Yorkshire Mens Golf has a tradition of producing players capable of winning County Team events, we are currently on a record breaking run of 10 consecutive Northern Counties League titles. In recent years Yorkshire have also won the English County Champions title three times. We are proud to be the most successful county in County Championship history.
There have also been many individual successes during this period. We have produced 5 English Amateur Champions, Danny Willett (2007), Nick Marsh (2014), Joe Dean (2015), Dan Brown (2016) and Ben Brown (2023) plus 2 losing finalists Matt Fitzpatrick (2013) and George Ash (2022). Seven finalists in 16 years, not bad.
We have had 5 winners of the Brabazon trophy in the same period. The Brabazon Trophy is one of the most highly ranked 72 hole Amateur Strokeplay championships in World golf. It is open to all nationalities and regularly features the best Australian, South African and European players. Recent Yorkshire winners are Steve Uzzell (2008), Jamie Bower (2016), Nick Poppleton (2018), Ben Schmidt (2019) and Sam Bairstow (2021).
In the last 16 years many of these players have been called to the national teams to play in prestigious events including the Home Internationals and also representing GB & I in the Walker Cup
After their time in Amateur Golf many players go on to play professionally and have done so with great success. European (World) Tour winners include Richard Finch, Simon Dyson, John Parry, Danny Willett, Daniel Gavins, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Marcus Armitage, Dan Bradbury and Dan Brown – several of whom have had multiple victories. The pinnacle of Professional golf is its 4 majors and we are delighted that we can count 2 of our players as Major Champions, Danny Willett, Masters Champion 2016 and Matthew Fitzpatrick, US Open Champion 2022. Matthew winning at the same course, Brookline Country Club, where he won the US Amateur in 2013. Danny and Matthew have also become Ryder Cup players in recent times.
The County and the players couldn’t have achieved any of this without the help of our great coaches. Steve Robinson and Gareth Davies have been instrumental in creating a structure that enables the players to maximise their potential. David Appleyard has embraced the Team Captaincy with great enthusiasm and has developed an excellent team spirit. The County and the players are extremely grateful for their passion in improving players and in keeping Yorkshire at the top of the game.
We are confident that many of the current County players will go on to replicate these successes at top level Amateur and Professional golf. As players progress to the professional ranks it creates opportunities for other elite amateurs to join the squad and benefit from the coaching. Selectors continuously monitor player performance in Yorkshire Inter District matches, Yorkshire Order of Merit Tournaments and Yorkshire Championships to identify those with potential to compete for their County.
If you would like to see the next generation of elite golfers come and watch a county match – spectators are welcome!
Martin Gaffney, Chairman of Selectors
December 2025
