Last year’s Reid Trophy winner French teenager Joseph Linel – the 2020 English U14s Championship has been cancelled. Picture by LEADERBOARD PHOTOGRAPHY

THE Reid and McGregor Trophy will not take place in 2020 – because of the continuing COVID-19 crisis, England Golf has announced.

England Golf believes the English U14 and U16 championships – due to be held in the last week of July and early August – pose to many obstacles to overcome for them to go ahead.

The England Girls U16 and U14 Championships – which were due to be held at Brentwood’s Thorndon Park Golf Club, in Esssex – have also been called off.

An England Golf spokesman said: “The safety and wellbeing of our junior competitors and their accompanying parents/guardians remains of paramount importance.

“While we are confident the golf element of a championship can be managed successfully, there are additional practical difficulties associated with running junior events.

“With parents and guardians necessarily joining competitors, staff and volunteers on site within the confines of a smaller club environment, it becomes more difficult to adhere to social distancing regulations.”

A spokesman said: “England Golf is most appreciative of the understanding and acceptance shown by the host clubs in making this tough decision.

“We look forward to working with them again in the future.”

England Golf is confident the Men’s and Women’s national championship can still go ahead at its national headquarters at Woodhall Spa, in Lincolnshire, at the end of July.

The spokesman added: “It should be noted that due to the size and layout of the Woodhall Spa facility at the home of England Golf, the English Men’s and English Women’s Amateur Championships – scheduled to be played from July 28-August 2 – remain in the diary.

“England Golf is confident it can celebrate the best of English amateur golf at this joint event.”

French teenager Joseph Linel – the 2019 winner – will have to wait a year longer to stand a chance of joining the elite group to have won the Reid and McGregor Trophy.

Justin Rose won the McGregor and Carris trophies in 1995

Carris and other events ‘unaffected’ at the moment says England Golf

ALL other England Golf championships remain provisionally scheduled as before – but are subject to regular review in accordance with updated government advice and regulations, England Golf has confirmed.

The biggest junior event is the Carris Trophy, which was moved to the end of August, from the third week in July, becasue of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The venue was switched from St George’s Hill, at Weybridge, in Surrey, to Broadstone, in Dorset, back in April.

The English Seniors Men’s and Women Amateur Championships have also been rescheduled to the middle of August.

The McGregor has been won by the likes of Justin Rose, back in 1995, and Edoardo Molinari, a year later.

The Italian denied a back-to-back victory for the North Hants GC teenager – a feat only achieved by Lincolnshire’s Jim Payne, in 1987.

It was one of three national victories in one stunning season for Rose, who only turned 15 after he had completed the double by adding the Carris Trophy at the English Boys Amateur Championship, at Burnham & Berrow.

The winners from 1995 and 1996 at Radcliffe-on-Trent GC. The Nottinghamshire’ club ran the comptetion before it became the English U16 Championship in 1982 – both went on to play in the Ryder Cup for Europe.

Graeme Storm, the winner in 1994, played in the 1999 Walker Cup and won twice on the European Tour.

Essex’s Oliver Fisher, the McGregor winner in 2004, broke Rose’s record as the youngest ever player in the Walker Cup in 2005, at just 16.

•The 2020 McGregor Trophy was due to be played at Gateshead’s Heworth GC (July 28-30). It is still played at its spiritual home at Ratcliffe-on-Trent every five years.

Conor Gough – one of just three winners of both the Reid and McGregor Trophy. Picture by Leaderboard Photography

Gough one of three to win men’s and U16s

ONLY three McGregor champions have gone on to win the English Amateur – James Heath (1999 and 2004), Paul Waring (2001 and 2006) and Stoke Park’s Conor Gough (2018 and 2019).

Just two years ago, Gough won the McGregor before adding the British Boys title at the age of 15.

He also became the second-youngest English Amateur Champion by beating Northamptonshire County’s Callum Farr, in the final at Surrey’s Hankley Common last summer.

The Walker Cup player was four days older than when Harry Ellis broke Sir Nick Faldo’s 1975 record in the 2012 English Amateur final.

Only three juniors have won the Reid and McGregor Trophy.

And unsurprisingly Gough became the latest player to have achieved the feat in 2018 after winning the Reid in 2016.

