It's been back to the day job for amateur golfer Rob Spence, who began the week looking to qualify for the British Masters.

Spence, who is from Walney and works as a crane driver for BAE Systems, had some famous faces alongside him at the qualifying event at Close House near Newcastle, but he was unable to bring his form from the previous weekend with him to the North East.

In tough windy conditions, he carded seven over par, 11 strokes behind the competition winner, but it was still a memorable experience in one of the biggest tournaments he has played in.

Spence said: "I lost a ball on the fifth, which gave me a seven on a par four, but I didn't really play that bad.

"It was tough, it was windy and you just can't afford to make those kind of mistakes in that competition."

One of Spence's playing partners was Darren Gray, who plays despite only having one arm. Also on the course was Sam Westwood, son of former world number one and British Masters host Lee Westwood, former Sunderland midfielder Lee Cattermole and Newcastle and England legend Alan Shearer.

Social distancing rules meant Spence couldn't meet too many of his fellow competitors, although he did catch a glimpse of the Premier League's record goalscorer early in the day.

The 39-year-old had set a record of his own the previous day in shooting a round of 62 at Carus Green Golf Club in Kendal, the lowest in the course's history.

The score pushed his handicap back up to +3, but the adjusted net scores remarkably meant his 64 wasn't enough to win him the tournament.

Spence, who had played earlier in the day at his home club, Furness, said: "I decided to go because it looked like it was getting bit brighter and everything just fell into place and clicked."