Gary Alliss has proved a chip off the old block by being awarded PGA Master Professional status.
The 53-year-old Belfry head professional, whose family is steeped in the traditions of golf with both his father, Peter, and grandfather, Percy, great figures in the game, earned the PGA highest accolade after completing a thesis with Warwick University.
Alliss also becomes the first PGA member to achieve Master Professional status via the academic route which involved a 17,000 word thesis and dedicated research on coping with awkward lies and their impact on the golf swing.
The award caps a memorable year for Alliss in which he came close to captaining Great Britain & Ireland to PGA Cup success in America in September.
"At first I was a bit in awe of doing the whole thing because I was 53 and had never been to university," said Alliss who began his career at Trevose in Cornwall where he was later head pro for 20 years.
"The reward of Master Professional is brilliant but almost as great is the reward of having completed it."
"I'm particularly proud to be the first Master Professional to do it via this route."
Alliss, who turned pro in 1976, will carry his award with pride and remains passionate about golf and the role of PGA professionals.
"Still my view is I'm just a club pro, as my family has been for more than 90 years," he added.
"I want to get people involved in golf, make programmes enjoyable and better for children and still work with the trainees - that's really the main thing.
"The Master Professional status doesn't alter what I do day to day but it's nice to have the recognition from your own Association and an external panel who asked some seriously tough questions about my thesis."
"On a personal level, the family has achieved a lot in terms of playing - my grandfather was a good player and my dad won everything bar a major - so for me in the space of a year to captain the PGA Cup team, be awarded Master Professional status and head pro at the Belfry is a great feeling," he added.
Dr Kyle Phillpots, director of the PGA education and training department, said: "In producing this piece of work Gary has been able to bring together the vast range of experience and knowledge he has acquired during his professional career into a document that meets the high standards demanded of Master Professionals and provided a valuable resource for the education of future professionals.
"Throughout the last two years Gary has demonstrated a very high level of commitment and a willingness to learn that does him great credit. There are a number of PGA Advanced Fellows who are currently working on their Master Professional dissertations and Gary is to be congratulated on being the first to complete and achieve PGA Master Professional status."
The new membership categories are part of an on-going process by the PGA to modernise its training programme which now sees qualified members achieving foundation degree status.