Chris Lloyd plans to boost Gloucestershire's bid for national honours before he is whisked off to Japan to compete in the World Boys Team Championships next week.

The outstanding 17-year-old county champion travels to Chukyo Country Club in Toyota City, Aichi-Ken, with Jonathan Bell (Royal Blackheath), Tom Lewis (Welwyn Garden City) and Max Smith (Newbury) in a four-player England team.

But first The Kendleshire member is planning a dual assault on the South West Counties Strokeplay Championship at Broadstone. He would dearly love to add the individual South West title to his county crown that he won by eight shots.

And he also hopes to be a member of the six-player Gloucestershire team that qualifies for the national county finals being staged in Gloucestershire for the first time at Chipping Sodbury from September 25-27.

He said: "It's going to be a busy time. I am playing 36 holes a day on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday before I go to Japan. But I want to do well for the county who have looked after me so well."

Gloucestershire will be without talented England under-18 squad player Adam Carson (Long Ashton) who is travelling to America this week.

He is the only British teenager to receive a special invitation to compete in the 2009 FootJoy Invitational under-18 event in North Carolina, being staged at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro.

But the group looks formidable and must be favourites for both the strokeplay and the round-robin matchplay event that runs throughout the week with 10-a-side-teams.

The other Gloucestershire players are Ollie Glaze (Kendleshire), Mathew Stanford, David Wood, Andy Hale (Chipping Sodbury), Andy Rudge (Bristol & Clifton), Nick Day, Nick Scholey (Henbury), Ross Langdon (Minchinhampton) Rich Carter (Lansdown).

New Somerset county champion Curtis Edwards and Saltford colleagues Laurie Canter and Matt Lea lead a Somerset team that also includes Craig Adams, Stuart Ponfield (Farrington), Charlie Cossins (Bath), Justin Lane, David Gregory (Burnham and Berrow), Alex Kippen, Matt Kippen (Enmore Park) and Phil White (Wells). Junior county champion Ellis Cook (Burnham) will compete in the strokeplay.

Somerset were runners up to Dorset in the strokeplay during the last South West week held at Broadstone in 2002.

Wiltshire are seeking a third successive strokeplay title after success at St Enodoc and Royal North Devon over the past two years.