Beamish Park's Alex Stevenson stole the show on the first day of the North of England Under-14 Open at South Moor in her home county of Durham.

The Tanfield Comprehensive School pupil signed for a one-under 72 at the club where she spent the first four years of her young golfing life.

The boys play a separate tournament, with a par of 72, and only one of them shot 71 on Moor's big Augusta style greens - Hexham's county champion Joe Robson, the grandson of former Newcastle, Sunderland and West Ham footballer Pop Robson.

Durham champion Will Skipp, the Durham champion from the Eaglescliffe club, shot 79.

Stevenson,14, is five shots clear of the girls' field. She said: "I am not the least bit concerned about shooting lower scores than the boys.

All I am focused on is winning the girls' trophy.

"I know this course like the back of my hand - I only live 300 yards down the road - so I was bitterly disappointed when I only finished fourth in this event last year."

It was a welcome return to form for Stevenson who came into the tournament on the back of two depressing performances.

She missed the cut in the English Girls Open with scores of 82 and 89 and retired after an 84 in the first round of the Scottish Open.

Conclusive evidence of her powers of recovery came when she hammered her drive 215 yards down the last fairway, hit a green sloping away from her from 110 yards with a pitching wedge and was just short with her attempt at an uphill birdie putt from 20 yards.

After a round that took in three birdies and two bogeys, she added: "The improvement was down to playing on a course I was so familiar with, which made me feel much more confident."

FIRST ROUND LEADERS Boys 71 Joe Robson (Hexham); 72 Matthew Jackman (Southport & Ainsdale); 73 Josh Hogarth (South Moor), Robin Williams (Peterborough Milton), Harrison Hodgson (Darlington).; 75 Eddie Turner Bennett (Worksop), Oliver Abbott (Pannal).

Girls 72 Alex Stevenson (Beamish Park); 77 Grace Connelly (Knowle); 81 Constance Brooks (Gaudet Luce); 89 Alex Cornell (Parkstone).