THE big guns are gathering for York's first major championship of the season.

June's opening weekend pitches the area's leading amateurs against each other for the prestigious York Union of Golf Clubs' Amateur Championship.

Tomorrow's event is staged at Scarthingwell Golf Club and two of the main protagonists are Fulford's Jamie Miller and Pike Hills' Martin Brown.

Both are the only two previous winners in the 52-strong field. Miller, the former European Tour professional who returned to the amateur ranks last year, has twice won the York Amateur crown. The Fulford star first lifted the prize in 1991 and repeated the feat six years later.

Brown's triumph, meanwhile, is by far the most recent. He took the prize two years ago when he also supplemented it with the YUGC's coveted Open Championship in an historic double success.

Last year's champion, James Duckett, is not defending his title.

But neither Miller nor Brown will have things their own way. Miller's playing partners tomorrow in the last threesome of the day are Chris Watson (Scarthingwell) and YUGC team-mate Alister Smith (Heworth).

Smith will be high among the favourites, as will Fulford's Matthew Lord and Malton and Norton's upcoming star Stuart Parkin. Both are in the penultimate three-ball alongside 2004 champion Brown.

Scarthingwell will tomorrow also host the Seward Trophy, which is open to juniors up to the age of 18.