The term of office of the current president, Mrs Joan Neville JP, expires at the annual general meeting in January 2009, and Maureen will stand for election at that meeting.

Chairman of the LGU in 2002, Maureen will bring a wealth of golf knowledge and experience to the role of president.

A keen golfer since taking up the game as a junior at Thonock Golf Club, now The Gainsborough Golf Club, she played to a high standard, representing Yorkshire in the early seventies and achieving a handicap of two.

Always one to put something back into the game she loves, Maureen became involved in golf administration in the late seventies and served as club captain and centenary lady president at Hallamshire Golf Club in Sheffield, where she is now an honorary member, and as Yorkshire County captain.

More recently, she served as president of the Yorkshire Ladies' County Golf Association.

Maureen's skills as an administrator soon got her noticed at national level, and she was chairman of the English Ladies' Golf Association in 1995, before taking on the role of English Councillor on the LGU between 1999 and 2002.

One of her main interests is junior golf, and, as an original member of the English Junior Golf Partnership, she remains committed to encouraging junior participation in the sport.

Husband Brian, grown up children Julia and Christopher, grandsons Alan, Tony and Marcus, and her sprightly 95-year-old mother are delighted at Maureen's nomination as president of the LGU and offer their full support in her term of office.

Maureen said: "I still find it hard to believe that I have been invited to take on this prestigious position but I will do my best to uphold the long traditions of the LGU.

``I look forward to supporting the ongoing modernisation initiatives and also to meeting many of you in the coming months and years."