Rotherham GC’s Ben Schmidt took the New South Wales Amateur Championship, beating England team-mate Callum Farr 7&5 in the final – his fifth national title in less than a year

BEN Schmidt made it an Aussie double for England when he won the New South Wales Amateur Championship after Charlotte Heath’s brilliant weekend victory in the Australian Women’s Amateur.

The 17-year-old Rotherham GC member turned in a dominant performance against Northamptonshire’s Callum Farr in the all-England final, at St Michael’s Golf Club, near Sydney.

The 7&5 victory was highly impressive and another landmark moment in the career of one of world golf’s most promising amateur talents.

Last year, Schmidt completed the Brabazon and Carris double – breaking Sandy Lyle’s 42-year-old record in the process, the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters, and the Justin Rose Daily Telegraph Junior Championship at Quinta do Lago, in November.

The Yorkshire teenager, who became the youngest-ever winner of the Brabazon Trophy at the 2019 English Men’s Amateur Strokeplay at just 16, helped England’s men to Home International success.

Schmidt’s success comes hot on the heels of Heath’s stunning win in the Australian Women’s Amateur Championship.

Heath – who also hails from Yorkshire – claimed the biggest win of her career with a 7&6 triumph over Indonesia’s Mela Putri, at Royal Queensland.

Heath’s victory helped create the feelgood factor among the seven England internationals who travelled to Australia for four top amateur events, as she became just the fifth Brit since 1894 to win the ladies crown, in what is the 10th oldest championship in world golf.

And Schmidt was happy to ride the crest of the wave just five days later.

“It’s great to get a win and the first trophy for the season,” said the player who is a member at the same Yorkshire club as Masters winner Danny Willett.

Schmidt said: “I have played really well all week and felt comfortable out on the course, and was able to continue that feeling into the final.

“To be honest, I played pretty flawlessly and against a player of Callum’s standard that had to be the case.

“My main goal before I started was to treat the 36-hole final as two separate matches. It helped to narrow it down and focus on a shorter target.

“I was able to win the first hole of the day hitting two good shots into the green and from there I just grew in confidence.

“Over the last few weeks everyone in the England team has been able to find a bit of form, and it’s great that I could follow up Charlotte’s win with this success.”

Schmidt was two-up after four holes of the morning round, but was pegged back when Farr managed a brilliant birdie two at the fifth.

But a strong back nine saw him take a five-hole cushion into the afternoon round.

When Schmidt won the fifth hole of the afternoon round with a par to move six clear, it was clear he had one hand on the trophy.

“Me and my caddie Sean had a great game plan and we stuck to it all week.

“I hit some great golf shots and didn’t make many mistakes, and the result shows what happened out there.

“You’ve got to hit it in the right places out here,” Ben added.

“I did all right last year. It’s good to get my first win for this season under my belt. It’s a massive confidence boost.”

Northamptonshire County’s Callum Farr
Picture by LEADERBOARD PHOTOGRAPHY

And Schmidt was full of praise for Farr, and admitted it was tricky taking on a team-mate and friend in such an important final.

“Callum’s a great mate and we get on really well,” said Schmidt.

“There were no hard feelings – we both knew we had to compete and someone had to win. Callum’s had a great week too and it’s great for English golf.”

It also meant an Englishman had won the New South Wales Amateur for the third time in four years.

Hampshire’s 2016 Amateur Champion Scott Gregroy beat Marco Penge, from Goodwood, in another all-English final, in 2017, while Staffordshire’s Gian Marco-Petrozzi won 12 months later.

Schmidt and the other six players representing England on the trip to Australia now have a day off, before a practice round on Sunday ahead of the Avondale Amateur, which starts on Tuesday.

Ben added: “The whole experience of being in Australia and coping with travel, time differences and style of golf courses has been amazing.

“I’ve played four courses now and they all have different features, different types of grass and that’s all part of learning the game.

“Hopefully, all the England players can show up well again in the Avondale.”

Heath returns to fray at Avondale

Charlotte Heath became just the fifth British player to win the Australlian Women’s Amateur Championship in 128 years at Royal Queensland GC. Picture by GOLF AUSTRALIA

HUDDERSFIELD’S Heath missed the NSW Amateur Championship as the final of the Australian Women’s Amateur finished some 12 hours before play began at St Michael’s.

