Eight members of the England Squad will get their first taste of international action for 2009 when they line up in the biennial Jones Cup Invitational in the United States at the start of February.
The group comprises of Tommy Fleetwood (Formby Hall), Luke Goddard (Hendon), Matt Haines (Rochester & Cobham), Sam Hutsby (Liphook), Chris Paisley (Stocksfield), Tom Sherreard (Chart Hills), Steve Uzzell (Hornsea) and Dale Whitnell (Five Lakes).
A field of 84 players, including the top amateurs from the US, Scotland and Wales, will compete over 54 holes of stroke play at Ocean Forest Golf Club, Sea Island, Georgia, on 6th - 8th February.
Fleetwood, 18, became a boy cap in 2007 and last year was Boy Captain while making his full England debut in the Home Internationals in Scotland. Also in 2008, he finished runner-up in the Amateur Championship but won the Lancashire Championship and the English County Champions Tournament, both in playoffs.
Goddard, 20, enjoyed a triumphant 2008, with victories in the South of England Stroke Play and the Argentine Amateur Championship, while he was runner-up in the Selborne and Hampshire Salvers and the Lagonda Trophy. He also made his full England debut in the Home Internationals, was selected for the Eisenhower Trophy team and was a member of the winning side in the Portugal Nations Cup.
Haines, 19, made his full England debut against France last May and played in the European Men’s Team Championships and the Home Internationals. He won the Lytham Trophy and represented GB&I in the St Andrews Trophy. On his last visit to the US, Haines finished equal fifth in the Thunderbird Junior Championship.
Hutsby, 20, was another member of last year’s Eisenhower Trophy team, having won the Bernard Darwin Salver and finished runner-up in the Welsh Open Stroke Play and fourth in the St Andrews Links Trophy. A former Spanish Amateur Champion, he made his full England debut in the 2007 Home Internationals, played in all of last year’s international team events and the St Andrews Trophy.
Paisley, 22 (photo courtesy of Tom Ward), is in the US at the University of Tennessee where he has claimed several successes. He won the Czech Amateur Championship on this side of the Atlantic last year and finished runner-up in the Tillman Trophy, the South of England Stroke Play and the English Amateur Championship. He also represented GB&I in the St Andrews Trophy.
Sherreard, 21, is also in America at Georgia State University. A former McEvoy Trophy winner, he reached the semi-finals of the England Amateur in 2008, won the South East Qualifying and made his full England debut in the Home Internationals. He also starred in the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, finishing 19th.
Uzzell, 25, made his full England debut against France last May but played only one match because of injury. However, he recovered to win the Brabazon Trophy at Trevose while he also won the Russian Amateur, represented GB&I in the St Andrews Trophy and England in the Home Internationals.
Whitnell, 20, twice North of England Youths Champion, has been a full England International for the past two years and was the third member of the Eisenhower Trophy team. He won the Lagonda and Tillman Trophies in 2008, was runner-up to Haines in the Lytham Trophy and was a semi-finalist in the Australian Amateur Championship. He was also a member of the GB&I St Andrews Trophy team.
The Jones Cup was inaugurated in 2001 as a prelude to the Walker Cup at Sea Island and so far the title has eluded English players. The most successful has been Gary Wolstenholme who finished tied fifth in 2001 while Jamie Elson was equal sixth two years later.
Results can be accessed via the English Golf Union (EGU) website, www.englishgolfunion.org.
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