David Horsey

Profile

Country:	England
Club:	Styal
Age:	22

After successfully defending his West of England title at Saunton this year, Cheshire man, Horsey, went on to finish fourth in the Brabazon Trophy and sixth in the St Andrews Links Trophy during a consistent campaign. Runner-up in the English Amateur Championship of 2004 at Notts, Horsey has established himself in the England international picture and, back in June, he shot a course record 64 at Royal Lytham during the first round of qualifying in The Amateur Championship on his way to leading the stroke play standings

Quotes

The classic links of Royal County Down resounded with the cheers of 10,000 spectators as GB&I battled almost impossible odds in their attempt to make up the four point deficit after the Americans swept the board in the morning foursomes. Their target was six and a half points and they came so close with victories for Rory McIlroy, Rhys Davies, Lloyd Saltman, Jonathan Caldwell and David Horsey and a fighting half from Daniel Willett

Still out on the course at that point was the final game between David Horsey and Webb Simpson, a match in which the American led most of the way, but Horsey made five birdies in his final eight holes to win by one up.

Two up after three holes, David Horsey and John Parry were one down by the sixth and from that point were never able to regain the lead. They launched a spirited recovery when they were three down with five to play and had fought back to just one down by the 18th tee after birdies at the 14th and 17th. But the American pair birdied the last for a one hole win and a morning whitewash

Walker Cup veteran Nigel Edwards and first-timers Jamie Moul and David Horsey came to the rescue for Great Britain & Ireland, fighting all the way to the final hole to gain invaluable points that helped peg back an early United States lead and leave the teams tied at six points each at the end of the first day

David Horsey won the first hole with a birdie in his match with Webb Simpson and was never behind from that point on. Another birdie at the 11th put him two up before Simpson had consecutive birdies at the next two holes to square the match. It stayed that way in strict par figures until the 18th where Simpson found trouble and conceded the hole and the match

John Parry and David Horsey fought back from one down after five to be two ahead at the turn, but they lost the 12th and 13th and the match was all square on the 16th tee where a par was good enough to take the hole from Trip Kuehne and Kyle Stanley. A birdie at the tough 17th clinched GB&I's only outright win of the morning

The record, which had stood since 1986, saw Horsey fire an eagle and three birdies in his faultless 66 which bolstered England to an overall seven under par for the day following their level par first day return.

England lead the qualifiers, however England finished 4th after losing to Ireland in the semi-final and Scotland in the 3rd place play-off
Picture courtesy Tom Ward

A day after equalling the course record with 64 at Royal Lytham, David Horsey added a 68 at nearby St Annes Old Links to set a low qualifying mark in the Amateur Championship. His 11-under-par 132 leaves the England international a shot ahead of Mark Thistleton from Hayling and Scotland’s Callum Macauley.

Horsey, 22, had four birdies in his flawless 68, these coming at the fifth, sixth, tenth and 18th. “I played better than the score suggests,” he said. “I struggled a little towards the end, but for 15 holes I played really solidly. I just need to fine tune a few little things.”

In the second round David Horsey defeated John Parry at 21st, but in the third round David Horsey lost to Jason Shufflebotham by 2 holes

Early-bird Horsey shares Brabazon lead

Round 1:

“The wind got up on the front nine and it made it pretty tough,” said Horsey. “You had to put the ball on the fairway and leave it on the right side of the hole.

“That’s what I did well on the back nine while I could have been two or three shots better on the front. But I’m pretty pleased with 70,” added the man who sported a 100% record in last weekend’s international with Spain.

Round 2: David Horsey is halfway towards his target of winning a major title after staying out in front of the Brabazon Trophy at the Marriott Forest of Arden. A second four-birdie 70 leaves him on four under par but only one stroke ahead of Irish international Richard Kilpatrick, who returned 68. Despite another difficult day with a strong wind and frequent heavy showers, Horsey, the 22 year old from Cheshire felt conditions were marginally easier than on Friday.

“When I teed off I was looking for an even better score, possibly a 68, and I was close to it,” he said. “But I lipped out for eagle at 17 and dropped a shot at the last after finding sand.

