My only visit to the Volvo Masters at Valderrama was in 2002 when, as a play-off loomed and light was failing fast, Colin Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer decided to tie, and share the award. Along with the memory of that unusual outcome, there lingers another not-very-original impression: this is that Jaime Ortiz Patiño’s creation is a masterpiece in terms of coursequality and general ambience.

The opportunity to attend such events, along with Ryder Cups, Open Championships and PGA Championships at Wentworth, are cherished experiences that can go with the territory when providing a service
for the PGAs of Europe.

And yet... from a purely personal perspective, the stratospheric moments accumulated during some eight years as media consultant, have been that much more meaningful when liberally balanced by the involvement with events that make no headlines, only in our own publications.

Many of these ‘invisible’ happenings have seemed to me to be to be rather moving quite simply because they reflect the devotion to the sport, and indeed their contribution to its longterm well-being, by players or officials who want little or nothing more than the knowledge that they have played their part. As a perfect example let’s reflect on the story of Reny Damianova, an intrepid lady, indeed.

Some five years or so ago, this coach from the University of Sofia, decided that since golf was now on her prospectus, a dictionary of its rather strange language ought to be made available to students.

Just to get the gist of her thinking, how the devil do you translate ‘splash out of a bunker’ into Bulgarian and explain what it means? Or, for that matter ‘a hole in two under par is called an eagle’...

Ms Damianova wanted some expert help and a dash of credibility in putting her glossary of golfing terms together, and an explanation of the rules, in Bulgarian, with an accurate English translation. She had heard that the PGAsE’s Golf Europe Trade Show was taking place in Munich so decided to ‘pop along’, and contacted the then general secretary, Lawrie Thornton, to ask for an hour of his time.

The meeting duly took place and it was only as it concluded that he learned that she had travelled all the way by a series of ‘bus journeys, crossing several national borders over a period of two days... and was now off to catch the bus home. Incredible...While I’ve no idea how the publication has fared in the last five years (though I did write a Foreword for it on behalf of the PGAsE) it is a fact that much has been going on unnoticed in her country’s golfing affairs because last December, at the PGAsE Annual Congress in Marbella the PGA of Bulgaria became our 29th Full Member country.

So much for Bulgaria. Now let’s take a little look at Turkey...