Great Britain and Ireland squad announced for St Andrews Trophy

An 18 player Great Britain and Ireland squad has been announced for the St Andrews Trophy match at Prince’s Golf Club in Kent on Wednesday 20 and Thursday 21 July 2016.

Scotland’s Craig Watson (pictured) will captain the nine-man team that will face the Continent of Europe in the biennial match for the first time. GB&I are bidding to retain the trophy following their 14-10 victory at Barsebäck in 2014, their first win in the match since 2008. Watson takes over from Welshman Nigel Edwards, who captained the team on three occasions.

“I’m very much looking forward to the match and want to build on the success that Nigel and the team enjoyed two years ago in Sweden,” he said.

“We have a strong group of players to call upon again this year and there is a good mixture of experience and youth in the squad. We know we will be in for a tough match at Prince’s so we have to pick the best team we can and the players will be working hard throughout this season to impress the selectors.”

Four members of the squad, Jack Hume, Grant Forrest, Jack McDonald and Ewen Ferguson, appeared in GB&I’s record 16½-9½ win over the USA in the 45th Walker Cup Match at Royal Lytham & St Annes last September. The three Scots were also part of the winning team at the 2015 European Amateur Team Championships alongside Greig Marchbank and Connor Syme.

Syme has enjoyed an excellent start to the year by winning the Australian Amateur Championship in Melbourne. In February, Hume won the South African Amateur Stroke Play Championship and earlier this month Craig Ross secured a memorable victory in the South African Amateur Championship.

England’s Jamie Bower has also enjoyed early season success in South Africa, winning the Gauteng North Open and the Southern Cape Open.

The St Andrews Trophy has been played alternately on British/Irish and mainland European courses since 1956. GB&I has won on 25 occasions and the Continent of Europe has won five times, including the 2010 and 2012 matches.