But the 18-year-old will be back for the Avondale and does so with a spring in her step.

After winning on Sunday, she said: “It was a bit stressful and I was super nervous to start.

“I got off to a quick start and then in the second 18 she started playing really good and it was tense.

“I made two bogeys and she made two birdies and I dropped a few. But I kept my head and kept going.”

Heath’s win has earned her spots in two professional events next month – the Vic Open on the Bellarine Peninsula, and the Women’s Australian Open, at Royal Adelaide.

The England international is hoping her school teachers will be wiling to let her take up what should be the opportunity of a lifetime.

•GRACE KIM WINS NSW WOMEN’S AMATEUR

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Northamptonshire County’s Callum Farr – runner-up in the English Amateur in August – is one of a seven-strong England team heading to Australia in January.
Picture by LEADERBOARD PHOTOGRAPHY

SEVEN members of the England Golf’s performance squads are travelling to Australia in the New Year, to kick off their 2020 amateur golf season.

Five of the men’s squad and two from the women’s team are heading down under for four top-class tournaments in January.

Northamptonshire County’s Ben Jones and Callum Farr, Yorkshire’s Ben Schmidt, Tom Plumb, from Somerset, and Northumberland’s Matty Lamb will spearhead the men’s challenge.

Cornwall’s Emily Toy – the reigning Women’s Amateur champion – and Yorkshire’s Charlotte Heath will lead the way for the women.

Emily Toy, winner of The 2019 Women’s Amateur Championship. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

A month of competition starts with the Master of the Amateur tournament at the Victoria Golf Club near Melbourne, between January 7-10.

The England players will then travel on for the Australian Amateur, at Royal Queensland, from January 14-19.

The New South Wales Amateur follows immediately at St Michael’s Golf Club and the Coast Golf Club, in Little Bay.

The month ends with the Avondale Amateur at Avondale Golf Club, from January 28-31.

Yorkshire teenager Schmidt is the most decorated of the England Golf’s men’s party, having broken the record as the youngest-ever winner of the Brabazon and Carris Trophy double in the same season, at just 16, in July.

Jones reached the semi-final of The Amateur Championship at Portmarnock, in June, but missed out on a Walker Cup appearance at Royal Liverpool, in September.

Yeovil’s Tom Plumb did play for Great Britain and Ireland at Hoylake, where the USA regained the Walker Cup.

The 20-year-old, who won the South West Counties Amateur Championship back in June, was also crowned Cape Province Open winner in March. He has been an England international at men’s and boys level since 2015.

Hampshire Hog winner Lamb, who made his debut in the English Home Internationals alongside Schmidt, Plumb, Jones and Farr, who lost in the final of the English Amateur to Stoke Park’s Conor Gough, in August.

Corhampton’s Scott Gregory – winner of the 2017 New South Wales Amateur. Picture by ANTHONY POWTER

England’s successes Down Under – from Victorian Michael Scott to Scott Gregory

THE Australian Amateur dates back to 1894 – a year before the US Amateur was founded.

That makes it the fourth oldest national championship in the amateur world behind New Zealand (1893), South Africa (1892) and the R&A Amateur (1885).

Gloucestershire’s former Winchester College student Michael Scott, who emigrated to Australia at the start of the 20th Century, won the Australian Amateur four times between 1905 and 1911.

Scott also took the amateur honours at the inaugural Australian Open title in 1904, and won again in 1907 – beating both the professionals and the amateurs in the field by some seven shots.

The son of the Earl of Eldon also won seven Victoria Amateur state titles before returning to Europe to fight in the First World War.

Scott, whose sister Lady Margaret Scott who won the first three Women’s Amateur Championships, won two French Amateur titles in 1912 and 1922.

He made his Walker Cup debut in 1924, at New York’s Garden City Golf Club.

The Royal St George’s captain became the oldest player to appear in the Walker Cup when he also captained the Great Britain and Ireland team at St Andrews, in 1934, at the age of 55 – having become the oldest winner of The Amateur Championship a year earlier.

The only English winner Down Under in post-war times was Middlesex’s Warren Bennett – the Ealing man was crowned in 1994 – the Scots have a better record with Connor Syme winning in 2016, while Eric Ramsay won at Royal Melbourne, in 2005, and Jack Doherty at Mount Lawley in 2003.

