Matt Wallace spoke about his time in the England Golf Elite squad to current members – and his years struggling on the Alps Tour before winning three European Tour events

EUROPEAN Tour stars Matt Wallace and Matt Fitzpatrick have gone back to their roots to encourage, inspire and advise the next generation of English golfers.

The former England Golf graduates took part in separate online Q&A sessions with current players, coaches and staff and captivated their audiences with tales on their careers and anecdotes from life on tour.

Ex-Hertfordshire Men’s and Colts player Wallace expressed his hopes that his unconventional route to the top can inspire England Golf’s current performance squads.

Speaking from his base in Florida, World No. 43 Wallace relived his amateur days, his trials and tribulations grinding away on the Alps Tour and then his breakthrough with victory at the Portuguese Open in 2017.

Among the many questions posed were some from players such as Farnham’s England Girls international Lottie Woad, who was also a promising footballer on Southampton Ladies’ books.

Current Portuguese Amateur Champion Harry Goddard – who also plays for Hertfordshire, Wiltshire’s Scottish Amateur Strokeplay winner Jake Bolton and Yorkshire’s Ben Schmidt, the youngest-ever winner of the Brabazon Trophy at 16, nearly a year ago, also fired off questions.

Fitzpatrick – a five-time winner on the European Tour and a member of the 2016 European Ryder Cup team – was keen to stress how important it is for players to take nothing for granted.

They need to realise that hard work can be the key to success said the 2012 winner of the Selborne Salver, a competition won 12 months earlier at Hampshire’s Blackmoor GC, by Ryder Cup team-mate Andy Sullivan.

Matt Fitzpatrick talking to England Golf squad members in the online Q&A

Matt’s unconventional rise to top

WALLACE explained just why he was happy to meet the request of England performance director Nigel Edwards to speak to the rising stars of the English game.

“I feel it’s important for the players to realise there can be more than one way to reach the top,” said Wallace from the renowned Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound.

“I was in the England Golf set-up, but kind of on the fringes of it and always pushing for attention.

“The year prior to my involvement with England, the squad was amazing.

‘Then a number of guys turned pro at the same time – Tom Lewis, Andy Sullivan and Steven Brown included – and I came in from nowhere to the elite squad.

“I maybe didn’t feel as if I’d earned my stripes and didn’t back myself as a golfer as much as I should.

“But I gave it everything, was proud to be in the set-up and enjoyed good experiences in places such as Argentina and the Czech Republic.

“When I didn’t get picked for and England v France match and knew that my chances of Walker Cup were slim, I decided to turn pro.

“I was then grinding away on the Alps Tour for four years with people saying you can’t be that good if you are four years on the Alps Tour.”

Hallamshire GC’s Matt Fitzpatrick on his way to victory in the Selborne Salver in 2012. Picture by ANDREW GRIFFIN / AMG PICTURES

US Amateur win sealed Walker Cup place

FITZPATRICK enjoyed a terrific amateur career – the highlight being when he won the US Amateur Championship in 2013, just 12 months after being crowned British Boys Champion.

Victory at Boston’s Brookline Country Club – with his brother Alex on the bag – meant the Hallamshire GC member was picked for the GB&I Walker Cup team that lost heavily at Long Island’s National Golf Links of America later that month.

Alex also ended up on the losing side against the USA at Hoylake, in September.

Both brothers took up golf scholarships in America.

But Matt cut short his stay at Chicago’s NorthWestern University – where NCAA champion Luke Donald had spent four years from 1997-2001 – after just one term.

He turned pro after appearing in the 2014 US Open at Pinehurst No. 2 as the reigning US Amateur Champion.

Matt had also won the Silver Medal as the top amateur at the 2013 Open Championship at Muirfield.

Twelve months earlier he had been a member of the England Boys team.

The 25-year-old – currently No. 25 in the world rankings – admitted: “It was great to be a part of the England Golf set-up as an amateur, and I wanted to be able to give a little back in terms of advice.

