EDINBURGH'S JAMES ROSS CHOSEN TO PLAY FOR EUROPE

European Amateur champion Ashley Chesters and fellow England international Ryan Evans (Wellingborough) have been selected to represent Europe against Asia/Pacific in the Sir Michael Bonallack Trophy at the Karnataka Golf Association course in Bangalore, India from March 26 to 28. The 12-strong side, which will be seeking a fourth successive success in the biennial event, also includes three other Great Britain and Ireland Zone players in James Ross from Scotland and the Irish pair of Dermot McElroy and Gavin Moynihan. The rest of the team is: Albert Eckhardt (Finland), Dominic Foos and Max Roehrig (Germany), Mario Galiano (Spain), Renato Paratore (Italy), Mads Soegaard (Denmark) and Robbie Van West (Netherlands). Both England players have achieved significant victories in recent months. Chesters (Hawkstone Park), 24, achieved his biggest success when he won the European Amateur Championship at El Prat in Spain last summer. He is a former county boy champion, won the Lee Westwood Trophy in 2011 and finished runner-up in the Simon Bolivar Cup in Venezuela the same year. Recently he finished equal fifth in the Portuguese Amateur. Evans (image copyright Leaderboard Photography), who will turn 27 during the Bonallack Trophy, enjoyed a highly successful trip to Australia in recent weeks including victories in the Lake Macquarie International and the Avondale Medal. He also finished as leading qualifier for the Australian Amateur and ended ninth in the Australian Masters of the Amateurs. Last year, when he finished seventh on the Titleist/FootJoy England Golf men’s Order of Merit, Evans won the Berkshire Trophy, the Biarritz Cup in France and the Scrutton Jug for the lowest aggregate from the Brabazon and Berkshire Trophies. He also finished runner-up in the St Andrews Links Trophy and the South of England Amateur and made his full England debut in the Home Internationals at Ganton. The European players have been selected based on their RandA World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and high-level golfing performances. Special attention was paid to match play results, particularly those attained in the European Golf Association’s (EGA) international matches and European team events. The format for the match in southern India will include five morning four-ball matches and five afternoon foursomes on days one and two and 12 single matches on the final day. Europe has won the last three encounters and five of the seven played in the series. The Asia/Pacific successes came in 2002 and 2004. The scheduled 2010 match was cancelled. Sir Michael Bonallack, who had an exceptional amateur record in golf, will be attending the match. Among many prestigious titles, he won the Amateur Championship five times and was a member of nine Walker Cup teams. He is known as one of the leading contributors in world golf development in the late 20th century. David Hamilton Press Officer England Golf pr@englandgolf.org 01526 354 500