The English Amateur Championship
             30th July 2012 - 4th August 2012
             Silloth on Solway and Seascale Golf Clubs

Some Championship History

Being crowned national champion is the pinnacle of every amateur golfer's career. It is the same in England where the English Amateur Championship has to be the goal.

It is a title that is arguably the hardest to secure simply because not only do you have qualify but every round until the final is decided over 18 holes of match-play when anything can happen.
Whoever proves to be champion knows he has achieved something special even if he needs a good slice of luck along the way.

Even the best can fall by the wayside,something which occurs every year. Evidence of that can be seen by glancing down the list of winners and confirming some notable names that are missing; those who have failed to lift what is the EGU's oldest championship, inaugurated a year after the Union was founded.
The English amateur was first played at Hoylake in 1925 when T Froes Ellison, a local man,was the winner. He succesfully defended the title the following year at Walton Heath, a feat achieved by only six others, Frank Pennink, Alan Thirlwell, Michael Bonallack, Harry Ashby, Mark Foster and Paul Casey, in the championship's 83 year history.

Bonallack, now Sir Michael, that great international and immediate past Secretary of the R&A, achieved the feat twice in his heyday, in 1962  and '63 , and in 1967 and '68. In all Bonallack was English champion five times in seven years during the Sixties.

The most recent successive double winner was Ryder Cup player Paul Casey in 1999 and 2000.

Double winners have not been so frequent in recent times because English champions have inevitbly joined the paid ranks soon after their success. Cumbrian Gary Lockerbie from nearby Penrith, the 2003 champion, is only one example.

The old trophy is inscribed with some famous names who have triumphed down the years, apart from those already mentioned, notably Mark James and Nick Faldo. The 2012 champion will undoubtedly be inspired by all the greats who have gone before.