CANVEY rookie Charlie Clare will tee off in his first professional tournament today.

The 20-year-old will be in the last group to go out in a field of 87 at the 2012 TP Tour Series at Denham Golf Club in Buckinghamshire.

The Boyce Hill club member will get underway shortly after midday in a group with Billy Mills and Luke Cornford.

Clare, a former pupil at Cornelius Vermuryden School, will be hoping it is first step on a ladder which will take him right to the top of the game.

His coach Ian Dudman said: “I would like him to be in the top half of the field, but this is his first tournament so we’ll just see how he goes.

“And it’s a high quality field he’s competing against so the main thing is he gets some experience under his belt.”

The TP series has been set up by former European number one Ronan Rafferty.

It has a schedule of 25 events and Rafferty says he hopes the competition will be the perfect training ground for those starting their golfing careers.

Rafferty, who has competed at all four Majors, will be playing himself in a field made up of experienced competitors and promising rookies.

The top three of the Tour’s Order of Merit at the end of the season receive a paid entry into the European Tour’s Qualifying School event, from which Thorpe Hall pro Matt Southgate booked his place on the elite competition last year.

>If any companies want to sponsor Charlie Clare, please email ian@isgolf.co.uk or call Ian Dudman on 07968 695573.