The old adage that ‘travel broadens the mind’ is undoubtedly true – venturing outside of your normal community and environment allows you to be exposed to different cultures, languages and ways of life.

I have been very fortunate throughout my career to be able to see the world as an integral part of my job and I believe that having an international perspective and experience and understanding of other cultures has benefitted me oreatly both personally and professionally. Sharing knowledge and good practice across organisations and PGA Professionals by spending time with people from other PGAs, golfing organisations and PGA Professionals is at the heart of the operation of the Confederation of Professional Golf.

With travel on our minds for this issue, the Confederation of Professional Golf make it our business to provide opportunities for PGA Professionals to travel whether it be to compete in international tournaments or Pro-Ams, educational events such as the recent Coaches Circle in Bulgaria or purely to take trips with clients, providing a world of opportunities.

Our tournament schedule continues to expand and it is fitting that we take a look at some of our fantastic event venues that we are lucky enough to have on our schedule.  We are thankful to them all for their hospitality and support in various ways and I hope that you get an opportunity to visit them either at one of our events or separately making use of the great deals many of these places have for PGA Professionals.

I have just returned from my most recent trip where I was very fortunate to travel to the US PGA Championship with our Chairman, Sandy Jones. Whilst there, we were able to share some of the golf development initiatives taking place across Europe for an interview with SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio.

It would seem to me that there are some fantastic initiatives around the globe to encourage more people to play more golf more often and experience our wonderful sport. It would also seem that golf at the elite level could not be in a better place! The four men’s majors have been full of great golf, interesting story lines and excitement. Jason Day’s win at Whistling Straits (an amazing venue that is sure to provide a fitting stage when we return there for the Ryder Cup matches in 2020) saw him take his rightful place as a Major Champion after several near misses and he now joins Rory and Jordan in making up a triumvirate of twenty-somethings atop of the world rankings.

When you add in the fact that 17 year olds, in the form of Canadian, Brooke Henderson and Germany’s Dominic Foos (a member of the Junior Ryder Cup team in 2012), setting new records on the LPGA and European Challenge Tour respectively – the top of the professional games seems to be in a very exciting place!

I hope you enjoy the read this month and you are inspired by this issue to get out there and explore the golfing world.

This article originally featured in International Golf Pro News. Visit the IGPN Page to find out more and subscribe for free.