NEW Durham County Ladies champion Briony Bayles has swapped the tee box for the study room over the next few weeks as she looks to take the next step towards attaining an American scholarship.

The Bishop Auckland teenager claimed the Durham title on a windy afternoon at South Shields on Sunday to cap an impressive few days of golf.

But now, ahead of a summer when she hopes to make inroads towards an England call-up, she has decided to increase the amount of time she spends in the classroom to focus on her exams.

Bayles is focused on heading to the United States over the next couple of years to embark on the next step towards becoming a Tour player on a further education scholarship programme – similar to the path taken by the likes of Jodi Ewart-Shadoff and Ellie Givens.

Winning events such as the Durham County title can only help her cause, as she looks to enhance her rising reputation both regionally and nationally.

It was the first time Bayles has won the event having reached the last four 12 months ago at Barnard Castle and the quarter-finals a year earlier at Bishop Auckland.

The one-handicapper said: “It was really good, I am really pleased and it’s a good start to the year. I would now like to get an England call-up, perform well in national events like the English Girls and things like that.

“But I have got my exams at the moment and I have to focus most of my time on that, they are really important to me. I wanted to win the county championship before I could really focus on my exams next week.

“I have another year to go in my A levels after this one, so these are my AS levels. I need to pass my maths and further maths because they count towards my A levels next year and I need those to help me get to America. America is the aim. I still really want to go there because it will help me towards becoming a Tour golfer.”

Bayles is also doing a psychology A-level at Dyke House College in Hartlepool, where she travels every day from Bishop Auckland to be on a sports scholarship programme.

As part of that programme she gets advice and tips from Wynyard pro Andrew Betts and South Africa Open champion Graeme Storm when they head to practice at Hartlepool Golf Club – and she is still smiling after becoming county champion.

“I had played South Shields beforehand and I was confident with the course,” she said “The only problem was the weather. It wasn’t bad during qualifying but the wind got up on the last day in matchplay.

“It actually helped me that I had played every week in Hartlepool, in the freezing cold and wind with College. I am used to the parklands feel because of Wynyard and Bishop. I had never really played linksy-courses, except when I had been up to St Andrew’s or Montrose.

“Hartlepool really helped me. I had an idea of how to play shots in the wind up at South Shields, even though it’s not quite the same as a Hartlepool. I had to hold my nerve.”

The recently turned 17-year-old – who won the Northern Golfer Junior Champion of Champions last year as well as the St Andrew’s Junior Ladies Open – defeated Bishop club-mate Jessica Hall in the final at Shields. The pair along with another from Bishop, Angela Simpson, won the team gross and nett trophies too.

The finalists cruised through their semi-final matches with Bayles defeating Sue Musgrove 5&3 and Hall beating Ella Crang (Darlington) 7&5.

The final was played in cold, windy conditions and Bayles was three up after three until England Girls international Hall, 18, birdied eight and nine before Bayles pulled away to win 4&3.

Bayles is on England's radar and a member of the England Regional coaching squad and wanted to thank her parents, David and Jayne, for supporting her development.

She said: “They are very supportive. I started to play when I was ten properly. My dad caddies for me in events just to keep me calm and tell me how to play it. My mam is there too and when I come off, if I have had a bad day, she will say ‘don’t worry, you have done so well’. I can’t thank them enough.”

Durham County Ladies results: First round: J Hall (Bishop Auckland) bt M Burton (Boldon) 6 and 5, S Turnbull (South Shields) lost to S Morton (Hobson) at 21st, K Hollins (Wynyard) lost to E Baxter (Houghton), A Simpson (Bishop Auckland) lost to E Crang (Darlington) 3 and 2, G Dickinson (Beamish) bt M Whitehead (Ramside) 7 and 6, V Taylor (Houghton) lost to S Musgrove (Hobson) 1 down, R Webster (Eaglescliffe) lost to B Hill (Hartlepool) 2 down, A Wheatley (South Moor) lost to B Bayles (Bishop Auckland) 6 and 4.

Quarter-finals: Musgrove bt Dickinson 1 up, Crang bt Baxter 1 up, Bayles bt Hill 6 and 4, Hall bt Morton 5 and 4.

Semi-final: Hall bt Crang 7 and 5, Musgrove lost to Bayles 5 and 3.

Final: Bayles bt Hall 4 and 3