THE Graeme Storm Junior Open will officially get underway on Thursday morning and the European Tour golfer driving it hopes to make it a permanent fixture on the sporting calendar.
More than 130 golfers from across the north and beyond will compete at Hartlepool Golf Club, where Storm first learned the game as a schoolboy before going onto to become British amateur champion and seasoned Tour pro.
A lot of work has gone into organising the event, held in association with Dyke House College, and having secured a strong field he is already keen to do it again.
“I am really looking forward to seeing all of the golfers in action now,” said Storm, also attached to Rockliffe Hall. “It should be a great day of golf because after the golf has finished here everyone can go home and watch the action unfold at Augusta in the US Masters on the TV.
“There are some golfers coming across from Lancashire, another from Leicestershire, so there are really talented boys and girls coming from around the country even though the majority of those playing will hail from the County Durham, Yorkshire and Cumbria.”
Hartlepool Golf Club – whose club champion and England international, Jack Ainscough, will be in the field - have given the go-ahead for Storm to hold the event on the links course where he initially learned to play. The club will provide food and drink for the golfers and are looking forward to seeing the action unfold, while the course is open to spectators.
Keith Stephens, a director at Hartlepool Golf Club, said: “Hartlepool Golf Club is pleased to support the junior golf day. Graeme Storm came through our junior section and has gone on to have great success on the European Tour.
"We are very committed to promoting junior golf at the club. And days like this are a great opportunity for them to compete and show their ability.”
As well as an excellent standard of golf on show, Storm will donate all proceeds raised to the Finlay Cooper Fund. The charity was set up by former Middlesbrough defender Colin Cooper and he will be at the golf club to watch.
Storm said: “There are some great prizes up for grabs and it should be a great occasion; one I hope will become an annual event and go from strength to strength.”
A raffle draw, tickets are £5 each or £10 for three will take place and prizes include a Ryder Cup 2014 shirt signed by the then Team European captain Paul McGinley.
There will be a framed The Graeme Storm Junior Open flag signed by Storm, Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, McGinley, Darren Clarke and others.
As well as those there is a framed poster signed by Padraig Harrington and McGinley from the 2006 record winning Ryder Cup team at the K-Club as well as a signed hardback copy of One Putt, the latest by BBC and world golf commentator Ken Brown.
Cooper, an amateur golfer who started to play aged 14 when he got a set of clubs for Christmas, said: “The charity has been going for ten years this year, everything we earn goes back to helping children. It is a good link up because it is an event for junior golfers and the Finlay Cooper Fund tries to offer relief to children when they need a bit of help in their lives.
“The raffle is fantastic too. I like my golf and if someone is offering prizes of that ilk I will certainly be buying tickets on the day because the mementoes Graeme has put together are fantastic.
“The young golfers will have, obviously, the great experience of playing in The Graeme Storm Junior Open but if they can take a signed flag or Ryder Cup shirt home with them as well then I think they are very lucky indeed. I will be putting my money in the hat.”
THE GRAEME STORM JUNIOR OPEN
09:00 Ella Bowen, Imogen Cook, Evie Cooke
09:08 Tilly Barton, Abbi Wheatley, Charlotte Preece
09:16 Gabriel Somerville-Smith, Tom Seddon, Katie Stephens
09:24 Harry Etherington, Craig Watson, William Girdwood
09:32 Jack Burton, Lewis Reay, Charlie Littlewood
09:40 Daniel Chapman, Josh Burn, Neve Pearson
09:48 Alan Taylor, Daniel Harrison, Ben Peel
09:56 Matthew Driscoll, Ben Robinson, Libby Bell
10:04 Cameron Fletcher-Smith, Jack Atkinson, Charlie Jones
10:12 Archie Wood, Noah Cambridge, Nicky Lee-Shield
10:20 Cara Weddell, Maisie Newall, Liam Lightowler
10:28 Ella Jackson, Will Kiernan, Louis Westmoreland
10:36 Matthew Bell, Stephen Turnbull, James Norris
10:44 Joseph Dufton, Freddie McKenna, Angus Buchanan
10:52 Adam Boynton, Harry Spencer, Cameron Hamilton
11:00 Jack Spencer, Luke Allison, Oliver Millichap
11:08 Luke Tate, Jake Ford, Luke Bonser
11:16 Joe Maloney, Alexander Mackinnon, Emily Atkinson
11:24 Connor Reed, Alfie Short, Ben Ellis
11:32 Adam Charlton, Amy Buchan, Ben Millington
11:40 Josh Hogarth, Daniel Norman, Robert Hillier
11:48 William Skipp, Thomas Middleton, Daniel Welsh
11:56 Alex Buchanan, Ben Souley
12:04 Amy Lawson, David Bingham, Rio Jones
12:12 Jack Walling, Adam Stokle, Matthew Roy
12:20 Jacob Miller, Cameron Johnston, Harry Linighan
12:28 Scott Lyons, Kieran Buchan, George Gardner
12:36 Jack Harrison, Bethanie Thompson, Andrew Armstrong
12:44 Ella Crang, Taylor Briggs, Emily Baxter
12:52 Lewis Goodwin, Reece Purvis, Jai Scott
13:00 Mitchel Dixon, Cameron Pipe, Jacob Brown
13:08 Joseph Hall, Amy Sutheran, Ben Shield
13:16 Alex Brown, Steven Shepherd, Ryan Dixon
13:24 Ethan Cambridge, Ben Bailey, Gabrielle Dickinson
13:32 Joe Posthill, Jack Trewhitt, Alex Dobinson
13:40 Kitana Hollins, Will Alexander, Jack Ainscough
13:48 Faye Wheatley, Sophie Campion, Jamie Skinner
13:56 Alfie Baldwin, Morgan Bailey, Maggie Whitehead
14:04 Jack Robinson, James King, Andrew Griffiths
14:12 Adam Dews, Calvin Cushley, Caolan Newall
14:20 Ben Wilman, Ben Cordwell-Smith, Callum Brown
14:28 Hayden Pragnell, Harry Adams, Matthew Nicholas
14:36 Olivia Franciosy, Luke Rickaby, Alfie Allen
14:44 James Muir, Caleb Christal, Oliver Butts
14:52 Harry Caygill, Kieran Hall
15:00 Ben Mawson, Ben Brown, Jaxon Fletcher
(The draw is subject to change)
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