Big Guns Head to Rotherham

2020protour co-founder Adam Walker, the inspiration behind a challenge match against Yorkshire’s best amateurs, was ‘shamed’ into dropping himself to first reserve after receiving an offer he couldn’t refuse.

Walker had already named his 12-man team for the match versus Yorkshire Men at Rotherham on Monday April 8th, when he got a message from Dan Brown (pictured), pleading for a spot.

“I told him ‘if you win this weekend I’ll drop out’,” said Walker. At that point Brown, who had won his first DP World Tour event at the ISPS Handa World Invitational last summer, was joint leader of the SDC Championship in South Africa going into the final round.

Unfortunately things didn’t go his way and he finished in a still-respectable tie for 4th. But rather than getting to breathe a sigh of relief Walker, who was a County steadfast for Yorkshire Captain David Appleyard until turning pro in the middle of last year, just got more earache from Dan, whose younger brother Ben is one of Yorkshire’s top performers and in the Men’s team.

“It’s stupid of me not to put him in after he keeps pestering,” said Walker, who had raised the prospect of such a pre-season match with Yorkshire officials ever since he and Chris Hanson launched the 2020protour.

Brown joins a star-studded professional crew which includes just one non-Yorkshire man – Marco Penge – and with more than 200 county appearances between them.

Besides Penge and Dan Brown, there is six time European Tour winner Simon Dyson, John Parry who won in Asia on St Patrick's Day, Hanson and Nick Marsh.

The team has a very strong South Yorkshire flavour with George Mason (Wath), George Ash, Sam Bairstow (both Hallowes), Sheffield man and Kenyan Open runner-up Joe Dean, precocious DP Tour talent Josh Berry (Doncaster) and Jonathon ‘Jigger’ Thomson who first picked up a club at Rotherham aged five.

There will be a family affair feel to two of the matches with England Amateur champ Ben Brown taking on big brother Dan, while George Hanson will be up against his Uncle Chris in their match.

The contest will feature six fourball betterball matches, all of them going the full 18 holes to provide an aggregate result.

2020protour vs Yorkshire Men

1 Sam Bairstow/George Mason vs Tom Osborne/Charlie Daughtrey

2 George Ash/Josh Berry vs Jake Sowden/Aaron Brettell

3 Dan Brown/John Parry vs Ben Brown/Lucas Martin

4 Simon Dyson/Chris Hanson vs George Hanson/Jack Northgraves

5 Jigger Thomson/Joe Dean vs George Heath/Jake Wallis

6 Nick Marsh/Marco Penge vs Dan Thomas/Ollie Smith