Former Durham County champion Richard Walker hopes to strengthen his chances of Walker Cup selection by successfully defending his German title in Cologne next week.

Walker goes to Germany in a rich vein of form having won the Portuguese Amateur championship last month and finished fourth in the Sherry Cup at Sotogrande.

He is joined by Middlesbrough's Michael Skelton and fellow Elite Squad member Graeme Clark of Doncaster.

"It will be nice to achieve what I did in Germany last year," he said. "If I can it will be the first time I've ever done that and it would be even nicer if we could finish 1-2-3.

"My major aim this year is the Walker Cup and a win in Germany would boost my chances."

A year ago Walker lifted the title with a five-under par total of 211, finishing six strokes ahead of Martin Wiegele of Austria.

* Brancepeth Castle duo Michael Curry and David Race ensured Durham's dominance in the Northumberland and Durham Inter County Foursomes continued unabated as they edged out Northumberland duo Ian Donaldson and Nik Jones at Seaton Carew on Saturday.

The Durham champions, who beat Darlington's Danny Leighton and John Howson in the Durham final, won after the Northumberland duo found the bunker on the third play-off hole.

The Arcot Hall duo had earlier fought back to force a play-off after being two down with three holes to play; Donaldson holing Jones' brilliant approach from three feet at the last to make it all square.

The result means that Durham have won the competition for the seventh successive year.

* Wynyard's Andrew Blythe has booked his place on the EuroPro Tour, despite carding a disappointing round at the qualifying school at Saunton last week.

Blythe, who in January quit his job to concentrate on becoming a professional golfer, struggled in the arid conditions in Devon.

But despite finishing +22 for his four rounds, 19 shots behind eventual winner Ryan Fenwick of Bognor, the current Durham County Player of the Year still finished high up the field of 240 competitors and qualified as a category five competitor.

Clubmate Andrew Couzens also struggled with the conditions, but still managed to finish eight shots ahead of Blythe.

They will be joined by Hartlepool's Graeme Storm, who despite the recent death of his father still managed to qualify comfortably. After hitting a disappointing first round of 80, Storm battled back to finish with rounds of 70, 74, and 68.

The tour is due to start on May 1 at Marriott St Pierre, Chepstow.

l Middlesbrough's Jonathan Lupton is this week on a fact-finding mission in Holland as England bid to win their first European Championship in 12 years.

Lupton is visiting the Royal Hague golf club along with fellow teammates from England's Elite squad in preparation for the four-day event, due to begin on July 1.

They face a tall order, however, with the Spanish strong favourites to lift the title.

* Bedale's John Shaw has been named the new president of the Harrogate and District Union.

A retired police inspector, Shaw has been the Union's competition secretary for six years and is also an active member of the Yorkshire County Executive.