THREE NEWCOMERS IN ENGLAND UNDER-16 SIDE TO FACE SCOTLAND
England
will field three players new to international team golf for
the annual under-16 clash with Scotland at Hartlepool Golf
Club on Sunday 8th October.
The three are Liam Brace (Stoke by Nayland), Gary King (Tyrrells
Wood) and Garrick Porteus (Bamburgh Castle).
The rest of the line-up is Billy Downing (Truro), Tommy Fleetwood
(Formby Hall), Eamonn Hodgson (Sunningdale), Adam Myers (Northants
County), Eddie Pepperell (Frilford Heath), Darren Renwick
(Worthing), and Oscar Sharpe (Minchinhampton).
Brace, pictured (photo courtesy of Tom Ward), is an emerging
talent from the Stoke-by-Nayland Golf Club in Suffolk that
has produced several quality players in recent years, not
least England international Jamie Moul. Sixteen-year-old Brace
led the English Under 16 Championship for the McGregor Trophy
after a first round 68 at Worthing this summer and eventually
finished tied fifth. He was one of seven members of the team
that finished in the leading nine positions in that event.
King, 16, a former winner of the Surrey Under 14 Championship,
enjoyed good finishes in the Sir Henry Cooper Young Masters
and the Reid Trophy before representing the EGU in the German
Junior Masters in Heidelberg.
Porteus, 16, reached the third round of the British Boys
Championship this summer and won both his foursomes and singles
matches when captaining the North of England Under 16 side
to victory against Scotland Under 16s recently.
Sharpe, 13, created history this year by winning every English
boys title from under 13 to under 16 and earned his first
England honour in the tied under 16 international against
Spain at Heswall. To cap a highly successful season for the
Gloucestershire youngster, he also won the North of England
Boys at Heswall and the Douglas Johns Trophy at Harewood Downs.
Pepperell, 15, last year's English Under 14 Champion, finished
runner-up to Sharpe in the Under 16 Championship and was capped
for the first time in the Boys Home Internationals in Scotland.
He also represented the EGU in the German Junior Masters.
Downing, 14, runner-up in the Reid Trophy in 2003 when just
11, finished fourth in the recent North of England Boys Championship
and was a member of one of the two winning teams in the Nations
Cup during this year's McGregor Trophy.
Fleetwood, 15, was runner-up in last year's McGregor Trophy
and played in this match with Scotland last year at Gullane.
He also finished third behind Sharpe in the North of England
Boys and was a member of the winning Lancashire side in the
Boys County Championship.
Hodgson, 16, won several prominent titles in his formative
years including the Golf Foundation Under 14 Championship
in 2004 and the South of England Under 15 title last year.
After being included in the England Under 16 Squad this year,
'Stiggy' as he is known, finished third in the McGregor Trophy
and represented the EGU in the German Junior Masters.
Myers, also 15, was the Under 16 Champion last year and finished
seventh when defending at Worthing in July. He also played
against Scotland last year and was another member of a winning
Nations Cup team in the McGregor Trophy.
Sussex-based Renwick, 16, is a former winner of the Scottish
Under 16 Championship and the Douglas Johns Trophy. He also
played against Scotland last year, has twice finished fourth
in the McGregor Trophy and was another member of a winning
Nations Cup team.
The full England team is:
Liam Brace (Stoke-by-Nayland)
Billy Downing (Truro)
Tommy Fleetwood (Formby Hall)
Eamonn Hodgson (Sunningdale)
Gary King (Tyrrell's Wood)
Adam Myers (Northants County)
Eddie Pepperell (Frilford Heath)
Garrick Porteus (Bamburgh Castle)
Darren Renwick (Worthing)
Oscar Sharpe (Minchinhampton)
Reserve: Matthew Johnson (Chipping Norton)
Eight members of the above team have been chosen to represent
England in the annual match against the England Girls Under
18 side at Longcliffe Golf Club, Leicstershire, on Sunday
15th October.
Jonathan Bell (Royal Blackheath) and Matthew Johnson (Chipping
Norton) have been called up in place of Hodgson and Renwick.
Bell, 15, won the English Boys Under 14 Championship for the
Reid Trophy in 2004 and was runner-up to Renwick in last year's
Douglas Johns Trophy. He finished third in this year's Douglas
Johns and recently won the Royal Blackheath Club Championship.
Johnson, 16, has been highly successful within BB&O.
He topped the county's junior and main Orders of Merit, won
the Under 16 Championship, finished runner-up in the Junior
Championship and third in the BB&O Championship.
The full team is:
Jonathan Bell (Royal Blackheath)
Liam Brace (Stoke-by-Nayland)
Billy Downing (Truro)
Tommy Fleetwood (Formby Hall)
Matthew Johnson (Chipping Norton)
Gary King (Tyrrells Wood)
Adam Myers (Northants County)
Eddie Pepperell (Frilford Heath)
Garrick Porteus (Bamburgh Castle)
Oscar Sharpe (Minchinhampton)
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