Matt Wallace is excited to be playing in front of home fans after being named in the England team for the innovative GolfSixes event in May.
The Moor Park Golf Club professional will be partnered by fellow 2018 European Tour winner Eddie Pepperell in the 16-team competition. And with the event being staged at Centurion Club in St Albans for the second year running, Wallace should attract plenty of local backing.
The 27-year-old Pinner-based player, who beat Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston to win the Hero Indian Open in a play-off last month, told the European Tour website: “Playing in front of a home crowd is an exciting prospect and something I’ve always looked forward to.
“Last year it looked as if there were a lot of kids enjoying the whole experience, so it should be a lot of fun to play in front of so many young fans and hopefully get them excited about golf.
“I think it’s a great idea to have new and different formats like this one on the European Tour, and, with the wildcard teams in the mix this year, there could be some intriguing match ups.
“Eddie and I have both had good starts to this year, and the chance to team up to represent England is really exciting. I’m sure we’ll have a good laugh on the course and hopefully give the home fans plenty to cheer about.”
England go into the tournament as the highest-ranked team and could come up against some new line-ups that have been introduced this year as four wildcard entries.
European Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn and his Solheim Cup counterpart Catriona Matthew will link up in the ‘Captains Team’, the ‘England Women’s Team’ of Charley Hull and Georgia Hall will be joined by the ‘European Women’s Team’ of Suzann Petterson and Mel Reid, with the fourth wildcard side still be to confirmed.
The 16 teams are split into four groups of four and will compete over six holes in the group stage. The top two from each group then progress to the knockout stages.
The group stages see three points awarded for a victory and one for a draw, with matches played in a greensomes match play format.
The six holes will again be themed, and each shot has to be played in less than 30 seconds.
GolfSixes takes place on May 5 and 6 at Centurion Club and carries a total prize fund of €1 million, with the winners each receiving €100,000.
The confirmed teams are:
Defending champions
Denmark: Lucas Bjerregaard, Thorbjørn Olesen
Qualified teams
England: Matt Wallace, Eddie Pepperell
France: Romain Wattel, Alexander Levy
Australia: Wade Ormsby, Sam Brazel
Thailand: Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Thongchai Jaidee
Italy: Renato Paratore, Edoardo Molinari
South Korea: Jeunghun Wang, Soomin Lee
South Africa: George Coetzee, Haydn Porteous
USA: Julian Suri, David Lipsky
Spain: Pablo Larrazábal, Adrian Otaegui
Scotland: Richie Ramsay, Scott Jamieson
Sweden: Alexander Björk, Joakim Lagergren
Wildcard teams:
Captains Team: Thomas Bjørn, Catriona Matthew
England Women’s Team: Charley Hull, Georgia Hall
European Women’s Team: Suzann Pettersen, Mel Reid
Final Team: TBC.
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