GB&I pen pics: St Andrews Trophy ~ Jacques Leglise Trophy
Great Britain and Ireland St Andrews Trophy Team
Alan Dunbar (Rathmore, Ireland)
Alan Dunbar, 22, hails from Rathmore, Northern Ireland, the same club that spawned 2010 US Open champion, Graeme McDowell. He comes into the St Andrews Trophy as the holder of The Amateur Championship having beaten Austria’s Matthias Schwab on the 36th hole of this year’s final at Royal Troon. He is also the top-ranked GB & I player on the current World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR). Dunbar first hit the headlines when he won the Ulster Youths’ Championship in 2008 and the St Andrews Links Trophy the following year. In 2010 he claimed the Irish Open Amateur and North of Ireland and followed that up last year with a joint runner-up finish behind Neil Raymond at the Brabazon Trophy. This year, in addition to his victory in The Amateur, he also finished second to Daan Huizing at the St Andrews Trophy. Dunbar is one of two players in this year’s GB & I St Andrews Trophy team also to have played a part in last year’s Walker Cup victory at Royal Aberdeen. The other is Rhys Pugh.
Craig Hinton (The Oxfordshire, England)
Craig Hinton comes into the St Andrews Trophy as the winner of the 2012 Welsh Open Amateur Championship at Prestatyn and also with a 4th place finish at the St Andrews Links Trophy under his belt. The 24 year-old from The Oxfordshire made his debut for England at the 2011 Home International and has since become a regular in international competition. He competed in the 2011 Open Championship at Royal St George’s, having got into the championship by winning the Local Final Qualifying event at Royal Cinque Ports. Hinton reached the last 32 of this year’s English Amateur at Silloth but failed to make the match play stages in an appearance at the subsequent US Amateur Championship at Cherry Hills.
Nathan Kimsey (Woodhall Spa, England)
19 year-old Nathan Kimsey comes into the St Andrews Trophy in top form having reached the last four of this year’s English Amateur Championship at Silloth and then claimed six points out of six on his debut at the subsequent Home Internationals at Glasgow Gailes. That latter performance made him the first English player to achieve a 100% record in the Home Internationals since Matt Blackney in 1997. Nathan is a product of England’s hugely successful junior programme and is a former winner of both the Peter McEvoy Trophy and Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters. Earlier this year, he played a round of golf on the Bracken course at Woodhall Spa in a remarkable 34 minutes and 32 seconds, in the process raising over £1,300 for charity.
Waterford Castle’s Kevin Phelan. Photo: Pat CashmanKevin Phelan (Waterford Castle, Ireland)
Kevin Phelan was born in Waterford, Ireland, but grew up in St Augustine, Florida, before accepting a golf scholarship at the University of North Florida. 21 year-old Phelan is another GB & I player to have shown good form in the lead up to the St Andrews Trophy, finishing second behind Neil Raymond at this year’s Brabazon Trophy and fourth at the recent European Amateur Championship at Carton House, where this week’s team-mate Rhys Pugh was the winner. Phelan was also a solid performer in Irish colours at the Home Internationals at Glasgow Gailes. Back in 2010, when he was a freshman at the University of North Florida, the Irishman eagled the final hole in a Final Qualifier at McArthur Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Florida, to qualify for the US Open at Pebble Beach. His father, John, was once a professional squash player.
Garrick Porteous (Bamburgh Castle, England)
22 year-old Englishman, Garrick Porteous, from Morpeth, is another player with experience of collegiate golf in the States, having spent four years at the University of Tennessee. This year he has produced a series of fine performances on both sides of the Atlantic, having finished 2nd in the San Diego Intercollegiate Classic, 3rd at the Yale Spring Opener and 6th at the Augusta State Invitational before coming back over the Atlantic to finish 3rd in the European Men’s Challenge Trophy in Iceland, 7th in the Brabazon Trophy at Walton Heath, 17th in the European Open and reach the last 16 in the English Amateur at Silloth. Garrick majors in Art in Tennessee and has exhibited some his work at Tennessee Golf Club. He earned three points out of six for England at the recent Home Internationals.
Rhys Pugh (Vale of Glamorgan, Wales)
Rhys Pugh, an 18 year-old East Tennessee University student from Pontypridd, comes into the St Andrews Trophy having just won the biggest title of his career at the recent European Amateur Championship at Carton House where he closed with a 66 to beat compatriot, James Frazer, by a single shot. Rhys holds the record as the youngest player ever to represent Wales, an honour he achieved as a 15 year-old at the 2009 Home Internationals. Last year he won the Irish Open Amateur Championship to cement his place in the GB & I Walker Cup team. At Royal Aberdeen he earned three points out of three, including singles victories over Patrick Rodgers and reigning US Amateur champion, Kelly Kraft. Pugh’s victory in the European Amateur gives him a place in next year’s Open Championship at Muirfield.
