Ashley Wood are hosting a West Region PGA pro-am for the first time this year on Wednesday, August 30 and it is already heading for a sell-out.

"The members are up for it and we won't have any trouble raising the 40 teams we are aiming for," said professional Jon Shimmons.

"We want to raise the profile of the club."

The man behind the pro-am is the youngest captain in Dorset. Steve Sanger, at 32, is also the youngest captain since the club's formation 109 years ago.

He plays off a handicap of two it was once scratch and he has pledged to put the club further on the county golfing map during his year in office. He is making most of the arrangements.

He has been club champion eight times in the last 10 years and is a past captain of the Dorset second team.

He works in advertising and has signed up Holmans, who have branches at Wimborne and Ferndown, as the main sponsors.

Steve was introduced to golf by his father Ken who served on the club's various committees over the years and who was himself club captain in 1980. So a sense of family tradition is being preserved.

Club spokesman Alan Chalcraft said: "With Steve alongside an enthusiastic professional team led by Jon Shimmons, look for some innovation from Ashley Wood this year.

"It is a constantly well-tended and well-presented course on some of the most spectacular chalk hills of Dorset."

The 600-member club now own the entire course after purchasing land they used to lease.

The second nine holes, designed by the late Patrick Tallack and opened in 1994, have now matured and blend in perfectly with the existing lay-out.