Sport is a culture and a science, as well as a relaxation there. Briefly Christer Lindberg asked Leif if he would start a junior section at the golf club. There couldn’t have been a better choice. Leif’s philosophy is that ‘Education is a ladder that never ends…’ and that only when the ‘best coaches teach the best performers’ is excellence achieved in sport.

During the intervening years Leif climbed on board with the PGAsE, joined with other luminaries such as previous chairman Jean-Etienne Lafitte of France in a thoroughly international Education Committee. It currently comprises Leif Ohlsson (Sweden), Filipo Barbe (Italy), Jonathan Mannie (Austria), Kyle Philpotts (GB&I), Martin Westphal (Germany), Jim van Heuven van Staereling (Holland), Tony Bennett (Portugal), Nicky Lumb (GB&I).

What has emerged from this is that country after country has been helped into the essential basics of setting up Teaching & Coaching programmes in order to liaise with the amateur Federations in educating teachers to teach the elite players in structured academies
around Europe.

Each national PGA’s aim is to achieve PGAsE’s Education Committee recognition while working closely with the amateur bodies. As a result, believe me, the teachers and coaches who are looking after the education of up-and-coming players of both genders around Europe are profoundly qualified and totally dedicated to what they do.

None of them would claim that the quality parade of players who now compete for a place in the European team is down to them. Let us simply note that since those historic few informal words at Lytham Europe has been represented by players from Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Sweden and Wales.