DAVID ASTIN will team up with his Woodsome Hall boss John Eyre in the North Region qualifier for the Skins PGA Fourball Championship at Woodsome Hall on July 19.

Eyre and Astin, who spent a winter-long stint coaching in Perth, Western Australia, will need to be at their best with more than 80 pairs from across the region bidding to qualify for the £30,000 final at Forest Pines, Lincolnshire, from October 6-8.

Astin and Eyre qualified last year but this time the 29-year-old assistant hopes they might be able to carry their form from the qualifier into the final.

“Last year we qualified quite well, but there’s a bit of a gap before the final and while it would be nice to be consistent all season long, I don’t think consistency is what John and I do!” said Astin.

“But it’s a busy year for me so hopefully it can work out. I’ve already qualified for the English PGA Championship, so I have that ahead of me.”

Of his Down Under trip, he said: “I decided to escape the English winter, I thought we might be due a bad one and that’s how it turned out. While everyone here was dealing with the snow, I was in 40 degrees of heat!

“I went over there to try and do some teaching. But I went into it blind really. It was a bit nervy as I set off with just a set of clubs and a suitcase.

“When I got there, though, I found that being a PGA professional works wonders and I was able to do quite well.”

A top pair at Woodsome Hall will be Adrian Ambler (Moor Allerton) and Aran Wainwright (Mid Yorkshire), who were involved in a three-way tie 12 months ago.

A third Woodsome Hall man, Chris Hanson, links with Robert Booth (Bradley Hall).

Other pairings include: West End David Rushworth and Darren Arber (West End), Tom Wild and Chris Foster (Bradley Park), Paul Carman (Huddersfield) and Simon Edwards (Windermere), Julian Haworth (Willow Valley) and Kieran O’Brien (The Manor), Matt Cassidy and Lee Shepherd (Direct Golf), Jamie Coverley (Bradley Park) and John Ambler (Longley Park), Robert Bennett (Stadium Golf) and Jason Proctor (Shay Grange).