England’s under-16s stormed to a 14-4 victory in their annual international match with Ireland at Ballybunion Golf Club – with Teesside’s Alex Boyes and Tom Hartshorne in the team.
After Saturday morning’s action was cancelled because of the weather, the teams played foursomes in the afternoon in 40mph winds with 55mph gusts. The score was tied 3-3 at the end of the day’s play after some extremely tight matches.
England then proved prolific in the Sunday singles – winning 11 of the 12 matches to complete an emphatic win.
England U16 team captain/manager Jamie O’Connor said: “There were a couple of key moments on Saturday as George Whitehead and Aaron Moody crucially won the 17th and 18th to win their foursomes match, while Frankie Morton and Albie Beeston won 16 and 17 to recover a half in their match.
“It was well poised, and we knew that we’d have to perform well on day two to get the win. It was a really strong performance to complete a big victory, with the girls winning 6-0 and the boys winning 5-1.
“We had a really experienced England team, and this was probably the last cap for all the players as U16s, so it was a really good test for the youngsters of how they control the controllables, and how to just stick in there and get the job done, as the weather was biblical!
“A big thanks to Ballybunnion and Golf Ireland; we look forward to the return fixture next year, where we’ll be excited to have 12 fresh faces.”
