NO ONE could ever accuse Durham's new captain Ted Kirtley of being short-sighted.

A member of Houghton-le-Spring, Kirtley is confident that Durham can shrug off their disappointing performance in the EGU Northern Counties last season - which saw them pick up the wooden spoon after failing to record a single victory - and begin to mount a serious challenge to the unfaltering dominance of Lancashire and Yorkshire.

Yet to achieve such an ambitious aim, Kirtley is doing just that - by focussing on his players' short games.

Already this year the 53-year-old successor to Peter Durno has called his squad together for three practise sessions designed to improve their short-game technique with the help of professional John Harrison.

And Kirtley is positive that such coaching could see Durham finally win their first Northern Counties title since it was first introduced in 1984.

"I'm sure that the short game is where matches are won and lost," he said.

"Within our squad we have players that from tee to green as good as any in the League, but I just felt we needed to work on our play around the greens."

Already there are signs that such sessions have had a positive effect.

In their pre-season build-up Durham beat the Durham Junior Golf Society 14-3 and at Seaham last Sunday were narrowly beaten 9-8 by the NE and NW Professionals.

"So far I have been very impressed with the results," said Kirtley.

"John Harrison is an excellent coach and already the scores coming back have been very low."

However, despite a different approach Kirtley keeps faith with the same personnel that finished bottom last season.

Mainstays of the team will be county champion Mark Ridley, John Kirkpatrick and Eaglescliffe's Andrew Blythe while Peter Crosby keeps his place in the 25-strong squad after eschewing the opportunity to turn professional for another year.

Kirtley is also hoping to include players currently on golf scholarships in America such as Robert Dinwiddie, Andrew Allen, Simon Robinson and Ian Parnaby. Another player currently studying in the US, Matthew Moore, could also make his debut this season.

"I'm going to be keeping in touch with our five players in the States through e-mail in which they can let me know how their form is and I can tell them what is happening at home.

"We do face both Yorkshire and Lancashire away this year but all the players are upbeat and looking forward to the challenge ahead."

Results

Durham v NE and NW

Professionals

Foursomes (Durham names first): M. Ridley & D. Innes all square v G.Bell & A Betts; D. Vest & D. Hair all square v G. Jones & V.Guest; A Black & A Blythe all square v D. Mather & D. Clark; H. Hamilton & D. Race lost to S Ord & D.Patterson 3&2; J. Harper & M. Lee lost to J Harrison & M. Nesbit 7&6; C. Walton & H. MacDonald beat D. Pearce & M. Forster 1up. Foursomes total: 2-3.

Singles: M. Ridley all square v G. Bell; H. Hamilton lost to A. Betts 2&1; A. Blythe all square v G. Jones; D. Vest lost to V. Guest 4&2; D. Innes lost to D. Mather 1up; J. Harper beat D. Clark 3&2; A. Black all square v S. Ord; D. Hair beat D. Patterson 2&1; M. Lee lost to J. Harrison 5&3; D. Race beat M. Nesbitt 6&4; H. MacDonald beat D. Pearce 4&3; C. Walton all square v Martin Forster. Singles total: 6-6. Final scores: 8-9