CHARLIE Forster had a realistic chance to be announced on the first tee at Murcar Links as the current English Amateur Champion, despite being knocked out in the third round at Seaton Carew, last Friday.

The Basingstoke Golf Club member, who spent two years at Southeastern Louisiana University before transferring to Long Beach last summer, lost to Berkshire’s Will Tate, who had one of those days where he holed every putt he looked at.

Charlie, who lost 3&2 with a place in the last eight beckoning, revealed: “It was a crazy day. Will was nine-under for his round and I was six-under. I can’t think of many games of matchplay where I have played that well and lost.

“He must have holed 150 feet of putts – it was just ridiculous. Nothing I could do made a difference to the score. He had some luck but he made the most of it.”

With a number of England’s men’s squad choosing not to enter – and two of his GB&I team-mates selected to represent their country at this week’s US Amateur Championship, which is forcing them to miss the Home Internationals, also choosing to skip the trip to the North East – it certainly opened the door for Forster’s international ambitions.

He said: “Obviously getting picked by both GB&I and England in the space of a couple of weeks is a huge boost. 

“I have worked hard since heading to America three years ago and taken advantage of the great facilities we have, plus the great courses we play most weeks in a very, very high standard of competition in the NCAA.

“That’s why I moved to Long Beach last year to get better again, and with the Walker Cup at Cypress Point next summer, I am not going to get ahead of myself, but it’s obviously a goal.

“I was playing well earlier in the year but those two displays in the Amateur and European had been coming.”