He said: ‘‘We agreed at our meeting this afternoon that Ryder Cup members would visit the tournament to meet key officials and see how it is organised.

‘‘It is something we are looking forward too. We have plenty of time to make our decision as to where the Ryder Cup should be held.

‘‘We have been very impressed by the north east bid and they have more than satisfied the criteria of the bidding procedure.’’

Presenting the region’s case were Dr John Bridge, of One North East, and Brendan Foster, of Nova International.

Derek Casey, chief executive of Sport England, was also invited to the meeting and his involvement could bring lottery funds that would make a massive financial contribution to the tournament.

‘‘That was a wise move for them to make,’’ said Jones.

‘‘We knew Slaley Hall was being put forward as the English bid but didn’t know in real terms what that meant.

‘‘But Derek has confirmed Sport England are fully behind the north east’s proposal, and will give it their total support.’’

Jones admitted he was surprised by the strength of the bid tabled from the north east.

He said: ‘‘It doesn’t have a long tradition. But after reading the initial application and listened to what I have heard this afternoon I would not be surprised by anything I hear or see from them anymore.

‘‘We’ve discussed the strengths and weaknesses of their proposals. The latter can be sorted out.

‘‘But by fetching Derek Casey along this afternoon they have already strengthened a question we wanted answering and shown they do have a heavyweight organisation behind them.’’

Insisting none of the three applicants was either currently first or third, Jones said: ‘‘All three bids have been very impressive. Here, like in Scotland and Wales, some areas are stronger than others.

‘‘In others they are weaker. But the north east bid possesses all the ingredients and I have no doubt about their seriousness of attaining their goal.

‘‘They certainly know where they are going.’’