DURHAM club Whitburn have launched a determined bid to make their 80-year-old club and course fit for the 21st century.

The Lizard Lane club which overlooks Marsden and the entrance to the Tyne have just installed an £80,000 biomass boiler and a £40,000 extension to the clubhouse with new shower and toilet facilities.

The clubhouse lounge has been given a facelift and on the course, new tee box markers, tree-planting and bunker improvements have been made and there are plans for a wind turbine to make the club self-sufficient and yet more eco-friendly.

It's all part of an ongoing drive to make the club, which is situated on the coast between South Shields and Sunderland, more attractive to existing members and attract a new generation to play the game.

Chairman George Elsom said: “We want to keep improving facilities for members and guests. We have a very nice lounge, with very good food, and we have the new showers which are disabled friendly and even a stair lift.

"We want to encourage more people to play golf. It’s very healthy activity to go round the course for three or four hours and it’s also very sociable. We’d invite anyone who wants to see what we can offer to come along.”

THE Northern Golf Masters (NGM) will return for the fourth year running and this time it will be part of the Durham County scratch event schedule.

NGM at Rockliffe Hall has become part of the prestigious County Scratch Order of Merit, which means the top 20 County Durham competitors at this final qualifying event of the season will receive between 125 and five ranking points to add to their final Order of Merit total for 2015.

Category one golfers from across the North-East, North Yorkshire and Cumbria with a handicap of five or below are now invited to apply to enter with places this year limited to 42. Entries can be made via http://www.rockliffehall.com/golf/northern-golf-masters/

This year’s NGM will be held on Sunday, September 13 and entrants will compete over 36 holes. Golfers from across Teesside, County Durham, Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, Northumberland and Cumbria can represent their club and compete to be named the number one amateur golfer in the North of England.

Jonathan Ward, secretary of the Durham County Golf Union, said: “The Northern Golf Masters is a quality event so it made sense to add it to the list of 36 hole events in our Scratch Order of Merit. I look forward to working with Rockliffe Hall to promote another great opportunity for the county’s best amateur players.”

Last year’s winner was 19-year-old Sam Donald from Eaglescliffe. His final score was a three under par 69.