Hague and Schmidt buoy county hopes

Yorkshire will be spearheaded by England internationals David Hague (Malton & Norton) and Bailey Gill (Lindrick) when they attempt to win the Men’s County Championship at Aldeburgh this week, writes Chris Stratford.

North of England Open amateur champion Hague recently completed the admirable feat of winning all six of his matches as England claimed the Home Internationals crown at Conwy.

But he has competition for the title as the most in-form player in captain Darryl Berry’s team in the shape of 16-year-old Ben Schmidt, of Rotherham.

In August the teenager became the youngest winner of the Lee Westwood Trophy and soon after was England’s leading player in their victory in the Nations Cup at the Italian Under-16 boys’ championship at Biella.

Schmidt gilded those performances with a perfect three-from-three record at the weekend as England Under-16s scored an emphatic 16-4 win over Wales in their international at Heysham.

He will be hoping to play his part in a county double at Aldeburgh for he has already helped Yorkshire claim the equivalent title at Boys’ level during the summer.

The four contenders in Suffolk will each be representing one of England Golf men’s groups and Yorkshire’s competitors will be Berks, Bucks & Oxon, from the South East; Gloucestershire, from the South West, and Lincolnshire, from the Midlands, while Berry’s men will represent the North.

The English championship – which will be staged concurrent with the Ryder Cup – will see Yorkshire open against Lincolnshire on Friday.

Yorkshire have dominated the championship with 21 wins, the most recent coming two years ago.