JUNIOR, MEN AND SENIORS COUNTY CHAMPIONS DESCEND ON WOODHALL SPA

The county champions in all three categories, juniors, men and seniors will be in action at Woodhall Spa this weekend, 17th – 18th September, in the respective English County Champions Tournaments. All three events are decided over 36 holes of the Hotchkin Course, the Juniors on Saturday, the Men’s on Sunday while the Seniors will play one round on each day.The field for the junior tournament contains several boy caps. Four members of the England team that won the Boys Home Internationals at Royal St David’s are playing including Patrick Kelly (Boston West, Lincolnshire - picture © Tom Ward), runner-up in the British Boys Championship and a member of the Lincolnshire team that won the Boys County Championship recently.Max Orrin (North Foreland, Kent) was also a member of that team as was Greg Payne (Chobham, Surrey) and Matthew Fitzpatrick (Hallamshire, Yorkshire).Also in the field of 35 are Jamie Clare (Burnham & Berrow, Somerset), who finished runner-up in the English Amateur Championship at Woburn, Harrison Woan (Overstone Park, Northamptonshire), winner of the Fuller's London Pride EGU Gold Medal, and Tom Harris (Castletown, Isle of Man), who won the Fairhaven Trophy.The Men’s event covers a wide age range from teenagers to the widely experienced David Gibson (Cosby, Leicestershire & Rutland). Jordan Wrisdale (Boston, Lincolnshire) helped his county win the Boys County Championships recently, while Daniel Wasteney (Bondhay, Yorkshire and also representing NAPGC) is a member of the England A squad.Also in the field of 31 is Martin Young (Brokenhurst Manor, Hampshire, IoW & CI), winner of the English Mid Amateur Championship for the Logan Trophy in 2006 and joint runner-up the following year, and Ben Stow (Rushmore, Wiltshire), a member of England’s victorious team in the recent Home Internationals.The Seniors will be competing in their inaugural event and the field includes senior internationals Roy Smethurst (Crewe, Cheshire) and Dave Jessup (Rochester & Cobham, Kent).Smethurst is representing England again in this week’s Seniors Home Internationals at Woodhall Spa, while Jessup was a member of the England team that won the European Seniors Team Championship last year.