Mathews will take captaincy in his stride

JEFF Mathews has never been afraid to roll up his sleeves and get on with the job.

And the Geordie exile, who built his own driving range and a nine-hole par three course on the outskirts of Blackburn, has vowed to tackle his role as PGA North Region captain with the same infectious enthusiasm.

“It’s a great honour,” he said. “One of my duties will be to attend as many events as possible but that won’t be a problem because I’ll be playing in most of them!”

It’s a fitting way for Mathews to mark his 50th birthday in July and he plans to make it a double celebration by earning a place on the European Senior Tour.

“I missed out last autumn but I hope to do better next time. I played on the main circuit for a season in 1982 and again in 1992 so it would be great to meet up with some of my old buddies again.”

The former Wallsend junior and an assistant at the club when he joined the paid ranks in 1979, later moved to the Gosforth Park complex before his appointment as professional at Bedlingtonshire, home of the long defunct Wansbeck Classic.

But in 1989 he left the North East to work at a Blackburn driving range then in 2001 built his own on land he acquired at Samlesbury where an engineering works once stood.

He later discovered that Bluebird, in which Donald Campbell was killed on Coniston trying to beat his world water speed record in 1967, was built there.

“I always intended erecting a plaque to mark the connection and I regret not getting round to it,” said Mathews who sold the business last year.

Today he’s Lancashire PGA secretary and teaches at Blackburn club Mytton Fold and Oak Royal, near Chorley, where his son George is junior captain.

Meanwhile, eldest son Chris divides his time between living in Whitley Bay and working for his dad as an assistant.