Neil Raymond (Corhampton, England)
Last month, Corhampton’s Neil Raymond became the first player in more than 20 years to successfully defend the English Men’s Open Amateur Championship (Brabazon Trophy). The 26 year-old Hampshire player won the 2011 title at Burnham & Berrow and then completed the rare double 12 months later when finished two shots clear of a strong field at Walton Heath. He went on to reach the quarter finals of the English Amateur at Silloth and to win two out of his three singles matches at the subsequent Home Internationals at Glasgow Gailes. Early in 2012 Raymond defeated Australia’s Brett Drewitt in a play-off for the rain-shortened New South Wales Medal.
Graeme Robertson (Glenbervie, Scotland)
Glenbervie’s Graeme Robertson, a student at the University of Stirling, comes into the St Andrews Trophy fresh from claiming six points out of six in Scotland’s victory in the Home Internationals at Glasgow Gailes. 24 year-old Robertson, who is a student at the University of Stirling, and played for the winning European side in this year’s Palmer Cup against the USA, has also had a fine 2012 season as an individual, winning the Craigmillar Park Open and finishing third behind Daan Huizing at the St Andrews Links Trophy. The Scot, who finished runner-up on the SGUs 2011 Order of Merit, also finished 13th at the recent European Amateur Championship at Carton House. He was top seed at the recent Scottish Amateur Championship at Royal Dornoch, eventually losing in the quarter finals to Bryan Fotheringham.
Ben Taylor (Walton Heath, England)
Ben Taylor first hit the headlines when the won the 2110 Daily Telegraph Abu Dhabi Junior Championship and this 20 year-old from Walton Heath has since developed into one of the most consistent performers in the amateur game. Taylor attends the Nova Southeastern University of Florida where he has won one and finished runner-up twice in collegiate events this year. He also finished 3rd at the Turkish Amateur in May, 5th behind Neil Raymond at the Brabazon and was a quarter-finalist at the English Amateur for a second year in-a-row.
The Jacques Leglise Trophy Team
Harry Ellis, Meon Valley, England
Harry Ellis re-wrote the record books last month when he became the youngest-ever winner of the English Amateur Championship. Ellis, from Meon Valley, near Southampton, was just 16 years, 11 months and 28 days old when he beat Harry Tomlinson 2 & 1 in the 36-hole final at Silloth, shattering the existing record set by Nick Faldo, who was 18 years and 8 days old when he won the 1975 Championship at Royal Lytham. Ellis subsequently elected to miss The Boys’ Amateur Championship in favour of representing England in the Home Internationals at Glasgow Gailes where he emerged with two points from his five matches. This year Ellis also finished 6th behind Jacques Leglise Trophy team-mate, Patrick Kelly, at the Carris Trophy at Royal Cinque Ports.
Matthew Fitzpatrick (Hallamshire, England)
Matt Fitzpartick comes into the Jacques Leglise Trophy as the new Boys’ Amateur champion, having demolished Welsh Boys’ champion, Henry James, 10 & 8 in the recent final at Notts (Hollinwell). Fitzpatrick, a 17 year-old from Sheffield, who celebrates his 18th birthday on the second day of the Jacques Leglise Trophy, was in sparking form at the Boys’ Championship, finishing 4th behind leading qualifier, Romain Langasque, in the match play stage and then defeating France’s Kenny Subregis, Italy’s Luigi Botta, England’s Will Whiteoak, German’s Morten Schroetgens and Scotland’s Alasdair McDougall on the way to the final. Fitzpatrick also finished tied 3rd at this year’s Carris Trophy.
Alex GleesonAlex Gleeson (Castle, Ireland)
Alex Gleeson, the 2009 Irish Boys’ Under-15 champion, joins Gavin Moynihan as one of two highly-rated Irishmen in this week’s GB & I team. The 18 year-old from Castle Golf Club, Dublin, was a stand-out performer for Ireland at this year’s European Boys’ Team Championship at Lidingo Golf Club in Sweden and again at the more recent Boys’ Home Internationals at Co. Louth. In the former, his two rounds of 71 helped his country finish fifth in the initial stroke play stage and, in the subsequent first round match against England, he teamed up with Robin Dawson to defeat England’s Max Orrin and Matt Fitzpatrick before beating a third Jacques Leglise Trophy team-mate, Ashton Turner, in the singles. Gleeson cemented his place in this week’s Jacques Leglise Trophy by also excelling at the Boy’s Home Internationals at Co. Louth where he claimed five points out of six.
