HEREFORDSHIRE'S promising young players and top seniors enjoyed the benefit of help and advice from one of the country's most respected golf teachers when EGU Midlands regional coach John Cooke and his assistant David Ashton ran a coaching course at the Grove Centre, Leominster.

Youngsters Matt Harrison, Kris Jones and Sam Baker (Burghill Valley), Ben Synnock (Herefordshire) and Matt Davies (Kington), were joined by Ludlow's Tom Lawrie for the intensive morning session.

Cooke and Ashton gave individual help with the long game on the driving range, and then accompanied the players around the nine holes, helping them with course management.

Each of the prospects has been given a detailed programme to work on through the winter, and they will meet again next spring for a follow up session when the emphasis will be short-game play in preparation for the season.

In the afternoon it was the turn of the seasoned county players, with newly-appointed captain Ed Deasey (Kington) inviting Gregg Morgan (Belmont), Jim Payne (Brockington), Andy Lambert and Dan Jarman (Burghill Valley), Jonathan Devereux (Hereford), Stewart Franks and Matt Weaver (Kington) and Kevin Gibbons (Leominster) to benefit from expert help.