A youthful England men’s team will compete in the annual Costa Ballena Men’s Octangular International Challenge in southern Spain next week (Jan 25-28).
A couple of high-profile absentees have forced selectors to turn to the next generation and the six who will take on some of the best players in Europe were all juniors last season.
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That includes England Boys champion Dylan Shaw-Radford, one of nine new faces named in the elite men’s squad by England Golf earlier this month.
Also included is English U-18s champion Tyler Weaver, who was included in 19-man Walker Cup training squad in December but did not make it into the full England’s men squad.
England team for 2023 Octangular International Challenge:
• Josh Berry (Doncaster)
• Seb Cave (Coxmoor)
• Frank Kennedy (Trump National)
• Dylan Shaw-Radford (Huddersfield)
• Harley Smith (The Rayleigh Club)
• Tyler Weaver (Bury St Edmunds)
The duo will be joined by four exciting youngsters who were also part of the England Boys set-up last year – Josh Berry (Doncaster), Seb Cave (Coxmoor), Frank Kennedy (Trump National) and Harley Smith (The Rayleigh Club).
Under the stewardship of team captain Paul Williams and new team coach Rob Watts, England will be hoping to go one better than last year when the hosts beat them in the final 6-3 to win the trophy for the 11th time.
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The format of the competition sees five-time winners England, along with reigning champions Spain, Ireland, Italy, Germany, France, The Netherlands and Portugal compete in two groups of four on a round-robin basis. The group draw is open.
The matches are played as morning foursomes (x3) and afternoon singles (x6) and the winners of each group will compete for the trophy. The respective runners-up and third-placed team will also face each other on the final day.