TRAFFORD golfer Joanne Morley is arguably the finest female player that the north west region has ever produced, starring as a young teenager first at Altrincham GC and then Sale GC .

Her glittering career, which spanned more than 20 years at the highest levels of women's golf, concluded in superbly dramatic style as vice captain of the Solheim Cup team which won the coveted trophy back from the USA at Killeen Castle last autumn.

Joanne had spent four years in her role along with her friend and captain Alison Nicholas after finishing a successful ten-year stint in the LPGA.

After winning virtually every title at amateur level at county, national and international level when a member of Sale Golf Club Joanne capped her amateur career as part of the Curtis Cup team which won at Royal Liverpool in 1992.

She then went on to compete successfully on the LET and was a member of the Solheim Cup in 1995 at St Pierre in Wales before moving on to retain her card in the USA for over a decade before a nasty injury brought a premature end to this part of her career.

Joanne has always looked to help to discover and develop young talent in the region and has hosted the Joanne Morley Junior Challenge at her home club, Sale, for many years and has seen many boys and girls go on to make their mark in golf after enjoy playing in the competition.

Now with her Solheim Cup commitments over Joanne is looking to use her immense knowledge and talent to help golfers at grass roots level.

She has enjoyed giving after dinner speeches at golf clubs and is always willing to give clubs the opportunity the chance to benefit for her experiences in the game.

But her main target is teaching in a gap that she has recognised in the market.

Joanne said: “Every pro teaches the swing and how to hit the ball, which is extremely important, but using my skills and experience developed on tour my aim is to teach people how to play better golf with the swing and capabilities they possess.

“It takes approximately 2,000 practice shots for your muscles to memorise a particular movement and the vast majority of golfers do not have the time or desire to hit this amount of balls.

“I can help golfers lower their scores within themselves by hitting the right shot at the right time, better club selection and add some very simple ideas to improve the short game.

“For anyone wishing to find out more I can be contacted on 07754 581330 or email jolomo@hotmail.co.uk.”

Sale’s men played two BB Stablefords and winning the first were Peter Coakley and John Lowis with 45 points, one more than Tony Ball and Colin McIntyre.

The second saw the brotherly combination of Graham and Kevin Moore lead in with 44 points.

Sale Lady Captain Sophia Casey led from the front in a singles Stableford for her own Lady Captain’s Charity.

Sophia posted 35 points to win a cpo from Yvonne Chadwick and also in the frame were Jill McBurney, Jane Ashcroft, Bernadette Rudman and Trish Alston, all 33.

Dunham Forest’s men played a JNF qualifier and Stuart Smith defied difficult conditions to score a remarkable 41 points to win from Jeffrey Santhouse 37, and Franklin Sinclair 36.

Ashton-on-Mersey’s men pulled off a great result in the Manchester Alliance City Glass Mens Foursomes ko preliminary round.

They won 6-1 at Blackburn to make the last 64 and can now look forward to the draw for the first round proper.

In a singles Stableford at Ashton Eddie Lindsay posted a superb 49 points to win by two from Colin Poole.

Ashton’s ladies played the first round of the President’s Souvenir and J Jones led in with 35 points from S Milligan 31.

Flixton ladies played a EWGA medal and after a cpo on 79 Pam Harding as the winner from Margaret Davies with Jenny Lomax a point off the pace.

William Wroe Vets were in a Four Clubs and a Putter medal and showing his skill was Peter Blythin with 56 , three clear of Bill Crowder.

In a singles Stableford for the Vets Paul Barton led in with 43 points, two more than Brian Coley.

Davyhulme Park ladies played an EWGA medal and Trophy qualifier with Jacqueline Glaves on top with 71, three strokes less than Anne Hibbert.

Acre Gate’s men played a singles Stablefod and Peter Monaghan led in with 38 points from John Clapperton 34, and Tony Grinnell 33.

The National Alliance Championship was set up in 2000 by the Manchester Alliance whose President John Dowd presented the trophy which is now played for annually.

Each year the number of Alliances entering has grown substantially and it needed a full day of golf at the excellent Mackenzie course at Crosland Heath near Huddersfield to fit in the 14 teams.

Each team consisted of five pairs, mainly pro and amateur partners, with the top four scores counting for the team total and there were also prizes for the top individual professionals.

Early starters Manchester set a hot pace with a score of 171 points being led in by David Smith Marriott (Worsley Park) and Jimmy O’Reilly (Swinton Park) with 44 points with solid support from Tim Maxwell (Knutsford) and Mobi Rawthore (Sale) 43.

This was enough to lead all the way and it looked as if Manchester would win the trophy for the third time until the final putt of the day on the 18th green saw Nottinghamshire Two finish with 172 points to lift the John Dowd Trophy with Derbyshire One and Two teams tied in third place on 168 points.

There were four pros tied on 41 points with the honour being shared by Chris Hanson (Halifax and Huddersfield), Dave Smith (Manchester), Gareth Evans (Halifax and Huddersfield, Daryl St John-Jones (Notts Two) with Graham Cox (Manchester) next in with 40 points