Last updated 11:39, Wednesday, 14 May 2008

WILL BOWE is in the frame to join new Cumbria team-mate Gary Wolstenholme in the England team.

Will Bowe

Head of England selectors Anthony Abraham is keeping close tabs on the 25-year-old Workington player who is considering turning professional at the end of the year.

Bowe boosted his chance by finishing third in last month’s Southport and Ainsdale Bowl, five shots behind winner John Carroll, and three shots ahead of Wolstenholme, who was part of the England team which defeated France in the biennial amateur international at Frilford Heath in Oxfordshire on Sunday.

Bowe, the county strokeplay champion, would become the third current Cumbria player to win England honours as fellow Workington player Simon Young has also represented his country.

Cumbria captain Cliff Heath is backing Bowe, whose performance at Southport and Ainsdale put him seventh in the northern order of merit.

Heath said: “Will is being closely considered by England selectors and he would really deserve a call-up.

“There are only 42 golfers in the country with a better handicap than him, and the way he is improving that will change. He’s hitting it further, his game is maturing and his swing mechanism is improving.”

Wolstenholme, who joined Cumbria for the new season after moving to the area from Leicestershire, played a key role in England’s victory.

He put England within sight of the finishing line with a 2 and 1 singles win over Edouard Dubois.

Wolstenholme, winless to this point, opened with two winning birdies but Dubois got back on terms with two of his own at the fifth and sixth.

There was nothing to separate them until the 11th where Dubois dropped a shot to slip back again.

A further birdie at 12 restored Wolstenholme's two hole lead and after he slipped at the 15th, the England veteran secured the vital birdie at the 17th to seal victory.