MICHAEL NESBIT sensationally became Northern Rock North-East Masters champion and dedicated the victory to his father, Jim, who recently passed away.

As soon as Nesbit clinched the title, for the second time in four years, at Matfen Hall, his home club, he rang his mother Katie to tell her the news.

And the 26-year-old, who beat European Tour player Paul Eales on the first extra hole, said: "She started crying. She said dad would have been proud of me. I knew he would have wanted me to play.

"His death put everything into perspective and I kept calm even when Paul birdied the last because he played a great shot."

Nesbit admitted that he had seriously considered withdrawing from the tournament after his father's sudden death.

But, in a fitting tribute, the tearful golfer opted to play on and he had led in all three rounds before Eales drew level.

However, Nesbit responded perfectly to the nerve-biting finish by cooly sinking a ten-foot putt to birdie the play-off hole to clinch victory.

It brought to an end a ding-dong battle in which both players had exchanged positions at the top of the leaderboard throughout the final round.

Royal Lytham tournament professional Eales trailed by two shots with as many holes to play and when Nesbit birdied the long 16th it looked all over.

But then he left his pitch to the 219-yard 17th short and walked off with a bogey as Eales parred the hole before birdying the last for a 68 as Nesbit signed off with 69.

But, after the nail-biting defeat, Eales said: "He deserved to win he played better than me."

Leading scores: 205 P Eales (Royal Lytham & St Annes) 67,70,68, M Nesbit (Matfen Hall) 67,69,69; 209 J Wells (Beverley & East Riding) 74,68,67; 210 J Cheetham (Mobberley) 73,70,67, B Taylor (Houghwood) 71,69,70; 211 J Ambler (Bradley Park) 73,71,67, D Shacklady (Mossock Hall) 71,68,72; 212 S Edwards (Wrexham) 71,69,72, B Toone (Standish) 69,70,73; 213 M Sheppard (Fore Golf) 72,72,69, M Archer (unatt) 70,73,70, G Cox (Warrington) 73,69,71, G Day (Leeds Golf Centre) 71,70,72, V Guest (Teesside) 70,70,73, M Ellis (Clays Farm) 71,69,73, D Clark (Morpeth) 74,66,73, T Maxwell (Mottram Hall) 69,68,76.

* Tom Rollinson, one of Kirkbymoorside's leading juniors powered his way to an epic victory in the York Union Seward Trophy event.

Playing off 12, Rollinson is the first Kirkbymoorside winner of this prestigious York Union event since its inauguration in 1957. "An eagle at the first got me off to the perfect start," said Rollinson, who went on to shoot a net 65, three clear of his closest rival in the 50 plus field of top juniors.

Coaching by Pete Myers at the Snainton driving range will undoubtedly see Rollinson, who works as assistant in the Kirkbymoorside pro shop, reach his target of low single handicap figures this year.

* Durham County suffered a narrow defeat to Cheshire in their latest match.

The visitors to Darlington Golf Club ended a point better than Durham who finished with 8 points. It had looked favourable for the hosts when they led after good foursomes performances. But it soon changed on the singles.

Foursomes: I. Parnaby & M. Ridley 0 D. Peel & M. Pilling 2 Holes; 1 M. Curry & R. Lee A/S R. Hughes & M. Jones A/S ; S. Dance & M. Finley 0 G. Bradley & K. Kean 2/1 1; B. Ross & J. Harper 1 Hole 1 D. Horsey & D. Marmion 0 T Maddison & J Birkbeck 4/3 1; J. Murphy & N. Andrew 0 G. Marchbank & D. Leighton 4/3 1 A. Hardie & J. Howarth 0. Foursomes total 3 Foursomes total 2

Singles: Ian Parnaby (Ramside) 2/1 1 Mark Pilling (Astbury) 0; Mark Ridley (Consett) 4/3 1 Ray Hughes (Caldy) 0; Michael Curry (Brancepeth Castle) 0 David Horsey (Styal) 1 Hole; 1 Ricky Lee (Tyneside) 0 David Peel (Stockport) 1 Hole 1; James Harper (Seaton Carew) 0 Kevin Kean (Ashton on Mersey) 1 Hole 1; Steven Dance(Ramside) 2/1 1 James Murphy (Shrigley Hall) 0; Tom Maddison (Castle Eden) 6/5 1 Gareth Bradley (Bramhall) 0; Michael Finley (South Moor) 0 Andrew Hardie (Astbury) 1 Hole 1; Byran Ross(Heworth) 0 Michael Jones (RLGC) 2 Holes 1; Jamie Birkbeck (Bishop Auckland) 0 Dale Marmion (Delamere Forest) 3/2 1; Danny Leighton (Darlington) 1 Hole 1 Neil Andrew (Northenden) 0; Graeme Marchbank (Durham City) 0 Jamie Howarth (Marple) 3/2 1. Singles 5 Singles 7 Foursomes 3 Foursomes 2 . TOTAL 8 TOTAL 9.

* James Godbold won the PGA North Region Assistants' Championship at Fleetwood in spectacular fashion when he grabbed ten birdies in a second round 65 to win by four shots, a year after finishing second in the tournament.

The former Yorkshire county player from Wakefield club Waterton Park opened with a level par 72 to lie ninth going into the second and final round but defied blustery conditions to leapfrog the field. The event also doubled up as regional qualifier for the Powerade PGA Assistants' Championship won last year by Matthew Tottey, of North Wales, who who had to be content with runners-up spot.