Including a practice round, you are given two complimentary rounds of golf by Rockliffe Hall, who are doing their utmost to make every club, county and international golfer taking part feel as if he is competing in a professional tournament.

On the day of the 18-hole scratch strokeplay tournament, Sunday September 5, Rockliffe Hall are laying on:

• A Rolex clock and an official starter on the first tee for the duration of the tournament.
• Ball spotters located around the course.
• On-course marshalls, who will remain in contact with the clubhouse to keep the leaderboard up to date.
• Vouchers for a free two-course buffet lunch for every player.
• A prize table worth £1,500 with the winner being presented with The Champion of Champions trophy and individual trophies or the top five.

In all, players competing in the tournament would look at paying in excess of £200 for this kind of access to Rockliffe Hall.

Players wishing to take advantage of the facilities at Rockliffe Hall might like to consider bringing their partner or a friend to stay. They will be offered the discounted rate of £130 per room per night on a bed and breakfast basis in a standard room (based on two people sharing).

Additional non-tournament golfers accompanying players are offered bed and breakfast rates of £180 per room per night in a standard room (based on two people sharing).
Players and their guests staying overnight at Rockliffe Hall will have complimentary use of facilities, including the 50,000sq ft spa and fitness suite. Only players and their guests staying overnight will be allowed complimentary access to the spa.

Simply contact Rockliffe Hall’s golf and events director, Ian Knight, and explain your status as a competing player in the tournament to book your room. Ian’s phone number is 01325 729972, email ian.knight@rockliffehall.com

You can play in the Champions if, on the closing date for entries, which is Tuesday August 31, 2010, you are the reigning men’s champion of any club in either Durham County or Northumberland. Or if you are the reigning Journal Champion of Champions. On the same date, the captain of Durham County James Handy, a former Champion of Champions, and his Northumberland counterpart, Kevin Cademy-Taylor, will each nominate six players not already qualified. The host club will add one wild card player to complete the field.

There is something new in 2010. If a reigning club champion is unavailable to play on September 5, his club may nominate a substitute, if they wish to do so. This is at the club’s discretion. Any club can chose their own criteria to decide who is the substitute.

Before all the club championships, Rockliffe Hall will write to every club secretary in the two counties inviting their club champion to compete, or to nominate a substitute if necessary.

Each club will be requested to provide the handicap of their player for draw purposes, plus the player’s phone numbers and email address.

Your club will be asked if they can be kind enough to to reply to Rockliffe Hall as soon as possible after your club championship. Your club will also be requested to ask you to contact Rockliffe Hall, so you can arrange your practice round.

Once your club has entered you for the Champions with Rockliffe Hall, and your club have informed you they have done so, you will need to contact Rockliffe Hall’s golf and events director, Ian Knight. Ian’s phone number is 01325 729972, email ian.knight@rockliffehall.com

Naturally, your practice round will have to fit in with the tee-times Rockliffe have available. Substitutes as well as club champions are eligible for the free practice rounds. You have three options:

1. Choose to play with one or more of any other players competing in the Champions. Ian Knight’s department will tell you who is still waiting to play their practice round.
2. Invite up to three guests to play with you, with each of your guests paying the members’ guest rate for Rockliffe of £45 per round .
3. Have a fourball, or fourballs, mix of players and guests (maximum three guests per player).
   Staff at Rockliffe Hall must know now exactly who is entitled to their complimentary practice round, so you must have proof of identity on arrival at the course.

Every club champion in both counties is individually contacted and invited to tell their story of how they won their 2010 club title to The Journal or the Sunday Sun or the Evening Chronicle.

Champions players are also invited to tell readers what they like most about their own club’s course. Preview coverage will not normally be given to substitutes.

Over the Champions weekend, there are invariably two days of two-page spreads on the sports pages of The Journal, who will preview the event extensively on the Saturday morning and, on the Monday morning, provide reports and pictures, plus all the results. There is also a weekend preview in the Sunday Sun.

The draw, which will be made by Rockliffe Hall, will be published in The Journal sports pages, the day before the tournament, Saturday September 4 and in the Sunday Sun on September 5, the morning of the tournament. It will also appear on The Journal’s golf website. Visit journallive.co.uk and click on sport and then golf.

The first tee-off time will be 7.30am to accommodate a field of around 100, each playing one round of scratch strokeplay in the classic sprint contest of North East golf.

Players of around two handicap and better will tee off in handicap order with the best players on handicap going out last.

All other players will be seeded geographically, with Rockliffe Hall getting the players who live nearest the course teeing off first.

Rockliffe Hall are in sole charge of all matters involved in the playing of the golf, in the clubhouse and on the course, including any rules disputes which may occur and checking the cards.

The winner of the first tournament in 1968, Doug McClelland from the South Shields club, went on to become the first North East golfer to play on the PGA European Tour. There has been one gap of eight years when the event was taken off the fixture list. The current editor of The Journal, Brian Aitken, brought back the tournament in 2007, when the Champion of Champions was Sandy Twynholm from Morpeth club, the Muirfield amateur course record holder and winner of a record seven Northumberland strokeplay titles. Only two men have won the Champions two years running: Alnmouth’s Peter Deeble, twice the English Amateur champion, and Prudhoe’s Sean Philipson, a former British Mid Amateur champion.

The full honours board is:

From the south (Scotch Corner, etc):

Head northbound on the A1/A1(M) then leave the A1(M) at junction 57 to join the A66(M) (signposted Darlington and Teesside)

After 2 miles at roundabout take the 1st exit onto the A66

After a further 1 mile at roundabout take the 5th exit onto the A167 (signposted Northallerton)

In another 2 miles as you enter Croft-on-Tees, and immediately before river bridge, turn left onto Hurworth Road (signposted Hurworth)

Shortly turn right and follow signs to Rockliffe Hall

From Berwick:

Head south on the A1 to Newcastle then keep forward onto the Newcastle bypass and continuing following signs The South (this road becomes the A1(M))

35 miles further leave the A1(M) at junction 59 and follow signs on to the A167 into Darlington

Leave Darlington by the A167 (signposted Northallerton)

In another 4 miles as you enter Croft-on-Tees, and immediately before river bridge, turn left onto Hurworth Road (signposted Hurworth)

Shortly turn right and follow signs to Rockliffe Hall