YOUNG golfers from across the country will be heading to Hartlepool Golf Club this Monday, looking to impress Graeme Storm at the third junior tournament laid on by the European Tour star.

And for one 11-year-old in particular, the appearance will mark the start of a busy month when his little legs will have well and truly put the miles in – all in aid of charity.

Not only will Archie Qualtrough be playing in the Graeme Storm Junior Open, in association with Dyke House College, to raise money for the Finlay Cooper Fund, he will then be taking on a greater challenge towards the end of the month when he hits a golf ball from coast to coast.

It is the second huge challenge he has faced in successive years, having raised more than £2,500 last year by playing 100 holes in a single day. This time the schoolboy has planned a five-day, 83-mile route using 15 courses from Maryport GC on the west coast before finishing off at Tynemouth by the North Sea.

“I learnt from my 100 hole challenge the importance of pacing myself and keeping my energy levels up with food and drink,” said Archie.

“It’s completely different from playing in a tournament or to reduce my handicap, I’m just going to thunder the ball as hard as I can and hope it goes as far as possible.

“It’s all about distance and zooming around the different courses as fast as I can. I’ve got to go for five days non-stop so I’ll have my feet in buckets of ice when I’m not whizzing through the miles.”

Archie is looking to raise £6,000 through his JustGiving page for YoungMinds, Cardiac Risk in the Young, the Golf Foundation and the Finlay Cooper Fund.

It is in memory of Ben Stollery and Charlie Craig, two boys who tragically lost their lives. Teenager Ben sadly took his own life, while Charlie suffered heart failure in his sleep.

“The support he has had has been brilliant, every golf club we have contacted,” said Archie’s father Stuart. “The boys he is doing it in memory of are from where we used to live in the high Peak District.

“Archie was really rocked by how the community was. Everyone baked cakes and did different things to raise money. Archie wanted to use golf to raise funds and came up with this.”

Archie will be in a strong field of more than 140 at Hartlepool on Monday when the Graeme Storm Junior Open gets underway for the third time. He will travel from Woodhall Spa, where he is a member.

The 16-handicapper, who says Storm is his favourite player because of the work he does for junior golf, said: “I am really excited to be playing at Hartlepool and meeting with Graeme. I was gutted to miss last year’s event because I was on crutches with a calf injury but there was no way I was going to miss this year’s tournament.

“The event is extremely popular with junior golfers because Graeme is so supportive of the junior game. All the juniors cheer him on because he spends so much time and energy supporting our game.

“You can see from the quality of the start sheet it will be an amazing day and it’s fantastic that it is in aid of the Finlay Cooper Fund, which does such great work across the region.”

Archie is from New York, a hamlet in Lincolnshire. His father Stuart added: “His calendar is just full of events all summer: county matches, club matches, he plays for Woodhall Spa.

“The Graeme Storm Junior Open is a red date on his calendar, it’s the only red one because he didn’t want to double book it after missing last year. He was looking forward.”

This year’s Graeme Storm Junior Open, for ages 11-18 boys and girls, will double up as a first round qualifier for The Telegraph Junior Golf. The first tee time is 8am and the final round starts at 2.50pm.

Storm has created a new event called the Mini Storm Trophy to be held on Saturday, May 19 at Wynyard Golf Club.

That will be for boys and girls aged 7-10; the closing date for entries for the Mini Storm is May 5.