THERE is less than two weeks remaining for young golfers to enter the Graeme Storm Junior Open at Hartlepool Golf Club.

Entries have been coming in thick and fast – and from across the country - for the second tournament to be held by the North-East’s very own Storm, who won the South Africa Open in January.

The closing date for entries, which is £10 and raises money for charity, is Saturday, March 25 and this year categories include separate girls sections for 11-14s and 15-18s.

Storm, whose tournament is open to youngsters of all ages and handicaps and will take place on Saturday, April 8, at Hartlepool, said: “We have the UK's lowest handicap girl player - Lily May Humphreys (off plus four) from Essex - coming up to compete.

“As well as all the locals playing, other competitors are coming from Sheffield, Blackburn, Doncaster, the Peak District, Southport, Stockport, Buckinghamshire, Northumberland, Harrogate and Brighouse. It should be a great day.”

Three special raffle prizes will be up for grabs. There will be a framed Graeme Storm Junior Open Flag signed by 20 players including Tiger Woods, a framed Rio Olympic Flag signed by gold medallist Justin Rose and a framed green Titleist cap signed by the only two Englishmen to have won the Masters: Sir Nick Faldo and Danny Willett.

Tickets for the raffle are on sale now priced £5 a strip or three strips for £10.

Please email Sara at graemestormjunioropen@gmail.com for information on how to buy or to enter the competition.

ROCKLIFFE Hall’s world class golf course is celebrating after winning three accolades at different award ceremonies.

The Greenkeeping and Estate teams, headed by Jon Wyer and Davy Cuthbertson, won the coveted title of Greenkeeper of the Year at the 59Club Awards at The Belfry. The golf course has also been awarded Gold Flag Status, reinforcing Rockliffe as one of the top venues in the Golfing Industry alongside Gleneagles, The Grove, The Emirates and Dubai Creek.

Rockliffe Hall was also named the Number One golf resort in the UK and Number Three in Europe by Leadingcourses.com.

A NEW handicapping rule has been introduced for members of English golf clubs to stop rogue players manipulating the system to their advantage.

Over recent years there have been a number of cases of players who protect inflated handicaps, only to repeatedly collect high-value rewards when playing in competitions away from home.

“We’re not talking about a sleeve of balls,” said Gemma Hunter, England Golf’s Handicap and course rating manager. “These are big prizes including luxury trips overseas, sets of clubs and electric trolleys.”

Now, everyone playing in non-qualifying competitions away from home must return their scores to their home club. Players who ignore this responsibility could, as a last resort, have their handicap suspended. England Golf has introduced this clause of the CONGU handicapping system to provide clubs with evidence to support handicap reviews.

BEDALE Golf Club’s Junior Section played the “Road to Rockliffe” final at Rockliffe Hall, sponsored by Stephen Knox of Yorkshire Dales Meat Company.

The top three Juniors of the Winter League Series, Tia Johnstone, Bailey Lawson and Joseph Mableson, battled it out to become champion, and the winner was Johnstone with 30 points, beating Lawson on countback.

Bedale’s head coach, Steve Pearce, runs successful sessions to introduce children to golf and there is Saturday slots available.

He was recently been recognised by the Golf Foundation as a Junior Specialist Coach, one of the top 12 in the country.

  • If you would like to know more about the sessions at Bedale, contact the professional’s shop on 01677-422443.