Worthing’s Oscar Sharpe became the first in 2006, followed by his Sussex clubmate Toby Tree, when he won the McGregor in 2010 – two years after claiming the U14s title.

Eddie Pepperell won the Reid in 2005 at Bristol & Clifton and is the only winner so far, to have earned a European Tour card.

Kent’s Jonathan Bell ended up on the bag when Tyrrell Hatton claimed two European Tour wins back-to-back in 2017.

The Reid Trophy was created back in 1995, with Porters Park in Hertfordshire staging what became the English U14 Championship for the first five years.

The English U14s was due to be played at Prestbury Golf Club, in Cheshire, for the first time, from August 4-6.

Quartet of Carris winners played Ryder Cup

NOTABLE Carris Trophy winners include Sandy Lyle (1975), Peter Baker (1983), David Gilford (1981) plus Hertfordshire’s Ken Brown (1974) and Peter Townsend (1965) – who all went on to play in the Ryder Cup.

Ken Brown – Picture: WOJCIECH MIGDA

Another Hertfordshire junior destined for the European Tour was Welwyn Garden City’s Tom Lewis, who won the Carris just along the M25 at Moor Park – the event’s spriritual home since it was first played in 1935.

Lewis went on to beat Frilford Heath’s Eddie Pepperell in the British Boys final at Royal St George the following month.

He became just the third player to win the UK’s top two junior events in the same season, matching Townsend, who won the British title for a second time in 1964, the year he claimed the Carris.

Nine Carris winners have gone on to add the English Amateur Championship to their silverware collection.

The first was Ronnie White, who added the men’s title 12 years after he became the third-ever winner of the Carris at Moor Park, in Hertfordshire.

The other double winners are (Carris Trophy first): –
John Langley (1936 and 1950)
Ian Caldwell (1947/8 and 1961)
David Gilford (1981 and 1984)
Ian Garbutt (1989 and 1990)
Mark Foster (1992 and 1994)
Scott Godfrey (1998 and 2001)
Gary Lockerbie (2000 and 2003)
Callum Shinkwin (2010 and 2013)

Lyle rewrote the record books for the Brabazon Trophy – the English Men’s Amateur Strokeplay – by winning it as a 17-year-old in 1975.

The future Masters winner broke the record set in October 1949 by Hampshire’s Paddy Hine, who had won the Carris Trophy at Moor Park earlier that summer, also aged 17.

Ben Schmidt the youngest to complete the Carris and Brabazon Trophy double at just 16. Picture by LEADERBOARD PHOTOGRAPHY

Schmidt became youngest winner of Carris and Brabazon

YORKSHIRE’S Ben Schmidt smashed Sandy Lyle’s record by claiming the Carris at the age of just 16 last summer.

His win came just six weeks after claiming the Brabazon at Alwoodley, in Leeds.

The Reid and McGregor Trophy may not bear Schmidt’s name. But he became just the ninth player – and just the second in the 21st Century – to claim the Carris and Brabazon double.

Hampshire’s Darren Wright was the first. Rowlands Castle’s England international added the Men’s title at Hoylake in 2010 – four years after his Boys’ victory at Sherwood Forest.

Lyle became just the second player to land that double in the same season after Hine. Peter Baker became the third 10 years later,

Sussex’s Gary Evans – who won the Carris in 1986 – shared the Brabazon Trophy two years in a row in 1990 and 1991 – before earning his card on the European Tour.

Nottinghamshire’s Mark Foster was the only player to complete the double in the 1990s.

Kent’s Paul Page became the first Carris winner away from Moor Park, in 1988, at Durham’s Brancepth Castle.

That was the year the English Golf Union adopted the tournament as its official England U18 Boys Open Strokeplay Championship.

The tournament now returns to its original home at Moor Park every five years.

In three of the seven Carris Trophies held at Moor Park since 1989, Hertfordshire players have triumped on three occasions.

David Griffiths, from nearby West Herts won in 1997, was followed by The Hertfordshire GC’s Thomas Haylock in 2005, and Welwyn Garden City’s Tom Lewis in 2009.

•A full list of winners of the Reid and McGregor Trophy can be found on the England Golf website.

