TEESDALE School star Nicky Lee-Shield will be rewarded with further coaching from former European Tour player Graeme Storm after winning the Durham Junior Order of Merit.
Nicky, who has just turned 15, will be back at the scene of his latest triumph, Wynyard Hall, for a county trial on November 2.
Along with 17 others aged under 18, the five-handicapper will be assessed for next year’s Durham junior team under Storm’s guidance.
From an original field of more than 70, some four years older than himself, Nicky was in the top 30 from 15 events who qualified for the Order of Merit final.
It was called the Race to Wynyard and he went round the prestigious course in level par 72 to win by two strokes. He also had the best nett score of 67 to crown a successful season in which he won five of the qualifiers, including the one at Hartlepool, for which he received the George Crawford Cup.
Barnard Castle pro Darren Pearce and his assistant, Peter Hartley, both headed a team of four in the NE and NW Professional Golfers’ Association pro-am at the Trump International course, near Aberdeen, last week.
Darren described the controversial course owned by the US president as “one of the top five I’ve played” after scoring 35 Stableford points in both rounds.
He finished sixth, only two points behind three-time European Tour winner Kenneth Ferrie, from Ashington, and one ahead of his predecessor at Barnard Castle, John Harrison. John’s elder brother, Phil, now based in the south, also made the trip but finished well down the field.
With the best two scores on each hole to count, Peter’s team had 72 points in both rounds, while Darren enjoyed the assistance of Mike Neville, George Wearmouth and Mally Craig in totalling 72 and 77.
Father and son David and Ben Race won the club’s better ball pairs knockout when they beat Craig Hamilton and David Weatherall in the final.
Other results: Thursday Stableford: James Watson 49 pts; Anthony Atkin 42; Darren Moore 40.
Ladies Monday nine-hole Stableford: Susan Miller 19; Sheila Stewart 14; Maureen Raw 13.
