One of golf's unsung heroes has been elected a Life Member of the PGA. Doug Smith, both a past chairman and captain of the PGA, and also a founding father of modern PGA training, was honoured at this week's PGA Annual General Meeting at its Belfry headquarters. The accolade reflects Doug's outstanding contribution to golf over a 50 year association with the PGA which began when he was an assistant to his father Jack at Crosland Heath in Huddersfield.

Dubai (United Arab Emirates): Mark Steinberg, the man who has guided the career of Tiger Woods for the last eight years, yesterday (Monday) provided a compelling insight into the worldıs most instantly recognisable sporting superstar on the second and final day of the inaugural GolfEx Dubai at the Jumeirah Conference Centre.

Dubai (United Arab Emirates): Former PGA European Tour chief Ken Schofield CBE called for golf to maintain an international outlook and continue moving forward as he addressed industry heavyweights on the opening of GolfEx Dubai.

A golf tourism business took one of the 14 Awards up for grabs last night at the Welsh tourism 'Oscars' - the National Tourism Awards for Wales - a celebration of the very best in what Wales has to offer the visitor. The Vale Hotel, Golf & Spa Resort won the Golf As It Should Be Award sponsored by the HSBC Bank.

Having announced that St Andrews and the Open of 2005 would be his last professional tournament just half an hour before to a massed press conference, the 'Golden Bear' retired to the upstairs of the clubhouse of Woburn for a much more select interview. Just a handful of the National newspapers and this web site.

Losing your Tour card has made some players in nervous wrecks. When it happens after your first year on Tour, it should be the time for re-assessment, something many have done and then gone on to tour wins and long term success. It looks like Tom Whitehouse is going to follow that path, but this week, at the Daily Telegraph Dunlop Masters, he's not too sure how well he can do.

Jack Nicklaus was in the UK yesterday, to unveil his involvement with Polaris World in the development of Condado de Alhama with three course designs (including a signature course) to be built in Murcia, Spain. It was a ‘flying’ visit to introduce Nicklaus’s companies’ involvement with what could well become one of the most famous golfing destinations in Europe in the next five years, and a chance for Jack to confirm that the Open at St Andrews will be his last Championship.