On the grounds of experience alone, one player stands out from his northern peers as he prepares for his next golfing challenge.
Jonathan Lupton takes on a field of more than 80 young professional golfers on Monday (June 22) at Swinton Park, Salford, in a bid to qualify for a title he's already won.
The 30-year-old assistant pro at Close House, Heddon-on-the-Wall, near Newcastle, travelled to The London Club in Kent two years ago in his first year of PGA training - and won the flagship event for British and Irish young pros, the Powerade PGA Assistants' Championship, in association with FootJoy.
No novice to the world of competitive golf (he was an English amateur Internationalist in the early years of the millennium), Lupton, who hails from Middlesbrough, then performed creditably in the American and Australian equivalents of the Powerade, finishing 20th and 10th respectively.
Another north-east player who joined golf's paid ranks rather late in life is George Cowan, from Westerhope, on the outskirts of Newcastle.
The 28-year-old, who worked in the family electrical goods business ("I installed washing machines and tellies"), has just completed his PGA second year of training, but still manages to compete at a high level.
Runner-up last year in the Welsh Open Young Professionals' Championship at Bull Bay, Cowan again was overnight leader two months ago, but slipped to a share of third with a final 72.
He suffered a moral dilemma a year ago. "The Powerade northern qualifier was on at the same time as The Open final qualifying at Hillside. Now I couldn't really turn down the chance of playing at Royal Birkdale, and I'm glad to say there's no clash this time."
The winner of the Powerade final (over 54 holes from August 12-14) can look forward to a cheque for £5,000, plus an invite to the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth next May.
18 June, 2009