English Schools' Golf Association
English Schools Golf Association
Schools’ International match 2021 – Wales v England
With Covid having prevented any schools’ golf activity in 2020, it was a great pleasure to be able to run an abbreviated season this year, culminating in the chance for 8 boys and 6 girls to represent English Schools against their Welsh counterparts. Sadly, the shorter terms and later removal of restrictions in Scotland meant that a Scottish international was not possible this year. This resulted in a very strong English team travelling to Rolls of Monmouth at the end of August. Eleven County Schools’ Associations were represented, with the majority of this year’s team coming from the South and South-East regions. Twelve players had been drawn from the Under-19 National Championships along with the two Under-16 National Champions. Unusually, none of our players had represented English Schools previously.
The practice day saw our players experiencing a stunning course with a remarkable 18th century mansion containing the clubhouse. They soon recognised that the secret of playing well on this course was to manage the undulating fairways carefully and try to restrict the number of downhill putts on some treacherous greens. After a sunny afternoon of practice, the match day dawned to reveal almost 100% cloud cover with the temperature dropping throughout the day.
The morning foursomes finished with several one-sided matches. The Welsh boys had been hit by some very late player withdrawals. They struggled, with all four games going to England and only one going beyond the 13th hole. The girl’s games were much more finely balanced, with a 2 & 1 victory for each side and the final match going to England on the 18th.
In the afternoon, the pattern continued. England took 7 of the 8 boys’ singles, with the sole Welsh point coming from their captain on the 18th green. The girls‘ games were equally shared, one per team finishing on the 14th, with the remaining ones making it through to the final 2 holes. This left an overall score of Wales 5 England 16. The matches were played in an excellent spirit, with players and the many spectating parents enjoying the chance to get the full international experience
With so many players recording a 100% record, it is hard to pick out individual performances, but the good teamwork between the foursomes pairs has to be commended. Some of the younger players did especially well in the singles. Roisin Scanlon (13 years old) and Tala Clarke (14) both won while Jack Lee and Luke Metcalf (both 15) recorded more than their fair share of birdies on their way to convincing wins. Captain Thomas Hawke made a generous speech, thanking the Welsh team and organisers for making sure that the match could go ahead this year.
|
2021 Team List Thomas Hawke (Captain) |
Surrey |
Reed's School |
|
Will Green |
Hampshire |
Itchen College |
|
Max Hopkins |
Hertfordshire |
Leventhorpe School |
|
Jack Lee |
Kent |
Wilmington Academy |
|
Luke Metcalf |
Surrey |
Boxhill School |
|
William Plant |
Leicestershire & Rutland |
The Lancaster School |
|
Luke Thornton |
Yorkshire |
Wolfreton School & VI Form College |
|
George Wright |
Hertfordshire |
Leventhorpe School |
|
|
|
|
|
Olivia Williams (Captain) |
Gloucestershire |
Hartpury College |
|
Tala Clarke |
Hertfordshire |
Marriotts School |
|
Olivia Lee |
Buckinghamshire |
Dr Challoner's Grammar School |
|
Eve Neild |
Norfolk |
Thorpe St Andrew School |
|
Roisin Scanlon |
Bedfordshire |
Bedford Girls' School |
|
Faye Wheatley |
Durham |
Heworth Grange School |
Steve Akrill
Hon Secretary
6/9/21
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