WEMBLEY hero Jimmy Montgomery was striding the fairways yesterday with an England Golf supremo from County Durham who has helped to lay the foundations for the current boom in the nation's golfing fortunes.

Monty was one of three members of Sunderland's 1973 FA Cup winning team to play in the inaugural South Moor Masters which also featured Dick Malone and Ritchie Pitt.

The tournament, sponsored by Pin Point Recruitment, involved media teams which included a celebrity.

Montgomery played for the National Club Golfer magazine's side and Birtley born Stephen Burnett, the England Golf Performance Manager, was in the same team.

There is no better advertisement for the solid grounding given to our top golfers in their amateur careers by the national body than the strong possibility that this year England will become the first country to supply half a Ryder Cup team.

Burnett said: "We monitor the progress of players like Danny Willett and Chris Wood when they leave the amateur ranks and we are delighted when they win big tournaments like the Masters and the PGA Championship.

"They do that by their own talent. It is our job to give them the basis through international tournaments and the Walker Cup against America and hope we must be doing something right.”

Montgomery, recently awarded the freedom of the city by Sunderland, said: “I got a big thrill out of watching Danny Willett and Chris Wood win on television.

He said: “As a 21 handicap golfer I know how hard they must have worked to get where they are and it is great to see them reap their rewards.”

Also in the field was former Newcastle and Sunderland centre-forward Bryan 'Pop' Robson, playing for The Association of Golf Writers team with the home club’s English Boys Champion of Champions, Chris Handy.

A member of Hexham Golf Club, Robson caddied when grandson Joe played in the North of England Under-14 Open at South Moor last year.

The community focused golf club is the permanent venue for the three-day regional event for boys and girls.

Although not being played until mid August, South Moor’s recent focus on promoting the quality of their course, designed by the same man who created Augusta National, has prompted an early rush of over 50 entries for a field of 90.

This is over twice as many as at the same time last season and parents can enter their youngsters by visiting www.southmoorgc.co.uk and clicking on club.