ENGLAND starlet Jack Hermeston has clinched his first major Northumberland County title at Morpeth.

The 19-year-old City of Newcastle golfer defeated the host club's Tony Waller 3&2 in a hard-fought and close the 36-hole final at Morpeth.

There wasn't much in it at all with a tenacious Waller leading from much of the first nine holes, falling behind after the turn but going into lunch all square.

But when former England Boys’ Champion Hermeston went three up when he birdied the short eighth in the second round, it looked all over but Waller was having none of it and won the ninth and 12th to be just one down.

He finally succumbed 3 & 2 on the 16th in a brave performance. Hermeston is currently at the University of Missouri in Kansas City on a golfing scholarship and much has been predicted for the City youngster who is also in the England Boys squad.

He said: "It's nice to get my hands on the trophy, but against Tony today it could have gone either way, he played superb golf and I'm sure he's going to win one these eventually."

GRAEME Storm geared up for today's Scottish Open by ending with around £20,000 following a much needed return to form in Paris last week.

Storm, who has been struggling to climb up the Race to Dubai rankings, finished tied 33rd at the French Open and will hope to improve on that when he tees off at Gullane in the Scottish Open this morning.

A STOCKTON-on-Tees golfer will have no excuse for missing his next tee-time after winning a limited-edition BOSS watch for achieving a hole-in-one.

Mark Sowerby, 53, scored his ace on the 158-yard, par-three fourth at Eaglescliffe GC, and the 12-handicapper was rewarded with membership of the exclusive BOSS Watches H1Club and a specially-commissioned, commemorative timepiece.

The luxury German brand has once again pledged to reward club golfers with an exclusive watch for every hole-in-one recorded during a club competition in 2015, after giving away more than £1m-worth of limited-edition timepieces since its launch in 2013 – and Sowerby is among the latest to achieve the feat this year.

The scheme is open to any golfer whose club uses HowDidiDo – a free-to-use, web-based social network for golfers – and anybody playing in official club competitions is eligible. Currently, more than 1,800 clubs use the website.