YORKSHIRE SEEKING HAT-TRICK IN BOYS COUNTY FINALS - 25th Aug 2004

Yorkshire will seek a hat-trick of victories and their fifth overall when they defend the English Boys County Finals next week in Dorset. They will meet the other three regional finalists, Cornwall, Essex, and Shropshire & Herefordshire in the three-day contest at Broadstone Golf Club, near Poole on August 30th - 1st September.

Yorkshire, the North Region champions, will be appearing in their 11th finals and no county has achieved three-in-a-row since the competition began in 1986.

The Northerners will arguably start as favourites as they have four internationals - John Parry, Matthew Evans, Adam Hodkinson and Dale Smith - in their line-up.

Parry, 17, from Harrogate, was a member of the England team that won the European Boys Team Championships in Finland last month and he helped England retain the Boys Home Internationals in Ireland.

He also won the McEvoy Trophy back in the spring, finished runner-up in the Carris Trophy at Northumberland and was third in the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters in Kent.

Evans, 17, from Rotherham, is a former under 16 cap, while Hodkinson and Smith represented England in the under 16 international against Italy in June. Parry and Tom Robinson were members of the Yorkshire team that won the Boys County title at Copthorne a year ago.

In their regional qualifier at Stockport, Yorkshire came out on top by 19 strokes with Michael Hempstock winning the individual with two rounds of 69.

Yorkshire apart, each of the other competing counties have won the title once, Shropshire & Herefordshire in 1992, Cornwall in 1996, and Essex in 1997.

This will be Cornwall’s sixth appearance in the Finals, the last being at St Annes Old Links in 2002 when they finished third behind Yorkshire. Five members of that team, Sam Cullen, Alex MacGregor, Tom Murtagh, Charles Simpson, and Grant Slater, are again in the Cornish side.

Slater and MacGregor, both 18, have played in the last two triumphant Boys Home International teams, while Slater was joint winner of the Carris Trophy last year and MacGregor was third.

Murtagh, is a former Cornwall under 16 champion, while Simpson is the current golf captain at Millfield School in Somerset. Rhys Enoch, another member of the team, finished runner-up in the recent Scottish Boys Under 16 Championship, losing in a play-off.

Essex have been in four previous finals, the last when they won at Sandwell Park seven years ago. Their team includes Oliver Fisher, the talented 15 year old who is enjoying a highly successful year.

His victories include the English Under 16 Championship for the McGregor Trophy, the Lagonda Trophy and the Essex Championship and he finished runner-up in the McEvoy Trophy and the R&A Junior Open at Barassie.

He was also a member of the England teams that won the European Boys Team Championships in Finland and the Boys Home Internationals in Ireland.

Essex also include Dale Whitnell, the current county boys’ champion, and Daniel Brooks, last year’s champion.

Shropshire & Herefordshire will also be making their fifth appearance in the Finals, their last being in 1992 when they were champions, their team on that occasion included Scott Drummond, winner of the Volvo PGA Championship at Wentworth in May.

They have Mark Trow, a Welsh boy cap and the Llanymynech junior champion, and Ashley Chesters, 15, who recently broke all records in winning the 72-hole Sandy Lyle Trophy at Hawkstone Park. The Shropshire junior match play champion finished on 19 under par, 12 strokes better than the previous mark. Chesters was also Shropshire’s junior Player of the Year in 2003.

Billy Mills was the county junior and under 16 champion last year, while Jonathan Gidney reached the last 16 of last week’s British Boys Championship at Conwy.

The County Finals are contested on a round robin basis, each match consisting of three foursomes and six singles, all over 18 holes. In the first round of matches on 30 August, Cornwall will play Essex and Shropshire & Herefordshire meet Yorkshire.

Teams:
Cornwall
Darren Booker (Truro)
Sam Cullen (Newquay)
Rhys Enoch (Truro)
Alex MacGregor (Killiow)
Tom Murtagh (St Mellion)
Charles Simpson (Newquay)
Grant Slater (Carlyon Bay)

Essex
Adam Burwood (Harwich & Dovercourt)
Daniel Brooks (Langdon Hills)
Oliver Fisher (West Essex)
Ashley Lucas (Chelmsford)
Rhys Piper (Rochford Hundred)
Ross Spurgeon (Nazeing)
Dale Whitnell (Forrester Park)

Shropshire & Herefordshire
Sam Breakes (Hawkestone Park)
Ashley Chesters (Hawkstone Park)
Matthew Davies (The Herefordshire)
Jonathan Gidney (Church Stretton)
Billy Mills (Hawkstone Park)
Craig Simmons (Patshull Park)
Mark Trow (Llanymynech)

Yorkshire
Matthew Evans (Rotherham)
Michael Hempstock (Doncaster)
Adam Hodkinson (Dore & Totley)
John Parry (Harrogate)
Tom Robinson (Middlesbrough)
Dale Smith (Saltburn)
Daniel Willett (Bondhay)

Related Links

• http://www.englishgolfunion.org

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