Peter Williams: The amateur who never stopped giving

The golden era of the great amateur golfers belongs to a time when a three wood really was made of wood and a hybrid was a tomato plant. It was also when a 30-something businessman could win a national championship.

Now the avalanche of full-time players in their teens and early 20s scoop all the top amateur titles, en route to professional careers.

Once it was so different. Sir Michael Bonallack won the British Amateur five times between 1961 and 1970 but never became a professional, reckoning there wasn't enough money in it. So he worked in the family business and became the greatest amateur since Bobby Jones in the 1920s.

But Bonallack's most significant contribution came after his serious playing days. For a time in the mid-1970s he was chairman of the British PGA. Then, in 1983, he moved to St Andrews to become secretary of the Royal and Ancient.

This is the most important job in golf. Not only does the R&A act as the guardian of the game, except for the US and Mexico, it also organises the Open. During his 16 years at St Andrews, Bonallack oversaw phenomenal growth in the Open.

Tournament income, prize money, crowds and TV audiences grew dramatically. The year he started, Tom Watson's first prize was £40,000. When Bonallack retired in 2000, Tiger Woods won £500,000.

Despite that staggering 1250 per cent growth, and it's up another 50 per cent since then, the Open makes massive profits which are ploughed into the development of golf. One of those elite player development initiatives is the Sir Michael Bonallack Trophy, which was played for at Middlemore last week.

The teams match between the best amateurs from the Asia Pacific region and Europe brought 24 players from 18 countries to the Auckland Golf Club. The considerable expense is picked up through "the generous patronage and contribution" from the R&A.

The motivation for the event, apart from providing some hugely impressive golf entertainment, is to offer high-class international competition for amateurs, most of whom will be touring professionals within a couple of years.

Even the two old stagers in the European team, Gary Wolstenholme of England and Welshman Nigel Edwards, will probably become Senior Tour players in the future.

Bonallack enjoys the progression of brilliant young amateurs to the professional game but is adamant golf doesn't need to merge its two competitive domains.

But Bonallack, like Jones, is an irony. He made a good living from golf without ever being a professional. In both the UK and US, elite golf can still survive at two levels. But in other countries, such as here, we need to think hard about whether it's the best way forward for us.