England’s U16 team – including Teesside’s Alex Boyes and Tom Hartshorne – fought back from a point behind to win their annual match with Ireland 16-14 at Burnham and Berrow.
The two-day match saw Ireland take the lead on day one after winning the morning foursomes 3.5-2.5 as the afternoon singles matches finished 6-6 – with nine of the 12 singles matches going down to the final hole.
A storming final day from England’s youngsters saw them win the singles 7.5-4.5 on Sunday, with both the boys’ and girls’ teams winning 8-7.
Alex and Tom teamed up to half their foursomes match on Saturday, while Tom picked up a half in the Saturday singles and Tom lost his match. Alex then picked up a singles win of his own on Sunday, beating Isaac Oliver 1up, as Tom lost to Adam Fahey.
Jamie O’Connor, England Golf assistant performance manager (men’s), said: “It was a great morning for us on Sunday as we managed to overturn the deficit and go on to win the competition, in what was a fiercely competitive encounter. The weekend was filled with some spectacular golf, with the two nations’ best young players on display. England Girls’ Summer Carash and Emily Peaford finished the weekend with unbeaten records across their three matches, with Emily boasting three fantastic wins. Annabel Peaford, Ben Sessions and Cameron Mukherjee all managed to win both their singles matches, and it turned out to be a truly great weekend, played in tremendous spirit. Burnham and Berrow was a faultless host, and both nations are excited for the return fixture next year.”