But the English have fared better in the 36-hole strokeplay qualifier – at one point given the title of Australian Amateur Strokeplay Champion but now known as the Australian Amateur Medallist.

Danny Willett took that Strokeplay title in 2008 – preceded by Andrew Dodt and Jason Day (2006), while Wellingborough’s Ryan Evans took the prize in 2014 – followed a year later by Huddersfield’s Nick Marsh, six months after he beat Hampshire’s Scott Gregory in the English Amateur final at Saunton.

Australian Blake Windred claimed the Avondale in 2018 and 2019 and turned pro earlier this year. He was third Australian to win the Avondale back-to-back since its founding in 2006.

The last Englishman to claim the title in New South Wales was Evans in 2014 that marked a memorable month Down Under for Evans and England Golf.

Woburn’s Steve Lewton, who went on to play on the European Challenge and Asian Tours, was the second ever winner in 2007, followed by Coventry’s Matt Cryer a year later.

In 2017, Gregory, from Corhampton, claimed the New South Wales Amateur title as the reigning Amateur Championship beat Sussex’s Marco Penge in the final, at Terrey Hills G&CC.

The Corhampton player – who headed England Golf’s party that year – also featured in the Master of the Amateur tournament and met Open Champion legend Peter Thompson during a practice round.

The Australian, who lifted the Claret Jug three years’ running in the mid-1950s – and five times in total between 1954 and 1965 – died in June 2018.

Staffordshire’s Gian-Marco Petrozzi claimed the NSW title in 2018. Previous English winners include Formby’s Paul Howard (2015), Hexham’s Jack Senior (2011) and Gary Wolstenholme (2007).

The New South Wales dates back to 1898 – the most famous champion was New Zealand’s Michael Campbell, the winner in 1992, who went on to win the US Open in 2005 at Pinehurst.

•For more information about the amateur events England Golf’s party will play in Australia, in January, visit www.golf.org.au

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England claimed the Raymond Trophy after beating Scotland 9-6 at Lahinch GC, in Ireland.
Picture by PAT CASHMAN / CASHMAN PHOTOGRAPHY

ENGLAND have won the Home Internationals after beating Scotland 9-6 at Lahinch, on Friday, to retain the Raymond Trophy.

Hexham’s Matty Lamb won five out of six matches, losing just one over the three days as England followed up their 12-3 romp over Wales on Wednesday, with a 10-5 win over their Irish hosts, on Thursday, to maintain their 100 per cent record.

England were pegged back to a 21/2-21/2 draw in the foursomes by the Scots, who made a strong start in match three with Eric McIntosh and Darren Howie going up five up with four to play against West Cornwall’s Harry Hall and Rotheram’s teeanage record-breaker Ben Schmidt.

Somerset’s Walker Cup pairing of Tom Sloman and Tom Plumb beat Euan McIntosh and Kieran Cantley 2&1 in the top match to tie things up quickly and extend their foursomes record to three wins out of three.

After Northamptonshire County’s Ben Jones and Saunton’s Jake Burnage lost by one hole to Royal Wimbledon’s Ryan Lumsden and Matt Clark, Lamb playing with Yorkshire’s Ben Hutchinson, beat James Wilson and Connor McKinney 4&3.

The bottom match between Lindrick’s Bailey Gill and Wallasey’s Joshua McMahon ended in a half to take the teams into lunch all-square.

England made a fast start to the singles on the course which hosted the Irish Open won by Jon Rahm.

Sloman took care of Lumsden courtesy of a 3&2 win while Jones won the 18^th to beat Cantley by two.

While Plumb was held to a half by Wilson, Burnage, who was considered very unlucky to miss out on a Walker Cup place despite winning the St Andrews Links, in June, lost 2&1 to McKinney.

Hexham’s Matty Lamb was England’s top scorer losing just one of six matches as they retained the Raymond Trophy at the Home Internationals at Lahinch, with a 9-6 win over Scotland on the final day. Picture by ANDREW GRIFFIN / AMG PICTURES

Northamptonshire’s Callum Farr halved with Irvine Lewis and Hampshire Hog winner Lamb beat Howie by one on the last to make it 61/2-41/2 to England.

