Following the annual progression of several players to the professional ranks, the English Golf Union has reshaped its training squads for coaching over the winter months of 2009 and into 2010.
The England Squad contains eleven confirmed players, four of whom played in the recent Walker Cup in America, plus four more who have been promoted from last year’s England A and Under 18 Squads. There could be further departures from the full England Squad depending on the outcome of the European Tour Qualifying School, hence a further seven players have been named on an invitational list from which players can be given coaching opportunities through the winter months.
The core squad contains a smaller number of players than in past years, the idea being to build on a trialled success of keeping the squads open where players can be moved in and out based on current form and the players’ needs at the time. In this respect, the England ‘A’ Squad will remain a ‘transitional squad’ aimed at players that (i) have just emerged from boys’ golf and require more time to mature into England players or (ii) might be slightly older but have shown significant improvement and performance levels that make them a likely England player in the future.
Until the end of the year, the England A Squad will operate solely on an invite system with a pool of players getting the opportunity to prove themselves worthy of a permanent spot on the squad that will be announced in early January.
The four Walker Cup men in the England Squad are Tommy Fleetwood (picture © Tom Ward), Matt Haines, Stiggy Hodgson and Chris Paisley. Devon Champion Billy Hemstock, British Boys Champion and England Under 18 Champion Tom Lewis and Home Internationalists Matt Nixon and James Robinson have been promoted from the lower squads, while US college-based Darren Renwick was an England A Squad member two years ago.
The nine-strong Under 18 Squad contains three players promoted from the Under 16 Squad. Oliver Carr, English Under 16 Champion Seb Crookall-Nixon and Liam Harper from Kent have all been promoted and there are three newcomers to the national squad hierarchy in Curtis Griffiths, Nick Newbold and Ben Taylor.
Griffiths has been successful in Surrey junior events for the past three years and helped the county side to victory in the English Boys County Finals. Newbold, runner-up in the Midland Boys Championship, was one of five players involved in a playoff for the McGregor Trophy this year, won by Crookall-Nixon, while Taylor was also a member of the victorious Surrey squad.
Also in the Under 18 Squad is Chris Lloyd, who has several titles to his credit this year including the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters, the English County Champions and the Gloucestershire Championship, while he was runner-up to Lewis in the Carris Trophy.
Just seven players have been named in the England Under 16 Squad, all but one being newcomers. Only 2008 English Under 14 Champion Toby Tree was a member of the squad last year.
The newcomers include Robert Burlison from Staffordshire, this year’s English Schools Under 16 Champion, a schools international who finished runner-up in the Douglas Johns Trophy and Patrick Kelly from Lincolnshire who was sixth in the Douglas Johns and has played for the full county team this year.
Also named is Nick Ward, Hertfordshire Under 14 Champion in 2007 and winner of the Scottish Under 14 Championship last year, who this year has set a course record at his club Redbourn with a nine-under-par 61.
Similar to the A and England Squads the two junior squads will also operate an invitee system where further players will be brought in to the programme as guests during the year.
The full list of players includes: -
England Squad 2009/10
Full Squad Players:
Jamie Abbott (Fynn Valley)
Tommy Fleetwood (Formby Hall)
Matt Haines (Rochester & Cobham)
Billy Hemstock (Teignmouth)
Stiggy Hodgson (Sunningdale)
Tom Lewis (Welwyn Garden City)
Matt Nixon (Ashton-under-Lyne)
Chris Paisley (Stocksfield)
Eddie Pepperell (Drayton Park)
Darren Renwick (Hill Barn)
Invited Players:
Todd Adcock (Nevill)
Liam Burns (Sundridge Park)
David Coupland (Boston)
Jack Senior (Heysham)
Tom Shadbolt (Mid Herts)
Andrew Sullivan (Nuneaton)
Darren Wright (Rowlands Castle)
England A Squad 2009/10
Invited Players:
Jonathan Bell (Royal Blackheath)
Tom Boys (Royal Liverpool)
Scott Campbell (Hallowes)
Laurie Canter (Saltford)
Hugo Dobson (Fynn Valley)
Craig Hinton (The Oxfordshire)
Adam Keogh (Boston West)
Tommy King (Sudbury)
Ben Loughrey (Wrag Barn)
Ben Martin (Worthing)
Ryan Newman (Brookmans Park)
Max Smith (Newbury Racecourse)
Matthew Southgate (Thorpe Hall)
Ben Stow (Rushmore)
James Watts (East Herts)
James Webber (Three Rivers)
Joshua White (Chipstead)
England Under 18 Squad 2009/10
James Burnett (Sleaford)
Oliver Carr (Heswall)
Adam Carson (Long Ashton)
Sebastian Crookall-Nixon (Workington)
Curtis Griffiths (Wentworth)
Liam Harper (Lydd)
Chris Lloyd (The Kendleshire)
Nick Newbold (Kedleston Park)
Ben Taylor (Walton Heath)
England Under 16 Squad 2009/10
Robert Burlison (Oxley Park)
Matthew Fitzpatrick (Hallamshire)
Kieron Fowler (Spain)
Patrick Kelly (Woodhall Spa)
Max Orrin (North Foreland)
Toby Tree (Worthing)
Nick Ward (Redbourn)
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