Patrick Kelly (Boston West, England)
Patrick Kelly lost to Harrison Greenberry in the final of the 2011 Boys’ Amateur Championship at Burham & Berrow but he has since bounced back with a series of fine performances which have earned him the reputation of being one of the most consistent performers on this year’s boys’ scene. The 18 year-old from Boston West in Lincolnshire won this year’s Fairhaven Trophy and then also collected the Carris Trophy before earning 5 ½ points out of six at the Boys’ Home Internationals at Co. Louth. Kelly also made it into the match play stages of the Boys’ Amateur Championship but lost on the 19th hole to compatriot, Nick Ward, in the first round.
Gavin Moynihan (The Island, Ireland)
Gavin Moynihan is widely regarded as one of Europe’s most talented young golfers and he reinforced that reputation earlier this season when he became the youngest ever winner of the Irish Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship. 18 year-old Moynihan also won this year’s Peter McEvoy Trophy and was 3rd behind Gareth Lappin in the Irish Boys’ Open Amateur Championship at Hermitage GC before earning 4 ½ points out of 6 at the Boys’ Home Internationals at Co. Louth. Moynihan missed the recent Boys’ Amateur Championship at Notts in favour of playing in the Home Internationals at Glasgow Gailes where won three singles matches out of three against Scotland’s Scott Borrowman, England’s Ben Stow and Richard Bentham from Wales.
Gavin Moynihan with the Irish Amateur Open trophy. Photo: Pat Cashman
Bradley Neil (Blairgowrie, Scotland)
Scotland’s Bradley Neil comes into the Jacques Leglise Trophy having won five points out of six at the recent Boys’ Home Internationals at Co. Louth. This year the talented 16 year-old from Blairgowrie also finished second to Ewan Scott at the Scottish Youths’ Championship, helped Perth & Kinross to success in the Scottish Men’s Area Team Championship, finished tied 5th behind Swede Victor Transtrom in the individual event at the European Boys’ Team Championship in Sweden and claimed the Under-16 title at the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters. Neil made it through the stroke play stage at the Boys’ Amateur Championship at Notts but lost by one hole to Zach Galliford from Wales in the first round.
Max Orrin (North Foreland, England)
Max Orrin shared with team-mate, Patrick Kelly, the distinction of being England’s top points earner in his country’s victory at the recent Boys’ Home Internationals at Co Louth. The 18 year-old from Kent earned 5 ½ point out of 6 including singles victories against Scottish Boys’ match play champion Scott Howie, Ireland’s Paul McBride and a halve against Gareth Roberts from Wales. Orrin is another of the most consistent performers on the junior circuit. This year alone he has won the Waterford Trophy at Sundridge Park and finished tied 2nd in the individual event at the European Boys’ Team Championship, 2nd at the Peter McEvoy Trophy and 2nd at the Sir Henry Cooper Masters. He was also 3rd at the Carris Trophy and reached the last 16 of the Boys’ Amateur Championship at Notts.
Toby Tree (Worthing, England)
Toby Tree, an 18 year-old former English Under-16s champion from Worthing, gained his first individual victory on foreign soil at this year’s Gauteng North Open at Pecanwood Golf Club in South Africa. A closing round of 70 for 271, 17 under par, left him two strokes ahead of Zander Lombard and four clear of another Springbok, Brandon Stone. For several years, Tree has been regarded as one of England’s most talented young players. Last year he won the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters and this year he was 5th at the Carris Trophy and tied 14th at the Brabazon Trophy. He also reached the quarter finals of the Boys’ Amateur Championship and earned 4 ½ points out of 6 in the Boys’ Home Internationals during which he won all 3 of his foursomes matches in partnership with Max Orrin.
Ashton Turner (Kenwick Park, England)
Ashton Turner was one of two new caps in England’s team at this year’s European Boys’ Team Championship in Sweden and also an important part of his country’s winning team at the Boys’ Home Internationals, where he emerged with 5 points out of 6. Still only 16, Turner, who got down to a +2 handicap when he was just 15, has had a fine season in which he has finished tied 3rd at the Fairhaven Trophy, 4th at the English Under-16s Championship, tied 8th in the individual event at the European Boys’ in Sweden and 10th in the Peter McEvoy Trophy. He also reached the 4th round of the Boys’ Amateur Championship, losing narrowly to Morten Schroetgens from Germany.