The Durham County Boys’ system is aiming to build from a solid foundation following a complete overhaul over the last three years.
Having started work on a pathway from talent identification and winter training with coaches across the county to Northern Counties team competition in 2023, the team behind the overhaul – Steve Hancill (who oversees all age groups and specifically the U16s), Drew Oliver (U18s) and Alex Sheen (U14s and the development group) – is looking forward to seeing results on the golf course. So far in 2025, the U18 team has won matches against Lancashire, Cheshire and Northumberland. At U16 level, Durham drew against a strong Yorkshire team at Beamish Park and have beaten Cumbria and Northumberland. The U18 team also finished third in the Northern Counties Boys’ Qualifying Championship, AKA The Little Six, at Ponteland after finishing in the bottom two in the last six stagings of the event.
“We’re now at the stage where we have a system in place that supports the boys to succeed,” said teams and coaching manager Steve. “It’s taken a while to get right, but we’re proud of the system, we have the buy in from the coaches and players, and we’re beginning to see the boys succeed in team competitions and individually.”
A total of 64 boys are currently part of the coaching programme – working with professionals James Maw, Ashley Jones, JJ Vallely and Simon Robinson. The county also hosts regular winter get-togethers, and all boys in the U14-U18 age groups get county kit as part of the programme.
“The coaching programme, and our commitment to working with our coaching team for the long term, is so important,” added Steve. “As well as our four golf coaches, we have optional strength and conditioning sessions as well as coaching on the mental side of the game. We also have a brilliant community around the system, bringing the players and parents together and communicating with them at a far greater level than we did in the past.
“Seeing the boys have success, but more importantly enjoying being part of the Durham Boys system, is so rewarding. It has been a big job getting everything in place and we have more to do, including on sponsorship, but it’s the only way we are going to compete with the bigger counties like Yorkshire and Lancashire and get a pathway of players coming through that can represent Durham and their clubs at boys and senior level.”
For more information on the Durham County Boys system and how to get involved, contact Steve at
juniors@durhamcountygolfunion.co.uk
