Matilde Santilli, a member of Foxhills Golf Club at Ottershaw, has been named in England Girls’ squad for the 2023-24 season.

Santilli, 16, won The Northampton Tigress competition in March and finished fourth at the English Girls’ Under-16 Open Championship at Shifnal, Shropshire, in August.

She came 20th in the English Women’s Open Stroke Play Championship at The Manchester, also in August.

Santilli featured at the European Young Masters in Slovakia in July, finishing 39th, and represented England Under-16s against Spain at Hunstanton, Norfolk, in May.

She is one of five new faces in this season’s England squad.

Other newcomers are Sadie Adams (Royal Birkdale, Lancashire), Charlotte Naughton (Ponteland, Northumberland), Annabel Peaford (Walton Heath, near Epsom) and Chloe Tarbard (Royal Norwich, Norfolk). Amelia Wan (Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire) is in the squad for the third season running.

All the girls will receive six England Golf coaching sessions plus one-to-one support from the organisation’s coaching team and will feature in competitive tournaments in early 2024.

Becca Hembrough, England’s performance manager for women’s golf, said: “Five players are new to the national squad, all coming from their respective regional squads following strong performances across a wide number of under-18 and age-group events this year. 

“Within the national girls’ programme, we continue the foundations set by the regional programme, focusing on the five pillars of performance and working with the players’ home teams to build, challenge and progress in their development. 

“The players get access to world-class coaches James Austin, Dr Dan Coughlan, Nick Soto and Steve Robinson.

“They also receive support from nutritionist Amy O’Donnell and female health expert Dr Kelly McNulty.

“The top-class facilities at our disposal at the National Golf Centre in Lincolnshire and Quinta do Lago in Portugal provide an excellent environment to do what we do best, and then we layer in strong competitive opportunities as a key piece of the development journey.”