“I worked with some great coaches – Steve Robinson, Graham Walker and John Jacobs among them – and the structure and focus of the England Golf sessions were great for me.

Fitzpatrick tells England’s best ‘play smart’

Matt Fitzpatrick won the Selborne Salver in 2012. Picture by ANDREW GRIFFIN / AMG PICTURE

“I remember my first session at Woodhall Spa when Graham told us all we were to be up for a run at 7am the next morning.

“But I liked that discipline and planning that went into every aspect of our coaching.

“The message I wanted to get across to the squads was that golf isn’t easy.

“And to remember that while you can compete at national level, there are kids in Spain, Sweden and all over the world working just as hard to make the top.”

Fitzpatrick’s “play smart” approach to golf was a theme of his session, while his thoroughness in preparation from practice round technique, physical conditioning – through to on course strategy – was strongly evident.

During a detailed and insightful interactive session, Fitzpatrick fielded plenty of questions.

England Girls’ squad member Rosie Belsham, Cornwall’s Women’s Amateur Champion Emily Toy quizzed the Sheffield star, who won his maiden pro event at Woburn, in the 2015 British Masters.

And another Selborne winner – Sussex’s Charlie Strickland – Fulford’s Charlie Thornton and Jack Brooks, from Cheshire, who was runner-up in last year’s Lytham Trophy, also posed questions.

Matt Wallace at the Hampshire Hog in 2012 – the England Elite squad member turned pro a year later but then spent several years struggling before his career took off in 2018. Picture by ANDREW GRIFFIN / AMG PICTURES

From Elite squad for four years struggling on Alps Tour

DURING his frank Q&A session, Wallace spoke with real honesty about the memory he had of one day sitting on the couch at his parents’ home – and reflecting on where his career was heading at the age of 24.

His friends had good jobs and houses and he was living at his parents “winning 50p on the Alps Tour.”

Having asked himself if he still wanted this sort of life aged 27, Wallace set about changing into a player “who would stop at nothing” to reach the top.

Wallace went on to win six times on the Alps Tour in 2016, including a remarkable five victories in a row.

That earned promotion to the European Challenge Tour – his breakthrough win came in the Portugal Open in May 2017, followed by three European Tour victories in 2018.

His Made in Denmark win in front of European captain Thomas Bjørn was not quite enough to gatecrash the 2018 Ryder Cup.

But it was one hell of a ride from those days of struggling on mini-tours.

Matt, who started as a junior at Batchworth Park, in Rickmansworth, said: “My dad always encouraged me to act like a sponge with information – knowing that at any time you could squeeze out things that you didn’t like or which weren’t appropriate.

“It was great to do this Q&A and I hope some of the things I said were of use to the England players.”

Wallace, who grew up in Pinner, claimed the Peter Benka Trophy at the South East Qualifier at Stoneham GC, in 2010.

He then headed to Jacksonville State University where he played for the Gamecocks – the same Alabama college where Danny Willett had spent two years on a golf scholarship before winning the English Amateur in 2007.

In 2018, he returned to Moor Park, where he was also a member and held a clinic for juniors at the Rickmansworth club’s First Degree Golf Academy.

•Tommy Fleetwood, Chris Wood, Danny Willett, Bronte Law and Meg McLaren are lined up among a host of professionals ready to pass on knowledge to England’s class of 2020, as they continue to learn during a restricted period of lockdown.

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Scotland’s Paul Lawrie will captain the European team at the 2020 Junior Ryder Cup at Blue Mound Golf & Country Club, in Wisconsin four days before the Ryder Cup starts. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

PAUL Lawrie, the 1999 Open Champion and two-time Ryder Cup player, will captain Europe at the 2020 Junior Ryder Cup, which will take place at Wisconsin’s Blue Mound Golf and Country Club in Milwaukee.

The Scotsman, an eight-time European Tour winner, represented Europe at the 1999 Ryder Cup and will now lead Europe’s best juniors against their American counterparts in September.

