A NEW YEAR with a fresh start for the region’s European Tour golfers and 2015 provides one or two with perhaps more hope than the others of a savouring a little bit of glory.

While last year turned out to be quite memorable for Graeme Storm and Simon Dyson, the wait for a North-East golfer to end the wait for a Tour title goes on.

Hartlepool’s Storm might have won a brand new BMW motor worth more than £100,000 for sinking a hole-in-one on his way to second spot at the Omega European Masters and York’s Simon Dyson clinched runner-up at the KLM Open in September, but sealing a first place finish continues to prove elusive.

Will this year be any different? The region’s pros will certainly hope so. While there is a great deal of satisfaction felt year on year if the coveted top 110 place that guarantees Tour privileges for a further 12 months is secured, there are bigger dreams than that.

It will be four years in September since Dyson won the KLM Open, just a few months after he had also won around £200,000 by clinching the Irish Open title at Killarney. Who will be the next golfer from the region to win a European Tour event?

Here, ahead of the first tournament of the year at the South African Open Championship in Johannesburg today, Paul Fraser considers which of the North-East’s Tour pros with full cards is best placed to end the wait for silverware.

SIMON DYSON

Date of birth: December 21, 1977

Turned pro: 1999

Club: Malton & Norton

European Tour wins: 6

Race to Dubai 2014 ranking: 41

AFTER a difficult end to 2013 when he was handed a two-month ban for tampering with the green, York-born Dyson displayed his qualities to turn in six top ten finishes and he missed just 11 cuts all year. He is not due to return to action this week, but when he does he has the ability and temperament to claim a seventh Tour win if he can carry over the sort of form that earned him a place at the Dubai World Championship.

GRAEME STORM

Date of birth: March 13, 1978

Turned pro: 2000

Club: Rockliffe Hall

European Tour wins: 1

Race to Dubai 2014 ranking: 72

HARTLEPOOL’S former British amateur champion endured a torrid 2013 and 2014 but came good in both. He has made no secret of a few issues in his personal life which played mind games with his performances on the fairways, but with those behind him he will hope for his best 12 months for a long time. He was only beaten at the Omega European Masters by a play-off, which could easily have seen him win a second Tour title to go with the 2007 French Open success.

JOHN PARRY

Date of birth: November 17, 1986

Turned pro: 2007

Club: Harrogate

European Tour wins: 1

Race to Dubai 2014 ranking: 171

AFTER a horrendous 2014 in which he missed 22 cuts in a row, the North Yorkshireman had to do something special to stay on Tour at qualifying school and he delivered. Two years after winning on the same stage, he showed he can hold his nerve by finishing sixth at the PGA Catalunya in November to keep his place among the elite. It is the memories of those six sub-par rounds that he will need to drive him on this year as he starts 2015 in Johannesburg today.

CHRIS PAISLEY

Date of birth: March 24, 1986

Turned pro: 2010

Club: Close House

European Tour wins: 0

Race to Dubai 2014 ranking: 225

THE Stocksfield-born University of Tennessee graduate sneaked on to his second European Tour season by claiming the 22nd card on offer at qualifying school. It will be interesting to see how he performs this year, having managed to force his way back on to the top table after facing up to the reality that he had narrowly lost his card by 12 places in 2013. The former Walker Cup player starts his new year in South Africa and has described himself as being in a confident place again.

ROB DINWIDDIE

Date of birth: December 19, 1982

Turned pro: 2006

Club: Barnard Castle

European Tour wins: 0

Race to Dubai 2014 ranking: N/A

AFTER turning 32 before the turn of the year, there is a sense the former Walker Cup player must deliver this year. His spells on the Tour have been ruined by injury and is set to play this week for the first time since June when he missed his sixth cut from 11 outings. Due to his back problems, he was given a medical extension and he will have to rekindle his impressive amateur form to be in with a chance of making his mark on Tour this time around.

Non Tour card holding golfers: Ashington’s Kenneth Ferrie will be invited to play three tournaments this year as a previous winner, while Morpeth’s Garrick Porteous could receive the occasional call as a former amateur champion. Both are lined up to spend the majority of time on Challenge Tour.