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Adam Carson to defend English Boys Under 16 Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship for the McGregor Trophy at High Post, Wiltshire

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Adam Carson could become only the second player to successfully defend the title when he tees off first in the  in Wiltshire on 1st - 3rd July.

The Long Ashton, Bristol, player was crowned champion a year ago at Southport & Ainsdale when he finished five strokes ahead of the field after the championship had been cut to 54 holes because of high winds and driving rain.

The only other player to win the title two years in a row was Jim Payne, now the professional at Southport & Ainsdale, when he was successful at Radcliffe-on-Trent in 1986 and ‘87.

However, Carson (pictured left - photo courtesy of Tom Ward), the Gloucestershire Junior champion, will face strong opposition not least from his fellow England under 16 internationals Chris Lloyd and Billy Downing.

Lloyd, another Bristolian, won the South West Boys under 16 title last year and was joint winner of the North of England Under 16 Championship and finished runner-up in English Under 18 Championship as well as the South West Boys Championship. Recently he was runner-up in the Gloucestershire County Championship.

Downing, from Cornwall, was the 2007 South West Boys Champion and along with his two rivals has been an under 16 international for the past two years.

Others likely to be in the shake-up for the title are five members of the England Under 16 training squad, Woburn’s Harry Whittle, last year’s Scottish Under 14 Champion, Edward Peters, the 2007 Nottinghamshire Youth Champion and Boys Match Play Champion, Lincolnshire’s James Burnett, Jack Heasman from Essex and Surrey’s Matthew Chapman.

There is also a strong overseas contingent seeking to take the title abroad for the first time since 2003 when Dutchman Wouter de Vries was successful. Players from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and the USA are also in the field of 132.

There will also be a Nations Cup competed over the opening two rounds. Nine countries will be fielding a total of 14 teams, England’s two squads comprising Carson, Downing and Lloyd and Chapman, Burnett and Heasman. Spain, who won the trophy last year at S&A, will also field two teams.

Apart from Jim Payne, other past winners of the under 16 title include Steve Webster, Graeme Storm and Justin Rose, who have all gone on to successful professional careers, while more recent champions have been internationals James Heath, Michael Skelton, Paul Waring, Matthew Baldwin and Oliver Fisher.

The title has also been won by non-British players on three occasions, by Eduardo Molinari in 1996, his fellow Italian Roberto Paolillo in 1997 and by de Vries in 2003.

Source: EGU