THERE will be something missing at Blackwell Grange Golf Club when you visit next month, or in the months that follow.

For the long-serving, extremely well-liked and hugely respected head golf professional, Ralph Givens, is heading into retirement.

It is 40 years this year since Givens, who was born in Scotland, started work at Blackwell as assistant to Nigel Sumner, having left college behind at Preston.

He was a talented young golfer, who had been weighing up whether to have a crack at becoming a Tour player.

When Sumner left in 1981, Givens had the opportunity to become Blackwell’s head pro. He has not looked back since.

Days like yesterday, when he was coaching the Durham County Junior Girls captain Ella Crang, are what have given him so much satisfaction and he admits he will miss it, even if he will still occasionally conduct his own private lessons for individuals.

“I am going to play golf a lot more now,” said Givens, whose final day at Blackwell will be on February 28, when the club plan a presentation to him for his services.

“I will play a bit more tennis at Blackwell Grange Tennis Club as well.

“But I am looking forward to actually playing some more golf. I will play different courses because I have my PGA card, so I can still use that.

“I have not played much over the last 20 years. I used to play in the North Region stuff in the 1980s. I was a member of that for years. I used to play in all the pro-ams as well. I will play socially a bit more now.”

Givens, 57, spent 24 years at Blackwell Grange before moving across the road to Stressholme.

In a bizarre twist, the two clubs have now joined forces, so he became the head professional with his original club once more when Blackwell became the lead name.

The lion’s share of his life has been in Darlington, where he married his late wife, Lesley. Their daughter, Ellie, has been on the Ladies European Tour for the last five years: no surprise given how often she was at Blackwell with her parents when she was young.

“She is getting her act together,” said Givens.

“She’s done well to stay on the Tour for a decent amount of time, which is not easy in itself, and she’s off to the States for a bit.

“She was always itching to play when she was younger, she couldn’t go to junior sessions until she was six.

“She would come to the club when she was four or five, but the rules and the club were quite strict. She never got any preferential treatment so she had to wait until she was six for the sessions. I might head off and watch her play again now, might even do a bit of the caddying that I used to do.

“For Eleanor to be on Tour as long as she has been already is great, for her to maintain her career like that is a great achievement. For her to go through the US collegiate system too, that was really tough. I know she is my daughter but it is a big thing for her to be able to maintain that level for that amount of time.”

Ellie was one of his young apprentices, and there have been plenty more over the years.

He said: “I spent a lot of time in the local schools and colleges. I have seen the benefits and quite a lot of the juniors I taught became clubs pros and teaching pros all over the world.

“One who worked for me is the head pro in Cyprus, two or three I taught are in Germany.”

One of the most talented golfers he has been involved with is Darlington’s very own Andrew Wilson, the England A international.

Givens said: “I have taught him since he was 11 and still see him a bit.

“I feel really confident that he will be the next guy from this area to make it. He is the one who stands out. He is a class act, a talented lad.

“He is not one of these guys who puts it out there. He used to come to Stressholme to see me and potentially he could turn pro at the end of the year.”

He recalled former snooker world champion Ray Reardon once dropping into Stressholme for a knock with members while he was in the pro shop, and a visit from Formula One’s Damon Hill after one of his Croft Circuit outings.

The memories he has of his time as the head pro since the summer of 1977 will stay with him forever – and he knows he made the right call.

He said: “The reason I didn’t go on to become a Tour pro was that I got the head pro job at Blackwell at the age of 21 – that was exceptionally young.

“I was at the point where I was going to give Tour golf a go but I got offered that job at Blackwell. It was a prestigious club. I took that opportunity.

“I went down that line and not the playing line. It was quite a big decision for me, as you can imagine, but it was a good decision. I am pleased I made it. I have made a lot of friends.”