Photo: Sean Towndrow
by David Birtill
LANCASHIRE County players Paul Kinnear and Sean Towndrow will join forces with new English champion, Joe Dean, and the runner-up, Alfie Plant, in England’s team for the Home Internationals at Royal Portrush in County Antrim on August 12-14.
It will be the first time Dean, from Yorkshire, and Plant, from Kent, have represented England at this level and they will be joined in the team by two more new caps, Jamie Bower and Dan Brown, who are also Yorkshire players.
The team will be completed by established internationals Tomasz Anderson of Hertfordshire, Ashley Chesters of Shropshire, Jimmy Mullen of Devon, Ben Taylor of Surrey and Ashton Turner of Lincolnshire.
England will seek to regain the Home Internationals title, which they last won at Ganton in Yorkshire in 2013.
The players:
Sean Towndrow, 24 (Southport & Ainsdale) led the English challenge at the 2015 Amateur Championship, reaching the quarter finals. He helped England beat Spain in this year’s international and was England’s top scorer in this year’s Costa Ballena quadrangular tournament.Jimmy Mullen, 21, (Royal North Devon) won the Welsh stroke play by nine shots and was third when defending his title in the Duncan Putter, also in Wales. He won all four of his games in this year’s international against Spain. He is in the Walker Cup squad.Tomasz Anderson, 23, (Brocket Hall) has won seven times on the US college circuit as a student at Jacksonville State University. He scored five wins from six on his England debut in last year’s Home Internationals in Wales and is a member of the initial GB&I Walker Cup squad.
Paul Kinnear, 21, (Formby) played in The Open at St Andrews and was third in the Brabazon Trophy, where he was the leading English player. He reached the last 16 in the English amateur championship.
Jamie Bower, 22, (Meltham) was a semi-finalist at the English amateur championship and represented England in this year’s Costa Ballena quadrangular tournament. He’s had a series of top ten finishes this season including the French amateur, the Lytham Trophy and the Hampshire Salver.
Dan Brown, 20, (Bedale) won the recent Dutch Junior Open and, with it, a place in the KLM Open on the European Tour. He reached the last 16 in the English amateur, was sixth in the Lytham Trophy and is a member of the Walker Cup squad.
Ashley Chesters, 25, (Hawkstone Park) tied 12th in The Open at St Andrews. This week he is defending his title in the European Amateur which he has won for the past two years. He was in England’s winning team at the European Nations Cup and is a member of the Walker Cup squad.
Joe Dean, 21, (Lindrick) won the English amateur championship last weekend, was runner-up in the Dutch Junior Open and has had top-four finishes in the Portuguese amateur and the Welsh open. He won the Lee Westwood Trophy last year and in 2013.
Alfie Plant, 23, (Sundridge Park) was runner-up in the English amateur. He has just represented England in the Chiberta Grand Prix and the Biarritz Cup in France where he was second and third respectively.
Ben Taylor, 23, (Walton Heath) also qualified for The Open at St Andrews. He was seventh in the Brabazon Trophy and in qualifying for the Amateur Championship. He holed the winning putt to seal victory for Louisiana State University in the NCAA Championship on the US college circuit.
Ashton Turner, 19 (Kenwick Park) has won the Darwin Salver for the second time and has represented GB&I as well as England. He has had top ten finishes in this year’s Scottish stroke play, Lytham Trophy and Duncan Putter.
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