill Downing (Truro)
Robert Gowers (Brokenhurst Manor)
Tom Lewis (Mid Herts)
Chris Lloyd (The Kendleshire)
Adam Myers (Northants County)
Oscar Sharpe (Minchinhampton)
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