Nov. 23, 2004 – Brabazon Trophy winner Matthew Richardson and Lee Corfield will aim to extend England’s recent impressive record in South America when they fly to Buenos Aires next month.

Both are members of the English Golf Union’s (EGU) World Class Performance Elite Squad and the 2005 Walker Cup Squad and in Buenos Aires they will be making a twin assault on the Juan Carlos Tailhade Cup and the Argentina Amateur Open.

The Juan Carlos Tailhade Cup, a two-man team competition in which both players’ scores count, is scheduled to take place at Los Lagartos Country Club on 2nd - 5th December. The Argentine Open, a 72 hole stroke play event, will be played at Buenos Aires Golf Club on 9th -12th December.

Corfield and Richardson are experienced foreign travellers and will be seeking to add to England’s successful overseas performances, most noticeably in the Juan Carlos Tailhade Cup. English players have won the event for three of the past four years - Nick Dougherty and Gary Wolstenholme in 2000; Zane Scotland and David Skinns in 2001; and Gary Lockerbie and Michael Skelton in 2003.

Richardson, 20, from Middlesex, has been on the international scene since 2002 and secured his first major title this year when he won the Brabazon Trophy at West Lancashire Golf Club.

In 2002 he represented England in the European Boys Team Championships in Iceland as well as in the Boys Home Internationals which were held in Scotland. In the same year he won the McEvoy Trophy, was a semi-finalist in the British Boys Championship at Carnoustie, and represented GB&I in the Jacques Leglise Trophy in Switzerland.

In 2003, he was included in the Elite and Walker Cup Squads, reached the quarter finals of the Spanish and Portuguese Amateur Championships, and made his full England debut against Spain.

This year, Richardson, who now represents The Buckinghamshire Club, has travelled to South Africa, Australia, Spain and the United States representing the EGU. Before winning the Brabazon he was called up by England for the match against France in May as well as for the Home Internationals.

He was also a member of the England team that finished runners-up in the European Youths Team Championships in Ireland and further boosted his profile by winning the European Amateur title in Sweden. A week later both he and Corfield were members of the victorious GB&I team in the St Andrews Trophy at Nairn.

This will be Richardson’s second visit to Argentina. He played in both Buenos Aires events in 2002 with Richard Walker.

Corfield, from the Burnham and Berrow Golf Club in Somerset, secured his first major title when he won the 2002 Lytham Trophy. He then became a member of the Elite Squad and made his full England debut at the 2002 Home Internationals in Wales.

In 2003 he represented the EGU in Australia and Portugal and finished runner-up in the St Andrews Links and St Mellion Trophies.

Corfield has visited South Africa, Puerto Rico and Spain as a member of EGU squads and in March this year he was part of the winning team in the Sherry Cup at Sotogrande. Following that he finished second in the Selborne Salver, won the West of England Stroke Play Championship and earned another cap in England’s match against France.

In spite of scoring a course record 66 in the Brabazon Trophy, arguably his best performance came at St Andrews in June when he reached the final of the Amateur Championship only to lose out to Scotland’s Stuart Wilson. In September’s Home Internationals, he helped England regain the title with a personal record of four points from five matches.

The English Golf Union (EGU) has served as the governing body of male amateur golf in England since it was founded in 1924. Responsible for the training of England’s top amateur golfers the EGU organizes all the major English amateur championships.
Based at the National Golf Centre in Woodhall Spa, the EGU is one of the largest sports governing body in England looking after the interests of over 1,900 golf clubs and 740,000 club members.

The EGU also works to increase the continued interest and participation in golf through their golf development initiative ‘Get into Golf’ and their Associate Membership Program.