WHEN Toby Tree got his hands on the McGregor Trophy nearly 12 months ago at the Prince's Golf Club, he propelled himself to new heights in boys' golf. Next week he will be heading to Prague to form part of a strong England team in the European Boys' Team Championships.
Over the weekend the teenager from Worthing was competing at Burnham & Berrow for the Brabazon Trophy, with his star gradually twinkling ever brighter as time ticks by.
When he heads to Prague he will be with an English Golf Union coaching team led by Stephen Burnett, who is left in no doubt about what Tree's success in the McGregor did for his burgeoning career.
In two weeks the prestigious McGregor Trophy, the England Under-16 Boys Open, will head to the North-East for the first time and an array of talent from around the world will be trying to win it.
South Moor Golf Club in Stanley, Co. Durham, will be the host, and Burnett is acutely aware of the quality on show - he just hopes the rest of the region is too.
Born in Birtley, where his parents still live, before heading to Lincolnshire where he settled after attending the University of Lincoln, he is excited that such a world respected competition is arriving near to his hometown.
"It's not just about the best England golfers, the best young golfers from around the world will be there," said Burnett, the coaching department manager of the EGU.
"If you look back over the years, I dare say that many of the golfers on the main European Tour now, who are in their 30s, will have played in the McGregor when they were under-16. That's how big it is.
"Take last year, Toby Tree won it, a fantastic talent. He has gone up to Under-18 level and if he keeps progressing the way he is, there is every chance he will go to the very top. That's what the McGregor Trophy can do for you.
"All the people who go along to South Moor in a couple of weeks time will see some great golf.
"It's just a shame the Open is on at the same time. There is a real chance you will see a star of the future up there."
Burnett, 30, now lives in Woodhall Spa, where the EGU is based, and he has been working for the EGU since graduating with a golf degree nine years ago.
He is well aware of the role Seve Ballesteros played in helping South Moor to stage the McGregor Trophy - and from personal experience it arrived as no shock.
Before Ballesteros lost his long battle to overcome cancerous brain tumours, Burnett wrote to top players past and present seeking testimonials after South Moor was chosen to host the event.
It helped to win a grant for £23,000 from the Stanley Area Action Partnership and he decided to take action after reflecting on his experience and the warm welcome he received when he brought the Seve Trophy to Wynyard in 2005.
It was not the first time Ballesteros had visited the North-East - and Burnett remembers an earlier visit to Slaley Hall for the Compaq European Grand Prix in 1999 as if it were yesterday.
"I was 18 and it was the day after I finished my last A-level," remembers Burnett.
"I went up to Slaley at around 7.30am in the hope of caddying for someone in one of the practice rounds.
"It just so happened that Seve's caddie was running late and he had not turned up in time.
"So when I was on the range, watching him, he turned to me and I ended up being his caddie for nine holes on the Hunting Course on the Tuesday before the tournament.
"He told me three things. To keep his clubs clean, to keep up with him and to shut up - not say anything. That was it and I went round with a couple of other Spaniards: Ignacio Garrido and Domingo Hospital.
"Seve's caddie eventually turned up. Seve turned around, handed me a 5,000 pesetas note, which I've been told was worth around £20. He signed it for me and I've still got it, framed. He might not have said that much to me, but it was a great experience.
"For him to do what he has done for South Moor doesn't surprise me. He was such a great golfer and a respected golfer and man around the world."
Three days of the McGregor Trophy action will start at South Moor on July 12, the first time since the competition's inception in 1982 that it has been north of Yorkshire.
"The EGU tries to rotate the competition around the country so that it should end up north every four years," said Burnett.
" There are a lot of counties to take in to account with that, which is why it is so unique for the North-East to be hosting it."
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