Scotland boys squad with coach Neil Marr before torrential rain washed out their practice round at Sandwich, Kent. Image by courtest of Tom Ward Photography.

Toby Tree seeks to step up in McGregor Trophy


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Toby Tree (Worthing, Sussex) will attempt to add the English Boys Under 16 Stroke Play Championship to the Under 14 title he won in 2008 when the McGregor Trophy supported by FootJoy is played at Prince’s Golf Club at Sandwich in Kent from July 13 to 15.
Tree won the Under 14 crown at Coxmoor and has since triumphed in the Douglas Johns Trophy and the Sussex Boys Championship while being capped at Under 16 level against Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The 16 year old from Worthing will also be involved in the Nations Cup, which is competed for over the opening two rounds. Tree will join Matthew Fitzpatrick (Hallamshire, Yorkshire) and Max Orrin (North Foreland, Kent) to complete the England No.1 team while Robert Burlison (Oxley Park, Staffordshire), Kieron Fowler (Spain) and Patrick Kelly (Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire) will make up England No.2. All are members of the England Under 16 Squad.
Fitzpatrick, 15, won the Brabazon Trophy Northern Qualifier at Huddersfield this year, while Orrin, 16, is a former South of England Boys Champion and Under 16 International.
Burlison, 15, was English Schools Under 16 Champion last year as well as Staffordshire Schools Under 18 Champion. He also finished runner-up in the Douglas Johns Trophy and in the North of England Under 14 Championship.
Fowler, 15, has been successful in junior events in Spain and finished tied fourth in the North of England Under 16 Championship last year, while Kelly, 16, is a former Lincolnshire Under 14 Champion, who finished sixth in last year’s Douglas Johns Trophy.
The Nations Cup also comprises of teams from Ireland, Norway, Scotland and Spain.
The McGregor field also includes several players who were prominent in the 2009 Under 14 Championship. Spain’s Mario Galiano and Aaron Rai from Patshull Park, joint runners-up, are competing as is third-placed Pablo Matesanz from Spain and Nick Ward from Redbourn, the newly-crowned Hertfordshire County Champion.
There is also a strong overseas contingent. Players from Austria, Barbados, Belgium, the Emirates, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden and Spain, are in the field of 132, as well as from Ireland, Scotland and Wales.