ENGLAND FACE AUSTRALIA FOR THE ASHES IN MELBOURNE
England’s cricketers may have lost the Ashes but our
amateur golfers have the chance to put the record straight
when they meet their Australian rivals in another Ashes clash
next month.
The six-man teams will meet in a two-day Ryder Cup-style
tussle at Moonah Links in Melbourne on the 16th and 17th March
with six singles and three foursomes on day one and another
six singles on the following day.
England’s team will comprise Elite Squad members, Seve
Benson, Gary Boyd, David Horsey, Stephen Lewton, Jamie Moul
and Ben Parker.
 Lewton
(pictured left - photo courtesy of Tom Ward), winner of two
titles already in Australia this year, will seek further success
Down Under prior to the Ashes test.
Having won the Avondale Medal and the New South Wales Medal
in the space of two weeks recently, Lewton will return down
under when he flies to Melbourne ahead of his team-mates to
be joined by Jason Palmer for the Riversdale Cup at Riversdale
Golf Club on 9th - 12th March.
The Riversdale Cup is one of Australia’s premier amateur
titles, having started in 1896. It is a 72-hole stroke play
tournament and a year ago England’s Robert Steele finished
equal fifth and Ben Parker joint seventh.
Following the Ashes contest, the England six will move on
to Sydney for the Australian Amateur Championship at the New
South Wales Golf Club on 22nd - 29th March.
The Australian Amateur, with a qualifying competition over
72 holes of stroke play, is the country’s oldest championship,
having been inaugurated in 1894. A field of 156 players will
line up at the New South Wales Club situated on Cape Banks,
a headland overlooking Botany Bay in the Sydney district of
La Perouse.
They will play 36 holes over the Alister MacKenzie-designed
course over the first two days with a halfway cut to the leading
78 players and ties.
On completion of the medal competition, the top 32 players
will qualify for the match play knockout stages, each match
over 18 holes with the final over 36 holes.
The only English winner of the Australia Amateur 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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