County Champions head for Woodhall Spa

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16th September 2009

County Champions from across England will head for EGU headquarters at Woodhall Spa this weekend (19th & 20th September) for the English County Champions Tournament and the inaugural Junior County Champions Tournament.

Both will be played over 36 holes on the Hotchkin Course, the juniors playing one round on each day, while the men’s event is confined to two rounds on Sunday the 20th.

Toby Tree, the 2008 English Under 14 Champion and recent winner of the Douglas Johns Trophy, leads off the junior county champions at 7.30am on Saturday, heading a 33-strong field of talent that could be household names in a few years.

Under 16 international James Burnett (photo © Tom Ward), who reached the quarter finals of the recent British Boys Championship, will represent Lincolnshire while Ben Wheeler was a member of the winning Surrey side in the Boys County Championship.

Nick Newbold from Derbyshire, who was involved in the five-way playoff for the McGregor Trophy (English Under 16 Championship) this year, is also competing as is Alastair Hall, who added the Suffolk boys match play title to the stroke play championship.

Paul Kinnear was a member of the Lancashire team in the Boys County Finals, while Craig Richardson was in the Worcestershire side at Whittington Heath.

The field for the County Champions event is confined to 27 competitors, some counties not being represented as their champions have either turned professional or have returned to college in the United States. However, the competition will be as fierce as ever because of the high level of talent on show including previous winner Justin Phelps from Middlesex, who won the Presidents Bowl in 2004.

Andrew Sullivan, the Warwickshire Champion and a semi-finalist in the Amateur Championship in 2008, is also in the field as is Paul Griffiths from Staffordshire, joint Mid Amateur Champion four years ago.

Several players were in action last weekend in the English Champion Club Tournament including Nick Pateman from Hertfordshire, Essex Champion Matthew Southgate, and Neil Connolly from Northamptonshire.

William Bowe was a member of the winning Workington team from Cumbria so will be seeking a second end of season success as will other potential winners, Leicestershire Champion David Gibson and Chris Lloyd, the England boy cap, from Gloucestershire.

Besides carrying off the title, the winner of each event will also gain automatic entry into next year’s Brabazon Trophy.

The annual Presidents and Guests Tournament will also be played over the Hotchkin course on Saturday the 19th, competitors teeing-off after the juniors.

The 61-strong field includes former Walker Cup player and England international Martin Christmas, the President of Surrey, while the guests include Bill Bromilow, the Lancashire Captain.