Clark ended his week on a high as Scotland’s leading points scorer with a 2&1 win over Hutchinson to keep Scottish hopes alive.

But Schmidt – the youngest player to win both the Carris Trophy and the Brabazon in the same season – was left to claim the winning point for England and the title thanks to a two-hole win over Eric McIntosh.

Lytham Trophy winner McMahon – another to miss out on Walker Cup selection – got a half from Euan after Lindrick’s Bailey Gill took care of Stuart Easton in the bottom match, winning 3&2.

England’s bid to retain the Home Internationals crown they won at Conwy 12 months ago, began with Wales holding them to 21/2-21/2 in the foursomes.

Jones – who, along with Ben Schmidt, was one of two reserves for the Great Britain and Ireland side that lost the Walker Cup to the USA at Royal Liverpool, on Sunday,– helped Burnage to a 4&3 win over Jake Hapgood and Jacob Davies.

But from 2-0 up Welsh pair Connor Jones and George Bryant won on the last against Hutchinson and Lamb while Matt Roberts and Kieron Harman picked off Gill and McMahon by 3&2 leaving Schmidt and Farr to share the spoils with Wales’ Gaelen Trew and Tom Froom.

But the singles were a very different proposition as the scoreboard was turned red with England winning nine out of the 10 matches, with just Farr held to a half at the death by Trew to make it 12-3.

Plumb beat Davies 7&6 in match two while Burnage collected his second point of the day with a 5&4 win over Hapgood.

Hutchinson picked up the winning point with a 5&3 win over Roberts as Gill raced to his win over Jones by the same scoreline a hole behind them.

Ireland claimed the Raymond Trophy four years in a row before England’s victory in 2018 but their hopes of regaining the crown in front of their own fans was effectively ended when they lost the foursomes 4-1.

Plumb and Sloman took care of Walker Cup team-mate Conor Purcell, playing with Keith Egan, winning 4&3 while Gill and McMahon beat another of Ireland’s four Walker Cup players – Tom KcKibbin – by two holes, playing with Colm Campbell.

Ireland’s only success came courtesy of Walker Cup player Caolan Rafferty’s 2&1 win playing with Tiarnan McLarnon against Jones and Burnage.

Ireland had to come out fighting and Purcell ended Sloman’s 100 per cent record with a 3&2 win before Rafferty got the better of Plumb by 2&1.

But wins from Farr – his first for England – Burnage, Jones and Lamb – the latter against McKibbon on the last – wrapped up the 10-5 win.

Schmidt kept his unbeaten run going with a 2&1 win over McLarnon before Gill halved the bottom match with Campbell who played in all four of Ireland’s recent Home International triumphs.

For full scores from Lahinch, click here

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ENGLAND Golf have announced a strong team for the defence of their title at the Men’s Home Internationals, to be played at Lahinch, in Ireland, from September 11-13.

The 11-man team includes West Cornwall’s Harry Hall, and Somerset pair Tom Sloman and Tom Plumb, who will travel to Ireland straight from playing in the Walker Cup match at Royal Liverpool the weekend before, but not schoolboy Conor Gough, the 16-year-old English Amateur Champion, from Buckinghamshire’s Stoke Park GC.

Captain Nigel Edwards has also picked Rotherham’s record-breaker Ben Schmidt and Ben Jones, from Northamptonshire County, who were listed as first and second reserves for the biennial fixture against the USA when the Walker Cup team was named on Monday.

The 2019 team also includes Jake Burnage and Bailey Gill, who were part of the 2018 English Men’s Home International team that beat this year’s hosts Ireland in the deciding match 12 months ago at Conwy GC, in Wales.

Plumb and Sloman were also part of that winning squad. Hall and Schmidt are both newcomers to the Home International team and earn their first full England caps.

Hall graduated from University of Las Vegas, in May, where he won twice in five weeks in 2018 and played under Cornwall’s Walker Cup player Philip Rowe, who was in the same team as Justin Rose, in 1997.

They are joined by Hampshire Hog winner Matty Lamb, Yorkshire’s Ben Hutchinson and Wallasey’s Joshua McMahon, who also make their debut in the contest.

