A NUMBER of promising North-East golfers are shaping up nicely for a hectic summer after a record-equalling day at Beamish Park Golf Club this week.

A team of Durham students will head for the North of England Championships next month after battling it out at the 44th Durham County Schools’ Golf Championships.

Hartlepool teenager Cameron Wallace, playing off three, was the main man at the end of the 18 holes by posting the best score in the tournament’s 44 year-history.

Wallace, representing Dyke House College, recorded a stunning two-under par 68 off the white tees. He was the only player to shoot a red figure and was four shots clear of Durham Sixth Form’s scratch player Aaron McManus.

English Martyrs’ Shannon O’Dwyer retained the girls crown she won 12 months ago with a 79 (six over off the reds) to finish a shot clear of Belmont’s Kitana Hollins. Will Skipp ensured the Under-16s title won by Wallace last year stayed at Dyke House for a further year.

Ron Snell, secretary of the Durham Schools’ Golf since 1971, said: “The gross score by Cameron equals the one by Tom Rowland of Lanchester’s St Bede’s Catholic School five years ago. Tom was an England player too and is currently in the United States on a scholarship. That means Cameron has equalled the best gross score in tournament history because Tom set it at 68 at Beamish too.”

The Durham County Schools’ Championships was back at Beamish Park for the 37th time out of the 44 occasions it has been held, having effectively established itself as the home of schools’ golf in Durham.

Snell said: “The course was excellent. It had been tamed by the rain on Sunday, which allowed the greens to flatten out. The club did a magnificent job. It is only the second competition off the white tees that has been played there this year. Obviously the girls played of the red. But Beamish really is the hidden gem of golf in north-west Durham and it provided the perfect venue.”

Wallace’s success means he has secured a place in the North of England Schools’ Championships along with McManus, Jonathan Cossar, Jake Heron, Tom Skelton and Jack Ainscough. The final two places will be filled for Blankney Golf Club after a Durham County strokeplay qualifier this weekend.

O’Dwyer will be joined in the girls team in Lincolnshire by Hollins, Alexandra Stevenson and Jessica Hall when the action tees off on May 28/29. Stevenson, representing Tanfield, went one better than last year by winning the Under-16s girls with an 82 to finish 17 shots ahead of English Martyrs' Amy Southeran.

Skipp, who plays for Eaglescliffe Golf Club, was extremely convincing too, shooting 77 to end six shots clear of Charles Thorp’s Ryan Newbrook, who was runner-up in the Under-16s boys. Skipp and Stevenson will now represent Durham at the English Schools’ U16s National Championships at Kirby Muxloe on July 20.

The performance of Skipp, Wallace and Ainscough – who was the highest placed North-East golfer at the national Hawkstone Boys tournament last week – ensured that Dyke House were crowned the Durham team champions. The Hartlepool college’s 136 points tally was two clear of Durham Sixth Form D and four ahead of Emmanuel College.

Snell said: “Overall the standard was very high. It’s always a great occasion and this time around was no different across all ages. Two of the girls played in the Scottish Under-16s Championships; Kitana and Jessica are are also due to play in the Irish equivalent this Thursday.”

DURHAM COUNTY SCHOOLS’ GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS

Gross individual scores

Cameron Wallace (Dyke House) 68

Aaron McManus (Durham Sixth Form) 72

Jonathan Cossar (Durham Sixth Form) 73

Jake Heron (Durham Sixth Form) 74

Tom Skelton (Durham Sixth Form) 75

Matty Cornish (Emmanuel College) 76

Nick Hammond (Durham Sixth Form) 76

Jack Ainscough (Dyke House) 77

Will Skipp* (Dyke House) 77

Ben Hedley (Emmanuel College) 77

Harrison Hodgson (Hurworth) 77

Coner Poplawski (Durham Sixth Form) 79

Shannon O’Dwyer** (English Martyrs) 79

George Hall (Barnard Castle) 80

Kitana Hollins** (Belmont) 80

William Marshall (Heworth Grange) 80

Nick Johnson (Durham Sixth Form) 81

Steven Shepherd (Durham Sixth Form) 82

Alexandra Stevenson*** (Tanfield) 82

Ryan Newbrook* (Charles Thorp) 83

Jessica Hall** (Barnard Castle) 83

Dominic Salmond (Durham Sixth Form) 84

Katie Atkinson (Durham Sixth Form) 87

Jamie Gibbon (English Martyrs) 88

Jack Gunn* (Charles Thorp) 90

Owen Thomas* (St Leonard’s) 92

Gabrielle Dickinson** (Durham Sixth Form) 93

Evan Thomas* (St Leonard’s) 94

Amy Southeran*** (English Martyrs) 99

Matthew Bowman (Stockton Sixth Form) 105

Tom Yardley (Hurworth) 106

Abbi Wheatley*** (Fyndoune) 110

Charlotte Preece*** (Shotton Hall) 114

Thomas Jewett (Hurworth) 114

Harry Outterside* (Charles Thorp) 149

James Dobson (Whickham) NR

Max Sutton* (Whickham) NR

Alex Stephenson* (Charles Thorp) NR

Josh Sowerby (Stockton Sixth Form) NR

*Denotes Under-16s

**Denotes girls

***Denotes Under-16s girls

Team result: Dyke House 136; Durham Sixth Form D 138; Emmanuel College 140.