Staff WriterThe England Golf World Amateur Team Championships are nearly upon us, and England is sending two trios of talent to Singapore this October with ambitions of writing their names into the history books.
On the women’s side, Nellie Ong, Annabel Peaford, and Patience Rhodes will fly the flag at Tanah Merah Country Club from 1–4 October, competing for the Espirito Santo Trophy.
The men’s squad of Eliot Baker, Charlie Forster, and Tyler Weaver take centre stage from 8–11 October, eyeing up the Eisenhower Trophy.
Between them, the six players have more silverware on the mantelpiece than the average Premier League chairman, and that’s before they’ve even booked their flights.
A Shot at History
England has a decorated but somewhat stop-start relationship with these global team championships.
The men’s best finish came in 2016, finishing runners-up in the Eisenhower, while earlier triumphs came under the Great Britain & Ireland banner in 1998, 1988, 1976 and 1964. Legendary names like Peter McEvoy OBE, Sir Michael Bonallack, and Ronnie Shade have all lifted the title.
The women’s Espirito Santo Trophy, meanwhile, has proved trickier. England’s sole medal came in 1964—a bronze—though combined GB&I efforts picked up podium finishes in 1974, 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, and 1992. Last time out, in 2023, the women agonisingly missed a medal by a single place, finishing tied fourth.
For Nigel Edwards, England Golf’s Performance Director, the task ahead is simple enough: make history. “The World Team Championships are one of the big dates on the calendar every two years.
We’ve had a great year individually and collectively, and while we expect to be competing, we would love to make some history in Singapore.”
England Men: Baker, Forster & Weaver
Eliot Baker (22, Tiverton, Devon) arrives with a CV that reads like a travel brochure for victory parades. He’s lifted both the Portuguese Amateur and the Scottish Men’s Open in 2025, played starring roles in England’s international triumphs, and booked a ticket to the Walker Cup at Cypress Point. He also has the kind of top-5s and medals in team events that would make Rory McIlroy’s junior scrapbook look bare.
Charlie Forster (22, Basingstoke, Hampshire) has carved out his reputation across both sides of the Atlantic. With wins at the Lake Las Vegas Invitational and Wyoming Cowboy Classic, plus a starring role in England’s bronze at the European Amateur Team Championship, he’s no stranger to clutch moments—like that nerve-jangling 19th-hole win to seal bronze against Ireland. If that wasn’t enough, he’s also teed it up for GB&I in the Walker Cup.
And then there’s Tyler Weaver (20, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk), who has already tested himself against the sharks in golf’s biggest pond. He qualified for the 2025 U.S. Open ahead of names like Zach Johnson and Jason Dufner, and even finished ahead of Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson once he got there.
Add in wins at the Cabo Collegiate, a play-off exemption to a PGA Tour event, and a starring role in GB&I’s St Andrews Trophy win, and you’ve got a player with jet fuel in his veins.
England Women: Ong, Peaford & Rhodes
Nellie Ong (19, Eaton, Norfolk) is already making waves stateside with Ohio State University. She’s clocked a bronze at the South American Amateur, top-10s in NCAA competition, and even teed it up alongside Patty Tavatanakit in the Aramco Team Series. Add in her victory at the Welsh Women’s Open and you see why she’s earned her Espirito Santo call-up.
Annabel Peaford (16, Walton Heath, Surrey) may be the youngest in the squad, but she’s already rattling course records and stacking up European medals like it’s pocket money. From winning the European Young Masters in 2024 with a score of –20, to helping England dominate the Girls’ & Boys’ Home Internationals, she’s a teenage talent with a driver that speaks louder than most grown-ups.
Patience Rhodes (21, Burnham & Berrow, Somerset) brings experience and resilience. With stints at Arizona State University, a debut at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, Curtis Cup glory, and silverware from the St Rule Trophy, she’s been there, done that, and is still hungry for more. Her recent top-10s in the U.S. college circuit only add steel to England’s chances in Singapore.
Eyes on Singapore
For both the men and women, the England Golf World Amateur Team Championships offer more than medals—they’re a stage where future stars show they’re ready for the spotlight.
Past winners have gone on to majors and Ryder Cups; this year’s crop looks poised to follow that same well-trodden path.
The only question is whether Singapore in October becomes another footnote in England’s long golfing history—or the chapter where this generation finally turns potential into silverware.