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A large number of England Golf Championships in June and July have been postponed because of the coronvirus pandemic – a total of 27 events are now off

ENGLAND Golf have postponed another 14 events – including the Carris and McGregor trophies – in the summer’s amateur calendar in June and July amid the continuing coronavirus crisis.

All major championships organised by the game’s governing body in England have now been put off up until July 27.

That includes two of the three of England’s junior championships – with July’s McGregor Trophy (U16s strokeplay) and the Carris (U18s strokeplay) – both off, at least temporarily.

Another casualty is the English Mid-Amateur Championship for the over 35s, with the Logan Trophy due to have been played at Yorkshire’s Sand Moor, from July 3-5.

England Golf had already cancelled some 14 events from April until the end of the first week in June after the championship committee took the decision on March 18 – before the Government lockdown was introduced five days later forcing some 3,000 golf clubs to close in the UK and Ireland.

Organisers based at England Golf’s headquarters at Woodhall Spa, in Lincolnshire, are still hoping that some of the events can be rescheduled although junior events like the Carris and McGregor – and the England Girls Open Championship – due to be played at Hertfordshire’s Sandy Lodge GC, from July 21-23 – can only be played during the school holidays.

The Carris was due to be played at Weybridge’s St George’s Hill, in Surrey, from July 21-24, while the McGregor was heading to the North East at Heworth GC, in Gateshead, a week earlier.

England Golf’s director of championships James Crampton said: “It is with regret that we have had to extend the list of postponed England Golf events as we all adhere to the expert advice and necessary measures now in place to combat the spread of coronavirus.

“All England Golf championships have now been postponed until week commencing July 27.

“We will continue to regularly review our championship plans beyond this date.

“If possible, we aim to re-schedule some of our postponed events and will provide information as and when it is practicable to do so.

“There are a number of intricacies associated with championship golf which need to be considered well in advance of any event taking place.

“And these, as much as golf courses being open for play, are key factors in our decision-making.”

An England Golf spokesman said: “As always, England Golf’s priority when taking decisions at this time is to assist the national effort to combat the threat of the COVID-19 outbreak and ensure we protect our NHS and save lives.

“With golf courses now closed until further notice and restrictions for travel and public life in place for an indefinite period, England Golf have taken the pragmatic decision on the postponement of events beyond our original date of June 7.

The 14 events in April, May and early June which were postponed included the Brabazon Trophy at Sherwood Forest GC (May 21-24) and the two qualifiers for the English Amateur Strokeplay Championship at Hessle and East Sussex on May 12.

The English Women’s Amateur at Sheringham GC, in Norfolk (May 27-31) and the Senior Women’s Amateur at  Peterborough Milton GC (May 11-15) were among the earlier events called off.

The English Seniors Championship at Lincolnshire’s Burghley Park and Luffenham Heath, in Rutland (June 3-5) is also off along with the English Open Amateur for golfers with a disability at Whittlebury Park, in Northamptonshire, from June 27-28.

The English Schools’ Team Championship – which was to be held again at Woodhall Spa – is another event that will require a new slot, but could be played later in the season.

The latest England Golf championships to be postponed are:–

• English Senior Women’s Strokeplay – Abbeydale, June 16-18
• England Golf Medal – The Kendleshire – June 17
• Golf Captains – Broadway, June 17
• England Golf Medal – Drayton Park, June 21
• England Golf Medal – Brancepeth Castle, June 25
• English Open Disabled Amateur – Whittlebury Park, June 27-28
• Golf Captains – Moortown, June 30
• Logan Trophy – Sand Moor, July 3-5
• Senior Series and Golf Captains – South Staffs, July 7-8
• English Schools’ Team Championship – Woodhall Spa, July 8
• McGregor Trophy – Heworth, July 14-16
• English Girls’ Open Championship – Sandy Lodge, July 21-23
• Carris Trophy – St George’s Hill, July 21-24
• Golf Captains – Piltdown, July 22

Any player already registered for a postponed England Golf event will be contacted directly by the championship department.

In addition to championships, all England Golf regional and national squad coaching sessions for men, women, boys and girls remain cancelled until further notice.

Individual coaching sessions – apart from those done remotely by video call – have also been cancelled.

The England Golf spokesman added: “Events relating to championships and performance squads remain under constant review and timely updates will be issued via our website and social media platforms.”

