A story that caught my eye this week, and is somewhat revolutionary for the professional game, was the announcement from the World Golf Foundation to align golf with a long list of other major sports by means of monitoring its top athletes for the use of performance enhancing drugs.

Over the years, such schemes have been introduced into other high-profile sports such as athletics, football and rugby and you will remember the more recent recurring scandal in the world of professional cycling, following further controversy in the Tour de France.

So why golf? The issue is not to do with the technicalities of an individual sport, the answer to the question lies behind the reasoning of why players of particular sports choose to take illegal performance-enhancing substances.

There is no doubt that the 2007-08 men’s amateur season will be the most competitive and exciting in the history of UAE amateur golf.

The standard played last season on the UGA men’s order of merit was of an exceptionally high standard and was epitomised by the way the amateur team took the professionals to the cleaners in the season-ending Dubai Golf Trophy.

As a losing team member, it is fantastic to see how the amateur game here has developed over the past 10 years.

Over the next few weeks I will be previewing the professional and amateur seasons, looking at major events, the top players to look out for and what’s new in tournament venues.

I will also be taking a snapshot look at the junior season, identifying the up-and-coming young talent and seeing what playing opportunities will be presented to them over the winter months.

The UAE PGA

It’s hard to believe that we are now through the worst of the summer. July and August are behind us, the UAE golf season is just around the corner and you can feel the humidity relenting – well maybe not just yet!

I had a busy summer: starting a new job; learning more about the different non-service aspects of the golf business and sandwiching a great holiday in the middle of it. Did I mention golf too? No.

I managed just nine holes through July and August and it wasn’t pretty! The only comforting factor is that I don’t think I’m the only one out there. Please tell me I’m not the only one out there.