AS RORY McILROY goes in search of a career Grand Slam at the Masters this weekend, who knows if the next golfing superstar hasn’t already been unearthed at Sandburn Hall Golf Club?

The Flaxton-based club used the week of the sport’s first major championship to launch their new season coaching drive for youngsters.

Nearly 20 new juniors - some of who had barely held a club before - descended on the course on Easter Monday to start a ten-week coaching course, led by head professional Steve Robinson.

Split into groups based on ability, the participants will spend weekends, and some evenings, being taught the basics by Robinson, assisted by golf manager Rob Heath and Yorkshire amateur legend Emma Brown along with a small team of dedicated volunteers.

But, far from remaining in the confines of the club’s driving range and short-game academy, North Yorkshire golf’s newest recruits will also be encouraged to play as much as possible.

New junior tees will be put out on the course, usually 6,700 yards off the competition white markers, and Robinson is hoping the summer will be spent firing birdies, pars and bogeys around the course.

“Too many think that golf is hitting a ball out of a square box into a square field,” he said.

“The best thing a youngster can do is learn from experience and get out on the golf course.

“We held junior sessions last year and we sat down and looked at how we could make it better, how we could make it more interesting and more competitive.

“Juniors get a lot of coaching but it is about playing. We had a lot of people coming to the coaching but we didn’t have many players.

“We had to seriously look at what our playing programme was for them. We have structured the coaching away from the summer holidays. We will get all the sessions in prior to that and then there’s a playing programme been put together. We are putting some junior tees out on the course.

“They can have a bit of fun. We’ve got a small network of volunteers that are going to help and support Rob Heath, myself and Emma Brown. That’s really good because we can’t do it all.”

It’s all part of a plan to continue building up the junior section at Sandburn Hall, with the club aware that they are dealing with the next generation of members.

Robinson added: “Year on year, we are trying to build up a junior academy. We have got one or two good lads that are playing at different levels, which we have not had in the past - one or two playing York Union and one in the Yorkshire set-up.

“Hopefully, we can keep moving it forward.”