•You can follow England Golf on Twitter and Instagram

The stunninge St George’s Hill at Weybridge is due to host the Carris Trophy in 2020 but the July date has been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic

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The 2018 Fed Ex Champion in the Justin Rose Room at North Hants Golf Club where the club’s most famous member’s achievements – including his 2013 US Open win and claiming the Olympic Golf at Rio in 2016 – are recorded and celebrated. Picture courtesy North Hants GC

WHILE Justin Rose’s 14th appearance at the Masters may have not gone to plan over the first two days at Augusta, avid fans of amateur golf will remember events at North Hants Golf Club some 25 years ago, which set the US Open champion on the road to becoming the World No. 1.

Justin Rose was just 14 years old when he took on the might of the finest amateur golfers in the land in the 1995 Hampshire Hog – the majority were at least four or five years older, and in some cases 10, a lifetime in terms of experience and development, as in most sports.

But as the afternoon round unfolded, word spread back the clubhouse where many members had been either enjoying a long lunch, or were busy running the prestigious tournament that marks the real start of the UK domestic amateur season, that something special was happening out on the course.

The late respected sports reporter Alistair Marshall recalled before the 10^th anniversary of Rose blooming as a young boy: “A couple of us golf journalists were finishing a late lunch when a couple of the members came running into the bar.

“They said we had to come out quick because this young lad Justin Rose was ripping up the course, and was going to win at the age of just 14.”

He did indeed win, creating a new record 36-hole score in the process and the rest, as they say, is history.

The Hog was established back in 1959 and within its first 20 years had already established itself with three of Britain’s best two post-war amateurs – Sir Michael Bonallack Phillip Scrutton and Peter McEvoy.

The trio won it four times between them, sandwiched between the likes of future European Seniors Tour champion Carl Mason and a certain Sandy Lyle, who started the UK’s dominance at Augusta, 11 years after he collected the solid silver trophy depicting the famous Hampshire Hog.

Open and Masters winner Sandy Lyle is presented with the Hampshire Hog back in 1977. Picture courtesy of North Hants GC

The likes Gordon Brand Jnr and Steve Richardson would also graduate to Ryder Cup glory.

Another amateur legend, Gary Wolstenholme, who was invited to the Masters the following year after his two British Amateur Championship wins in 1991 and 2002, was crowned champion at North Hants in 1997 – denying Rose a second win – and in 2002.

And to bring the story up to date, if you had been one of the dozens of spectators rather even hundreds, who had watched the Hog over the last 10 or so years, you would have seen the likes of 2016 Masters winner Danny Willett, Tommy Fleetwood, Andy Sullivan and Matthew Fitzpatrick, who have all played in the last two Ryder Cups, tackling the heathland course where Rose really blossomed.

Rose still has incredibly strong ties to the club – the Justin Rose Room was created on the upper floor in the old committee room, featuring a trophy cabinet that features his official Olympic jacket after he claimed the Gold medal after the game returned to the Games for the first time in 112 years in Rio, in 2016.

The far end of the room features a folding wall which when extended – forms the official scoreboard from Merion Golf Club, where he famously won the US Open title in 2013.

Pictures of Justin winning the Hog back in 1995 and from some of his other famous victories – he is the only English junior to land the Carris and McGregor Trophies in the same season after winning the English U18 and U16 Amateur Championships, respectively – also adorn the walls.

But the most well-known picture features the teenager, who became the youngest-ever player to appear in the 1997 Walker Cup for Great Britain and Ireland against the USA, when he holed out at the last during the 1998 Open Championship, at Royal Birkdale, to finish fourth alongside Tiger Woods, having qualified as an amateur.

Rose turned pro the following week, and while it took him nine years to become crowned European No. 1, before moving to the United States, where he went on to claim 10 PGA Tour titles and two World Golf Championships, that April day at North Hants Golf Club, will always be remembered as pivotal in his journey to the top.

•Entry to watch this year’s Hampshire Hog on Sunday, April 14, is free. Play commences at 8am. North Hants Golf Club is on Minley Road, Fleet, just five minutes from the M3 Junction 4A.

Hampshire Hog winner Jordan Smith (left) with Moor Park’s Callum Shinkwin, holding the Hampshire Salver in 2013. Both are now on the European Tour. Picture by ANDREW GRIFFIN

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