GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND PALMER CUP TEAM IS SELECTED

The Great Britain and Ireland Palmer Cup team is announced today and contains many outstanding young amateur golfers. The GB & I team departs these shores on Sunday 24 June to take on the might of the US collegiate golfing system with the aim of retaining the Cup that was won in the most dramatic fashion last year at Royal Liverpool GC.

The Palmer Cup is the student equivalent of the Walker Cup and many players have gone on to compete in both competitions. The competition is now in its fifth year and has graced such courses as St Andrews (1998) and Bay Hill (1997) and the Honors Golf Club (1999), both regular courses on the USPGA tour.

Baltusrol Golf Club is the host for this year�s match. It has a long tradition in staging both Amateur and Professional competitions including the Men�s and Women�s US Amateur Championships and 7 US Opens, two of which were won by the great Jack Nicklaus (1967 &1980).

The GB & I team is represented by students studying at home and abroad. England are represented by Jamie Elson and Oliver Wilson, both current English Internationals and studying at Augusta State University and by Philip Rowe (Stanford University) member of the successful 1998 Walker Cup Team.

Ireland are represented by Graeme McDowell (University of Alabama), who had a fantastic season last year, winning the Irish Amateur Closed, the World University Championship and finishing second at the European Championships and Justin Kehoe (University College Dublin) current Irish International.

David Inglis (Tulsa University) and Stuart Wilson (University of Abertay) who last year reached the quarterfinals of the British Amateur are both from Scotland and Wales are represented by Kyron Sullivan (University of Wales Institute, Cardiff) full Welsh International and member of the GB&I Palmer Cup Team since 1998.

The US have won three of the four matches since the inauguration of the competition in 1997 and it is hoped that on this very British looking course the lead can be reduced to 4 and 2. Clive Brown the GB&I Team Manager said

�I am looking forward to leading this very experienced team to compete in one of only 5 transatlantic competitions in existence and both myself and Keith Williams (Coach) are confident that our team will put on a creditable performance at Baltusrol and hopefully retain the Cup�.

The competition will take place from the 27-28 June and will be televised by the Golf Channel in a two hour highlight show on 6 September.

Team

Jamie Elson Augusta State University, USA

Philip Rowe Stanford University, USA

Graeme McDowell University of Alabama (Birmingham), USA

David Inglis Tulsa University, USA

Oliver Wilson Augusta State University, USA

Kyron Sullivan University of Wales Institute, Cardiff

Stuart Wilson University of Abertay

Justin Kehoe University College Dublin

Clive Brown Team Manager

Keith Williams Coach