Palace date for Weaver

Buckingham Palace teed up a special day for PGA chairman Dr Phil Weaver on Friday, when he travelled to London to receive his OBE from Prince Charles.

Dr Weaver, the head professional and course manager at Coventry Golf Club, had been honoured in the Queen's Birthday Honours last summer for his services to golf.

The long-serving PGA chairman, accompanied to his investiture by his wife and two grown up children, described it as one of the best days of his life.

"The whole surroundings at Buckingham Palace are simply stunning," he said.

"And it's made all the more special because it's not every day you get invited to Buckingham Palace to receive recognition for doing something that is your career which in my case was services to golf.

"Everything was beautifully orchestrated from the moment we arrived and Prince Charles was very charming and well briefed."

He admitted it was all a far cry from his humble beginnings in golf as a young assistant pro at Beau Desert Golf Club in Staffordshire in the early 60s.

"Never in a million years would I have thought about something like this happening to me when I started in my first post at Beau Desert," he added.

Dr Weaver, who was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law degree by University College Dublin in 2006, has been chairman of The PGA since 1989, and was joint chairman of the Ryder Cup Committee between 1989 and 2005 and continues to shape the success of the Ryder Cup as a member of the Ryder Cup Stakeholder and Policy Board.

In his role as head PGA professional he has played a pivotal role at Coventry and has led the way in making the club one of the most environmentally conscious and friendly in the country.