YOUNG golfing stars of the future from Pennington Golf Club will be looking to follow in the footsteps of the European Ryder Cup heroes by playing at Valderrama in the final of the 1997 Daily Mail PGA Junior Championship.

The Club qualifying round is on May 17 with the best nett and gross scores for boys and girls seeing them reach one of the 10 Regional Finals at Ormskirk Golf Club, Lathom on August 21.

The Grand Final will be staged on the prestigious Spanish course, just six weeks after the biennial Ryder Cup on November 3-4.

The competition, which began in 1979, is run by The Professional Golfers' Association and has been sponsored by the Daily Mail since 1994. Last year it attracted over 6,000 of the best junior golfers in Great Britain and Ireland with Liza Walters from Chevin and Aaron Lundy from Portstewart winning the respective girls and boys titles at Lake Nona Golf Club in Florida.

Past winners of the event, which is open to boys under 16 and girls under 17, include former Ryder Cup hero Paul Way, European Tour rookie Alan Tait and Curtis Cup star Janice Moodie.

Bryan Cooney, Sports Editor of the Daily Mail said: "It's fantastic incentive to be playing the final at Valderrama and I'm sure we'll see the cream of junior golf competing once again."

More details are available from the Daily Mail PGA Junior Golf Championship Tournament office on 01675 470333.

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