Lawrie was also a member of the ‘Miracle at Medinah’ team, which staged a monumental comeback on the final day in 2012 to retain the Ryder Cup winning 14½-13½ on American soil.

The 50-year-old’s involvement in junior golf started in 2001 with the launch of the Paul Lawrie Foundation.

It provides opportunities for juniors to start playing golf. Its main goal is to encourage as many young people to play golf as possible.

The Junior Ryder Cup, held in the days before the Ryder Cup, sees the best male and female junior amateurs from Europe and the USA go head-to-head in a mixed event.

The biennial contest has seen many stars from world golf feature in the junior competition before excelling at the Ryder Cup and the Solheim Cup.

Sergio Garcia and Rory McIlroy both succeeded in the event before also winning the Ryder Cup, while Suzanne Peterson and Carlota Ciganda triumphed as amateurs before lifting the Solheim Cup.

“As soon as the call came in, I didn’t need long to think about taking on the role,” said Lawrie.

“To be able to lead a team of the best juniors in Europe against America will be a completely novel experience for me. In terms of how I see the game growing, it’s an important role.

“It’s going to be full-on over the next 10 months. I’m really looking forward to getting to some events during the year and watching the kids play.

“I’m absolutely delighted that I have been asked to captain the Junior Ryder Cup team.

“My wife, Marian, and I started the foundation to get as many kids into the game as we possibly could.

“I bring a huge enthusiasm for junior golf to the role. It’s where the game needs to be – sadly that still gets lost on some members at golf clubs not treating juniors how they deserve to be treated.

“Today’s juniors are tomorrow’s adults, and that’s an important message,” added Lawrie, who was one of Darren Clarke’s vice-captains at the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine.

Paul Lawrie who helped Europe come back from 10-6 down in the Sunday singles at the 2012 Ryder Cup in the Miracle of Medinah. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

Lawrie earned three-and-a-half points for the European cause in the infamous “Battle of Brookline,” with two-and-a-half points coming from his partnership with Colin Montgomerie.

He also defeated Jeff Maggert in the Sunday singles as America – captained by Ben Crenshaw – staged remarkable final day comeback.

The event was marred by the US players and supporters in the gallery inside the ropes surging on to the 17th green after Justin Leonard holed a long range putt before Jose Maria Olazabal had finished the hole.

The incident in Massachusetts combined with a hostile crowd that targeted the European team – and Colin Montgomerie in particular on Sunday – sparked further controversies when European captain Mark James published his account in Into the Bearpit.

Lawrie then earned his place in The 2012 Ryder Cup side at Medinah, winning Europe’s second point on Sunday, defeating Brandt Snedeker 5&3, as he and his teammates battled back from a 10-6 deficit to win the biennial contest 14½-13½.

Both the European and United States Junior Ryder Cup teams will feature six boys and six girls, who must not have turned 18 before January 1, 2020 – and must not be enrolled to play college golf in the USA during that year.

American stars to have featured in the Junior Ryder Cup include Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Tony Finau, Lexi Thompson and Brittany Altomare.

In 2018, at Golf Disneyland Paris, Europe narrowly missed out on a first victory since 2006, as Team USA triumphed 12½-11½.

The hosts included Danish twins Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgard, who are already playing on the Challenge and European Tours repsectively in 2020, and Stoke Park’s Conor Gough, who was crowned English Amateur Champion in August, at the age of just 16.

Surrey’s Annabel Fuller was also on the 2018 team, while Wentworth’s Annabel Dimmock, played in 2014 – and claimed her first Ladies European Tour victory this summer.

The selection process for the 2020 European Junior Ryder Cup team, including confirmation of qualifying events from The R&A and European Golf Association’s schedule for next year, will be announced shortly.

The match takes place at Blue Mound G&CC, from September 21-22, while the 2020 Ryder Cup takes place four days later at Whistling Straits some 70 miles away, from September 25-27.

•For more information about the 2020 Ryder Cup click here.

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