GOLF: Kenwick Park teen part of defending England team

Nineteen-year-old Ashton has also already toured Australia where he had top 20 finishes in the Master of the Amateurs and the Lake Macquarie Amateur, reached the second round of the Australian Amateur, and also made the matchplay in the New South Wales Amateur.

The European Nations Championship will be played at La Reserva Golf Club in Sotogrande, Spain, from February 24 to 27.

It is contested over 72 holes of stroke play, with the best three cards each day in the men’s event, and the best two in the women’s, counting towards the team event. An individual competition runs simultaneously with the Nations Championship.

Ashton’s England men’s team also includes James Allan of Essex, Adam Chapman of Cumbria, and Marco Penge of Sussex.

England won the men’s championship last year for the sixth time, when the team held off a charging Spanish side to secure a one-stroke victory. All four members of that team have since turned professional.