“If you are playing well, even in these conditions, there is no reason why you can’t get birdies. I’m happy where I am. I don’t mind being a front-runner, it’s better than being somewhere else

Round 3: But it wasn’t a good morning for overnight leader David Horsey. The Cheshire golfer’s hopes went downhill from the time he three-putted the second. Further bogeys followed at the third, sixth and eighth for an outward 39 and his fortunes got little better on the homeward stretch which he covered in level par for 75. It dropped him back to eighth, six strokes behind his England team-mate Moul

Round 4: Horsey, who went into the final day at the top of the leader board, suffered with a morning 75 that dropped him back to eighth place. But he bounced back with a closing 70 for 285

Horsey beaten by a stroke in Tasmania

A closing afternoon round of 67 left the Cheshire golfer on 266, 14 under par, but a stroke behind the winner, Australia’s Rohan Blizard, who closed with 68.

Horsey led after a first round 65 and was still clear after repeating it in round two. But while the 21 year old returned 69 on the morning of the final day, Blizard nipped in front with 66 to lead by two.

Although Horsey came roaring back with 67, Blizard managed to cling on to his lead by the narrowest of margins.

England’s Stephen Lewton, who beat Blizard to the New South Wales Medal earlier this month, finished seventh on 275 after a closing 67, while Matthew Cryer was one shot further back in ninth.

Leading final scores:
265 R Blizard (NSW) 67 64 66 68
266 D Horsey (Styal) 65 65 69 67
268 M Griffin (Vic) 66 67 67 68

David Horsey (Styal) won the Cheshire Championship for the second year running with a magnificent score of 17 under par at Stockport Golf Club. Also David won the Colts (under 22 and under) Championship

David's International debut for England
Pictures courtesy Tom Ward

A closing round of 69 for 283, five under par, gave the 21 year old from Cheshire (pictured left - photo courtesy of Tom Ward) a three stroke winning margin from his international team-mate and Cheshire colleague Paul Waring, and the Surrey pair of Ross McGowan and Adam Gee, another England cap.

After a disappointing opening round of 74, Horsey found his form with a 68 to lead by one at halfway from Waring with Gee on 144.

Record-breaker Horsey is a runaway winner

David Horsey from Cheshire blitzed the Hotchkin Course record to win the English County Champions Tournament by a mile at Woodhall Spa. The 20 year old from Styal shot a second round 64, two strokes inside the previous record, for an aggregate of 12 under par 134 and a seven stroke winning margin from Isle of Man champion Paul Lowey. Horsey had the Midas touch throughout a perfect day for golf. He led by one after a morning 70 but it was his afternoon effort that stole the show and ensured him of the title. He had ten birdies overall, five in an outward 31, and dropped just one shot with a bogey-five at the 13th. But the key was his form on the greens, taking just 24 putts.

Picture courtesy Tom Ward

After the morning I felt if I could break 70 I wouldn’t be far away from winning,” he said. “At one stage I was holing everything and it was just one of those days.

“I’m very pleased to have won and to join a long list of highly successful names who have won this tournament.”

Ironically, Horsey was one over par for the first six holes of his morning round and didn’t get back to level par until the turn. So he was 12 under for the last 27 holes.

To complete an even more remarkable story, he arrived at the National Golf Centre with his game far from perfect.

“I haven’t been hitting the ball well for quite a while,” he added. “I enjoyed a decent spell around the time I won my county championship; otherwise I haven’t struck it well. The key today was the putting. You get days when you just go out and hole everything.”

Horsey’s victory comes in the wake of his being promoted to the England Elite Squad and ahead of his next target, next week’s Greek Amateur Championship.

“Hopefully, this victory will move my career on and if I can win the Greek title next week it won’t do any harm,” he stated.

Picture courtesy Geoff Garnett

David Horsey, beaten finalist in the English Amateur Championship in 2004, is included in a six-strong England team competing in the Costa Ballena Quadrangular match in Spain

Horsey’s career reached a new level when he battled through to the final of the English Amateur last July. In a run of seven matches he won over Midlands Youth champion James Ruebotham, fellow England B Squad member William Bowe and Brabazon Trophy winner Matthew Richardson among others. In the final, Horsey lost the first five holes to international James Heath but mounted a spirited fight back to eventually lose 3 and 2