Can you please help? What is the name of the official starter for the Open and has been a starter for the past 25 years.This would assist a golfing arguement.Thanks for your attention.Stefan Leszek

Editor: Ivor Robson is your man.

I read an article about a "test" to determine if a player is elegible to play on European golf courses.Do you know of such a "test"? It was a list of criteria a golfer had to meet to be elegible to play. Thanks. Rose Pomichter

Editor: Many clubs will require you to have a letter of introduction from your home club or certified handicap certificate before they let you play. In mainland Europe the National Federations undertake handicaps etc and therefore provde every federated player with an identity card giving their particulars which is accepted.

I am researching into golf course management. Please could you send me articles or links about this subject.

Editor: Take a look at http://www.golfecology.co.uk/

I want to obtain professional status in golf after I graduate from uni at the end of May. I am currently playing off 5 handicap and I aim to get that down to scratch within a year. How do I go about becoming a pro,etc.

Editor: The PGA course is a three year training period and must be attached to a class a professional who has full training facilities. Most Pros at any golf club whether municipal pay and play or private is a class a pro. This gives the best rounded training to be a full professional and as the qualification is recognised throughout the world it means you can work at any club and have full teaching ability. If you decide to go solely on the playing side, the starting points are either to try and qualify in a Euro Pro tour event. There may be a handicap qualification which I believe is four, and the moment you tee the ball up in a qualifying event, you are a pro and you cannot get your amateur status back for at least six months. You can apply to the PGA tour at the Belfry to try and qualify for a Mastercard tour event. Again, once you tee up in a qualifying event you are classed as a pro. In either tour the standard is extremely high. There was a Mastercard tour event at Princes where the cut came at 1 under par. One final word of caution. Talking to an Assistant at my own club who plays both the above tours, he reckons expenses for the year are a minimum of £6-8000.

I am looking for book or some information about Golf Insurance and Golf accident.

Editor: Take a look at http://www.golfpro-online.com/shop/insurance/index.html

I am trying to get an idea of what golf courses might be closed around the country due to the Foot and Mouth outbreak and wondered, as you produce such a comprehensive directory of courses whether you might be able to help.

Editor: We do not have such a list but I would suggest getting in contact with MAFF or the English Golf Union (http://www.amateur-golf.com/unions/index.html). We recently ran an article which can be seen at http://www.go-golf.net/news/yeartodate/news2001/fandmeng.html Hope this helps

I'm trying to track down a member of the European Sr. PGA tour, his name is Jay Dolan, and I believe he qualified for the tour this year. He hails from Worchester, Mass. USA and he presently calls Florida home. > Any information you have on him, or how I can get in touch with him would be appreciated. As well, I'd like any information I can get about the ESr.PGA tour.

Editor :If you visit: http://www.europeantour.com/players/bio.sps?iPlayerNo=9410 from the European Tour Players biographies, this will hopefuly set you on your way. I am sure if you e-mail the European Tour via their website they will pass on any messages to him.

I appreciate the fine writing and technical quality of your publication/website. I was hoping to get the answer to one quick question:
In Great Britain, are the 4 Majors considered to be the British Open, the US Open, the (US)Masters and the (US)PGA, or do you include other tournaments in lieu of our PGA and/or Masters? (It would certainly be more than understandable if your magical quartet were of a different composition...)

Editor: The tournaments making up the four majors are the same both in the USA and the UK and are those you mention. I think there is a move to have your Tournament Players Championship included as the fifth major. In the case of Bobby Jones, who to my knowledge was the last person to hold the grand slam, the four tournaments were then the US Amateur and Open Championships and the British Amateur Championship along with our own Open Championship.

Where can I buy tickets for the Volvo PGA Championships at Wentworth this year? Paul Figueras

Editor: I am sure you can buy tickets in advance direct from the European Tour - Tel: 01344 840 400 or fax: 01344 840 444. However, there is no restriction on the sale of tickets at the gate so you can buy either a season or daily ticket on arrival at the tournament.

Do you know of any cross-country golfing achievements? Playing a "golf course" across open country from A to B rather than playing a course. Nigel Preston

Editor: I read one or two reports of golfing achievements as you mention - In 1896 Freddie Tate, then a subeltern in the Blackwatch drove a ball from the rookerie, the highest building on Edinburgh Castle, in a match against a brother officer, to the hole out in the fountain in Princes Street Gardens 350 ft below and about 300 yards distant. - Long drives have been made from mountain peaks across the gorge at Victoria Falls, from the Pyramids, from high buildings in New York and from many other similar places. I recall that Tony Jacklyn attempted to drive a ball from the roof of the Savoy across the Thames. The best cross country match that I know of is an annual match played between Royal Troon and Prestwick Golf Club which involves playing the first ten holes at Troon followed by the last nine at Prestwick followed by a long and fairly liquid lunch with the game then resuming for the front nine and the back eight at Royal Troon. All of this can be played without going on any public road. I know that at a number of clubs, cross country matches are played where one may tee off from the first and hole out at the seventh or eighth depending on the lie of the land.

Can I obtain a copy of the Rules of Golf on the internet? Colin Rippon

Editor: Try http://www.randa.org/rules_of_golf/default.sps. This has all you need. You can also purchase the Rules and Decisions of Golf through our proshop and click on the Amazon banner to get a discount on the normal selling price.

I'd like to buy tickets for the Ryder Cup at The Belfry. Do you know where I can get them? Richard Selfridge

Editor: Ticketing information can be found in our news article, but as the ballot has now closed, I fear that it will be very difficult to get hold of them.