EUROPE'S top golfers will be heading to the North-East next summer after the Wynyard Golf Club was given the honour of hosting the acclaimed Seve Trophy.

The four-day Ryder Cup style event will see the best from Great Britain & Ireland battle it out with the rest of the continent in one of the most entertaining golfing tournaments around.

It is a sign of Wynyard's ambition that they have been awarded the chance to welcome some of the world's finest to the course and it is just reward for several years of hard work.

The attractive course, on the Wynyard estate near Stockton, has held a pre-qualifier for the European Tour for the past five years.

But this will be the first time a competition of this magnitude has come to the North-East and the Wynyard club are ecstatic after beating off competition from Northumberland's Slaley Hall.

"It's great for the area and it's great for the club," said golf operations manager Chris Mounter. "To get something like this is phenomenal for the club."

Last November Colin Montgomerie's side overcame the mainland Europe team 15-13 at Valencia's El Saler course.

Despite being highly-competitive, it is seen as a more relaxed version of the Ryder Cup. Mounter hopes that will help the tournament become a big hit on the region's stage.

"Ten out of the top 16 players in this country will be coming to Wynyard. The likes of Colin Montgomerie, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke could be coming and it's fantastic," said Mounter.

"This will put the North-East on the golfing map and I'm sure it will be well attended.

"The determination to win will be the same as in the Ryder Cup but the players are likely to have a bit more banter with the fans.

"I think the fact that we are inbetween the A19 and the A1 will help us enormously. I'm sure it will prove a huge attraction."

Five times major winner Seve Ballesteros will captain the Europeans at the parkland course and it is estimated the competition will net the local economy £10m and create 100 jobs.

There will be extensive television coverage. A date has yet to be arranged, although it will take place some time between June and September next year.

One NorthEast has led the bid to bring it to the region and chief executive Alan Clarke said: "Securing this fantastic sporting event for Wynyard Golf Club is a huge boost for the Tees Valley and the region as a whole. It will bring major benefits to the tourism industry, local businesses and further cement the region's reputation as a sporting hotbed able to host world-class events."

Clarke also revealed that Wynyard just had the edge over Slaley Hall.

"The North East is lucky enough to have two world-class golfing venues with associated facilities, but the Wynyard bid allowed us to move more quickly to make sure that the event was not lost to the region," he said.

The delight of being told Wynyard had won the right to host the Seve Trophy was not lost on the club's managing director Gary Munro.

He said: "This is the biggest day in the golf club's short history and we are thrilled to have secured an event of the international stature of the Seve Trophy."

The event has been staged three times - at Sunningdale in 2000, Druids Glen, Ireland, in 2002 and at Valencia last year.

* Paul McGinley is looking forward to a rest next week. He has not had one since the middle of June and for a professional golfer that is an eternity.

Many do not like to play more than three tournaments in a row. McGinley has played nine and the BMW International Open in Munich starting on Thursday makes ten.

In fact, it makes 11. The same week that he finished 10th in the European Open at the K Club near Dublin he also came through a 36-hole qualifier at Sunningdale for the Open.

But it will all have been worth it if McGinley achieves his objective this Sunday - another Ryder Cup cap.

Two years ago the 37-year-old was Europe's hero at The Belfry. He didn't win a game, but his half with Jim Furyk, achieved with a ten-foot putt and followed with a trip to the lake as the celebrations started, was the high point of his career.

Now McGinley wants to experience what a Ryder Cup in America is like and he will if he can hang onto the final automatic qualifying place, improve on it or impress captain Bernhard Langer enough for him to pick him.

Published: 24/08/2004