Horsey and Parry earn first England Caps - 30th Mar 2006

England have named two new caps, David Horsey and John Parry, in their nine-strong side for the international with France at Golf du Medoc near Bordeaux on 12th and 13th May.

The rest of the team is Matthew Cryer, Robert Dinwiddie, Adam Gee, Jamie Moul, Edward Richardson, Paul Waring and Gary Wolstenholme.

After being beaten by James Heath in the final of the English Amateur at Hollinwell in 2004, Horsey has blossomed. He won the County Champions Tournament at Woodhall Spa last September by seven strokes after a closing course record 64 over the Hotchkin Course.

This year the 21 year old from Cheshire was a member of the victorious England squad in the Costa Ballena Tournament in Spain and finishing tied third in the recent South African Stroke Play Championship.

Parry, at 19, will be the youngest member of the team in France but his record in recent years is second to none. An England boy cap, Parry has also represented GB&I in the Jacques Leglise Trophy, is a past winner of the McEvoy Trophy and has finished runner-up in the Carris Trophy and the Daily Telegraph Junior Championship.

Last year proved exceptional for the Harrogate teenager. He won the Yorkshire Championship then went to Denmark and won their Open Amateur Championship. That earned him an invitation to the Vietnam Open on the Asian Tour in which he played all four rounds.

He had a great start in 2006 by winning the Faldo Series International Trophy at the Hong Kong Golf Club before, like Horsey, playing a part in the successful Costa Ballena team and will be carrying the flag for the EGU in Peru in April.

The other seven members of the side all played in last September’s Home Internationals at Royal St George’s, while Moul and Wolstenholme were members of England’s triumphant European Men’s Team Championships squad.

There are two Walker Cup players in the team, Dinwiddie and Wolstenholme but teenager Oliver Fisher was released from selection as he has been invited to play in the British Masters at The Belfry the same week.

The international with France goes back to 1934 and England have generally held sway. But the improvement in French golf has seen them win three of the past five encounters including two on English soil.

They won 15 - 9 at Sunningdale in 1996 and 12.5 - 11.5 at Royal St George’s two years ago. France also won at Les Bordes in 1998, while England’s last victory came at Chantilly in 2002 by 17.5 - 6.5.

For Wolstenholme, England’s most capped player, this will be his sixth meeting with the French. His first came in 1988 but he missed the 2004 encounter.

England team: Matthew Cryer (Coventry), Robert Dinwiddie (Barnard Castle), Adam Gee (Leatherhead), David Horsey (Styal), Jamie Moul (Stoke by Nayland), John Parry (Harrogate), Edward Richardson (Southern Valley), Paul Waring (Bromborough), Gary Wolstenholme (Kilworth Springs).

Related Links

• http://www.englishgolfunion.org

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