The Professional Golfers' Association
The PGA was founded in 1901 to promote interest in the game of golf and is the world's oldest professional golfers' association.
Based at the world famous Ryder Cup venue, The Belfry, the PGA now has more than 7,500 members including more than 1,500 working overseas.
PGA members are golfers who play to a high standard play but also have a key role in coaching and developing the game at both national and international level.
They also have important roles at the heart of golf clubs as club professionals, directors of golf and instructors.
All PGA qualified professionals are now educated to degree standard while an on-going Continuous Professional Development programme helps keep members at the forefront of all the latest developments in the game.
The PGA is also a Ryder Cup partner and trustee of golf's most famous trophy, helping organise the biennial match between Europe and the United States.
In addition to its education and training programme the PGA organises national tournaments including the PGA Europro Tour - the world's leading developmental tour for fledging tour stars.
The PGA is divided into seven regions across Great Britain and Ireland and takes an active part in the promotion and coaching of amateur golf and is a key government advisor with responsibility for implementing the United Kingdom Coaching Certificate.
The European Tour
The European Tour administers professional tournament golf for Europe's best players and has grown rapidly since its inception in 1972, becoming independent from the PGA in 1984.
In 2006 the Tour consisted of 49 tournaments in 26 countries with a total prize fund of £81,806,797, compared to that of £250,000 when it was born.
To be eligible to play on the Tour players must possess certain minimum standards which are determined by the Tournament Committee.
Membership is coveted to the point that around 900 hopefuls enter the qualifying school each year knowing that only the top 30 and ties can graduate and get a Tour card.
There are two feeder tours to the European Tour with the Challenge Tour and PGA Europro Tour proving great stepping stones to the main tour.
The Professional Golfers' Associations of Europe
The PGAs of Europe was founded in 1989 to ensure that the administration of the professional game throughout the continent was standardised, on all fronts, to the highest degree of excellence demanded by European political and economic union.
By the millennium the PGAs of Europe was made up of 33 member countries, some of them outside of the European Community, as individual national associations acknowledged the benefits of a comprehensive, co-ordinated policy of administration and development, especially related to the education of those who teach the technique of the game.
Ladies European Tour
The Women's Professional Golf Association (WPGA) was formed as part of The Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) in 1978, but in 1988 its members voted to separate and form an independent company, the Women Professional Golfers' European Tour Limited.
This new company moved away from the PGA National Headquarters at The Belfry and set up its own Headquarters at The Tytherington Club in Cheshire.
In 1998 the Tour changed its name to European Ladies' Professional Golf Association Limited and again in July 2000 to its current name, Ladies European Tour Limited.
PGA of America
Founded in 1916, the Professional Golfers' Association of America is headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, United States and is the largest working sports organisation in the world with more than 28,000 members.
The PGA of America is now primarily a representative body for club and teaching professionals much like the PGA in the UK.
Its main roles are to promote interest in the game of golf, elevate the standards of the golf professional's vocation, protect the mutual interest of its members, hold meetings and tournaments for the benefit of members, assist deserving unemployed members to obtain positions and to establish a benevolent relief fund for deserving members.