THE Open dream is still alive for a number of North-East golfers after they progressed from regional qualifying earlier this week.

Darlington’s Simon Calvert posted back-to-back 67s to climb to five under and finish a shot behind the Golf Foundation’s Matthew Webb at Newcastle’s Northumberland course.

Calvert now plays in final qualifying in the hope of sealing a place at Royal Liverpool from July 13-20. He is not the only golfer from the region to take part, with City of Newcastle’s Alex Dixon, De Vere’s Alex Belt and Prudhoe’s Thomas Rowland among the seven qualifiers for the next stage.

DARLINGTON’S Ellie Givens claimed her best finish of the season so far on the Ladies European Tour last weekend.

Givens, who starts the Italian Open today, claimed around £3,000 at the Slovak Open to end tied 21st. After posting an opening round 75, the Rockliffe Hall touring pro then went 67, 76 and 74 to secure a healthy finish in Brezno Tale.

ANDREW Terry won his first professional tournament in sensational style - with an ace at the second play-off hole.

He achieved the feat in the PGA North Assistants' Challenge at County Durham’s Rockliffe Hall, stunning opponent Richard Robson-Crosby after the pair had tied on two-under-par 70 in normal time. He reeled off and eagle and six birdies in his 70 but three putts on the final green cost him outright victory as Robson-Crosby birdied two of the last three.

ROCKLIFFE HALL is sponsoring its youngest golf professional to date as part of its commitment to supporting stars of the future.

James Maw, 24, is the club’s youngest pro, alongside Graeme Storm and Givens, and will represent Rockliffe as he takes part in a number of tournaments around the UK and in Ireland this summer.

Originally from Sheffield and based near Barnard Castle, Maw turned pro in 2010 and has played at high profile events including the PGA EuroPro season across the UK and also the Gecko Pro Tour in Spain where he beat a number of ex-Tour players.

Maw’s love of golf started when he was ten and he represented Sheffield and Yorkshire for seven years, winning Yorkshire under-16s and the English Champions, taking him on to the European Champions in Turkey in 2008.

He said: “I am really looking forward to working with Rockliffe and representing them on my travels- it’s great to be able to showcase a North-East club on a national – and hopefully worldwide - scale.”

Maw is backing Rockliffe to successfully host the English Senior Open in August for the second time. Tickets can be bought for £10 (under-16s are free) by visiting www.englishsenioropen.com or calling 01325 729999.