The final debutant is Northamptonshire County’s second representative in the team – Callum Farr, who lost in the final of the English Amateur to Stoke Park’s Conor Gough at Hankley Common, earlier this month.

Farr, who earned his place in this year’s England A squad by winning the Selborne Salver last year and by reaching the last four of the 2018 English Amateur, was also runner-up in the Spanish Amateur, in March.

Two reserve players have also been selected – Castle Royle’s David Langley and Malton and Norton’s Yorkshire player David Hague, who both were in the team a year ago.

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STOKE Park’s Conor Gough produced a sparkling performance to win the English Men’s Amateur Championship at Surrey’s Hankley Common, on Sunday.

The 16-year-old – who claimed the British Boys title a year ago – beat 20-year-old Callum Farr, from Northamptonshire County, 3&2 in the final.

The title adds to the McGregor Trophy he won last year – and dropped a heavy hint to the Walker Cup selectors, who left him out of their 16-man squad in July less than six months after including him in a 29-strong group.

And in winning his national championship Gough became the second youngest-ever winner of the English crown – just missing out on breaking Harry Ellis’ record by four days, after the Meon Valley G&CC teenager broke Sir Nick Faldo’s record in 2012, 37 years after it was set by Hertfordshire’s then 18-year-old future Masters winner.

Gough – who celebrates his 17th birthday in September – spent much of the early part of the season studying for his GCSEs but clearly the enforced break has had no detrimental effect on his golf.

He began the morning round of the final by hitting a 350-yard drive down the first and then holing out from 12-feet for a birdie and seven holes later he was three up after a birdie on the sixth and an eagle on the eighth.

Farr claimed his first hole of the day when he birdied from just off the front of the green at the 10^th but he could never quite reel in his opponent and he was four down heading into lunch before he won the 18^th with a par.

Farr started the second round strongly by winning the first with a birdie and the second with a par.

But last year’s Selborne Salver winner found himself three down again after dropping shots at both the fourth and fifth.

The pair then shared eight birdies between them before Gough sealed victory with a testing four-foot downhill putt for a par on the short 16^th.

“It feels great to win,” said Gough moments after holing the winning putt. “I played really well. I love matchplay and as soon as I got through the strokeplay qualifier I knew I had a good chance.

“I’m proud of myself. I’ve got a couple of big weeks coming up so I hope I can keep things going.

“I’ve got the Boys’ Home Internationals next week and then the US Amateur Championship at Pinehurst.

“I’m really looking forward to that. It’s the same format as this so hopefully I can put in another good performance.”

It was impossible not to feel for England A squad member Farr, who has now reached the last four and the last two in the past two years without tasting success.

“I hit the ball better this afternoon but just couldn’t get the putts to drop,” Farr said. “I’m disappointed, but Conor is a very good player and he deserved to win because he played a lot better than me.

“I got to the semi-final last year and now the final so maybe next year will be my year,” Farr added.

Burnage beaten by Gough in semis

In Saturday’s semi-finals, Saunton’s Jake Burnage – who was looking to cement his own Walker Cup place by adding the English Amateur title to the St Andrews Links Trophy he claimed in early June – lost 4&3 to Gough.

Burnage, who won three times in 2017 to make a late bid to earn Walker Cup selection from virtually nowhere, had beaten The Buckinghamshire’s Will Shackleton 5&4 in the fourth round.

The Devon man then raced into the last four winning by the same margin against Sussex’s Jack Floydd, from Haywards Heath GC, who has been playing on the Alps and MENA Tours this year as an amateur.

Gough had ended Essex’s Curtis Knipes’ hopes of emulating Todd Clements – the 2017 winner – beating the Chelmsford player – who qualified for The Open at Royal Portrush last month – by 3&2.

In the other half of the draw Farr ended the dreams of another Essex hopeful beating Bradley Bawden – who played NCJAA for the University of Memphis’ Tigers team for two years after two years at Eastern Florida State – by 2&1.

That followed a 4&3 win over Walton Heath’s England Boys cap Enrique Dimayuga, who clearly felt at home on another of Surrey’s finest heathland courses, in the quarter-final.

Bawden had beaten recent Tillman Trophy winner Joe Harvey, from Gloucesterdshire’s Kendleshire GC, 2&1 to book his place in the last four.

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