England defend Boys title with five new caps
There are five new caps in the England side that will defend the Boys Home Internationals title at Royal County Down, Northern Ireland, on 5th - 7th August
The five are Jonathan Bell from Kent, Cheshire s Tom Boys, Adam Myers from Northamptonshire, Jake Shepherd from Surrey, and BB&O s Max Smith.
The rest of the 11-strong team is that which collected the bronze medals at the recent European Boys Team Championships in Slovenia - Tommy Fleetwood, Stiggy Hodgson, Gary King, Tom Lewis, Eddie Pepperell and Darren Renwick.
Bell, 16, is enjoying a successful season, having won the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters and the South East Junior Championship, while he was second in the English County Championship South East Qualifying and third in the Fairhaven Trophy. He is also a former under 16 International.
Boys, 17, won the Fairhaven Trophy and led the recent English Boys Under 18 Stroke Play Championship for the Carris Trophy at Wallasey for two rounds before finishing tied ninth. He won the Cheshire under 15 and under 16 titles in 2005.
Myers, 17, a former English Under 16 Champion, has been an under 16 International for the past three years and now steps up to boys level. This year he has won the Dorset Open, was runner-up to Bell in the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters and finished tied fourth in last week s Carris Trophy.
Shepherd, has not been capped at any level before but was a member of the Surrey side that won the Boys County Championship last year. Recently he finished tied second in the Berkshire Trophy and equal seventh in the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters.
Smith, 16, made his debut as an under 16 cap against Scotland last year which topped a successful summer in which he finished joint runner-up in the McGregor Trophy (English Under 16 Championship), the Dutch Junior Masters and the South of England Boys Championship. This year he finished third in the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters.
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Fleetwood, 17, will captain the side and will hope to repeat his record in last year s Boys Home Internationals in which he won all his six matches. A former under 16 cap, last year he also represented GB&I against Europe in the Jacques Leglise Trophy and was a member of the four-man England team that won the Honda International Junior Championship in Japan. This year, he has won the Lancashire Championship and finished runner-up in the Amateur Championship.
Seventeen-year-old Hodgson won the Carris Trophy last week, his fourth victory of the summer following triumphs in the Selborne Salver, Hampshire Salver and McEvoy Trophy in which he beat Pepperell in a sudden death playoff. Capped at under 16 level in 2006, he helped Surrey win the Boys County Championship last year and earned his first boys cap in the recent European Boys Team Championships
King, 18, another member of Surrey s victorious 2007 Boys County Championship team, has also been capped at under 16 and boys levels. In 2007 he finished first in the South East Boys qualifying and runner-up to Lewis for the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters. He also reached the quarter finals of the British Boys and was a member of the team that won the Honda International Junior Championship. This year, King has won the Skandia Junior Championship in Sweden and the Hampshire Hog and finished third in the McEvoy and Carris Trophies.
Lewis, 17, from Hertfordshire, is former under 16 cap who in 2007 won the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters, finished joint second in the McGregor Trophy and was joint winner of the North of England under 16 title. This year, Lewis has finished second in the Fairhaven Trophy and was recently joint winner of the George Henriques Salver for the leading under 20s after finishing tied third in the Brabazon Trophy. And was equal fourth in the Carris Trophy.
Pepperell, 17, from Oxfordshire won the English under 14 title in 2005 and was runner-up in the under 16 Championship in 2006 while last year he lost a playoff for the Hampshire Hog, and reached the semi-finals of the British Boys. This year, he has won the South East Qualifying, lost a playoff to Hodgson in the McEvoy Trophy, finished runner-up in the Bernard Darwin Salver, third in the Berkhamsted Trophy and West of England Stroke Play and was a semi-finalist in the Spanish Amateur.
Renwick, 18, from Sussex, was an under 16 cap for three years before stepping up to boys level in last year s Boys Home Internationals. Winner of the Douglas Johns Trophy and the Scottish under 16 Championship in 2005, he finished tied sixth last year in the McEvoy Trophy and the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters. This year, he finished tied third in the Hampshire Hog.
England are defending champions of the Boys Home Internationals after regaining the title from Scotland last year in Wales. Prior to that, England enjoyed a run of eight successive victories.
The full England team is: Jonathan Bell (Royal Blackheath);Tom Boys (Royal Liverpool); Tommy Fleetwood (Formby Hall); Stiggy Hodgson (Sunningdale); Gary King (Tyrrells Wood); Tom Lewis (Welwyn Garden City); Adam Myers (Northants County); Eddie Pepperell (Drayton Park); Darren Renwick (Worthing); Jake Shepherd (The Wisley); Max Smith (Newbury Racecourse); Reserve: Hugo Dobson (Fynn Valley)