Watch out for the G-men: Galbraith, Gleeson and Grehan join Hume in GB&I squad

Castle and UCD's Alex Gleeson. Picture: Pat Cashman

Ireland had five in the Walker Cup team and we could get as many as four in the nine man St Andrews Trophy side after John Ross Galbraith, Alex Gleeson and Stuart Grehan were named alongside Jack Hume in an 18 player Great Britain and Ireland squad for the match at Prince’s Golf Club in Kent from July 20-21.

Scotland’s Craig Watson who takes over from Welshman Nigel Edwards, will captain the 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 and the squad features seven Scots, five Englishmen, four Irishmen and three Welsh players.

“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,” Watson said.

Tullamore and Maynooth University's Stuart Grehan. Picture: Pat Cashman

“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 — 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.

Whitehead's John Ross Galbraith. Picture: Pat Cashman

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.

The 2016 GB&I squad is:

England

1. Jamie Bower (Meltham) - Yorkshire
2. Scott Gregory (Corhampton) - Hampshire
3. Bradley Moore (Kedleston Park) - Derbyshire
4. Marco Penge (Golf at Goodwood) - Sussex
5. Ashton Turner (Kenwick Park) - Lincolnshire

Ireland

1. Jack Hume (Naas) – County Kildare
2. Stuart Grehan (Tullamore) – County Offaly
3. Alex Gleeson (Castle) - Dublin
4. John Ross Galbraith (Whitehead) – County Antrim

Scotland

1. Ewen Ferguson (Bearsden) - Dunbartonshire
2. Grant Forrest (Craigielaw) – East Lothian
3. Jack McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie) - Ayrshire
4. Robert MacIntyre (Glencruitten) – Argyll and Bute
5. Greig Marchbank (Thornhill) – Dumfries and Galloway
6. Craig Ross (Kirkhill) - Lanarkshire
7. Connor Syme (Drumoig) - Fife

Wales

1. David Boote (Walton Heath) - Surrey
2. Owen Edwards (Llanwern) - Newport

Naas' Jack Hume. Picture: Pat Cashman

Player bios

• David Boote (Walton Heath) age 22 – won the Welsh Amateur Championship in 2015 and finished fourth in the South American Amateur Championship in Lima in January.

• Jamie Bower (Meltham) age 22 – has notched up two victories in 2016 at the Gauteng North Amateur and the Southern Cape Open in South Africa.

• Owen Edwards (Llanwern) age 23 – finished tied second in the individual event at the European Nations Cup in Spain and tied fourth in the Portuguese International Amateur Championships in February.

• Ewen Ferguson (Bearsden) age 19 – a member of last year’s winning GB&I Walker Cup and Scottish European Team Championship sides. Named Scottish Amateur Golfer of the Year for 2015.

• Grant Forrest (Craigielaw) age 22 – the Walker Cup player won four times in US collegiate golf before graduating from the University of San Diego last year. Runner-up at The Amateur Championship in 2015.

• John Ross Galbraith (Whitehead) age 21 – won the North of Ireland Amateur Open title last year and finished in a tie for third at the St Andrews Links Trophy.

• Alex Gleeson (Castle) age 21 – featured in the winning Irish team for the Home Internationals at Royal Portrush last year and won the Boyd Quaich at St Andrews.

• Scott Gregory (Corhampton) age 21 – runner-up in the 2016 Spanish Amateur Championship and tied fourth in last year’s International European Amateur Championship.

• Stuart Grehan (Tullamore) age 23 – won the East of Ireland Amateur Open and South of Ireland Open Amateur championships last year.

• Jack Hume (Naas) age 22 – the Walker Cup player won the South African Amateur Stroke Play Championship last month.

• Robert MacIntyre (Glencruitten) age 19 – won the Scottish Amateur Championship in 2015 and finished in a tie for sixth in the individual event at the European Nations Cup in Spain in February.

• Jack McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie) age 23 – a member of the winning GB&I Walker Cup and Scottish European Team Championship sides and twice a semi-finalist at The Amateur Championship.

• Greig Marchbank (Thornhill) age 21 – a member of Scotland’s winning European Amateur Team Championship side in 2015 and a quarter-finalist at The Amateur Championship.

• Bradley Moore (Kedleston Park) age 18 – first reserve for the GB&I Walker Cup team and captained the GB&I Jacques Leglise Trophy team to a draw with the Continent of Europe in the 2015 match at Royal Dornoch.

• Marco Penge (Golf at Goodwood) age 17 – played in the 2013 and 2015 GB&I Jacques Leglise Trophy teams and won three times last year: the Peter McEvoy Trophy, the Scottish Stroke Play Championship and the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters.

• Craig Ross (Kirkhill) age 23 – won the Grand Prix de Chiberta in France last year and claimed the 2016 South African Amateur Championship title.

• Connor Syme (Drumoig) age 20 – member of the winning Scottish side at the European Amateur Team Championship in 2015 and won this year’s Australian Amateur Championship.

• Ashton Turner (Kenwick Park) age 20 – won the Darwin Salver last year and achieved a top ten finish at the European Nations Cup in Spain in February.

The St Andrews Trophy

The St Andrews Trophy is played biennially between Great Britain and Ireland and the Continent of Europe. It was first played in 1956 over the West Course at Wentworth when the European Golf Association accepted an invitation from The R&A to put forward a team.

The GB&I team won the inaugural match and it was not until 1974 that the Continent of Europe won for the first time. The matches have been closely contested in recent years and the Continent of Europe won the matches at Castelconturbia in Italy in 2010 and Portmarnock in 2012 with GB&I securing victory at Barsebäck in 2014.The GB&I team is selected by The R&A and the Continent of Europe side by the European Golf Association.