ALAN Tait, the former Tartan Tour number one, last night lifted the lid on the PGA rules row that has sent shockwaves through Scotland's club professional scene.
The Dalmahoy director of golf was recently handed a £1,500 fine and advised to resign from the Scottish PGA's committee for his part in a series of events which led to assistant pro Mark Kerr being hauled before a disciplinary panel.
Dalmahoy member Kerr, along with East Renfrewshire's Scottish PGA champion David Orr, were both given six-month playing bans for failing to comply with PGA training rules which state that assistant pros have to work 30 hours a week in a club shop.
Tait, who had taken Kerr on with a view to giving him a full-time post at the Edinburgh resort, has been left devastated by the severity of the penalties.
And he branded an unnamed whistleblower who plays on the Scottish tour as “disgusting" for highlighting an issue Tait claims has been going on unpunished for years.
He said: “I tried to help Mark Kerr out by giving him an attachment at Dalmahoy for a couple of months until he had full-time employment with us or someone else.
“Never in a million years did I think what we were doing was so wrong and that the penalties would be so severe.
“The thing I find staggering is all the pros in Scotland know that literally hundreds of assistants have been playing full time on the Tartan Tour for years.
“I did my apprenticeship at Cawder from 1990 to 1994, working six days a week for a £100 wage. In that same period six of my friends, who were also doing their apprenticeships, were playing full time on the Tartan Tour and earning between £15,000 to £25,000.
“I moaned to my boss that this wasn't fair but he told me I was doing the right thing and those boys would get found out. They weren't found out and my question is why now and why us?
“What really saddens me is that it was the actions of a fellow professional in Scotland who took it upon himself to write to the PGA flagging this situation up.
“I find it almost disgusting that any sportsperson would want to inflict damage on their fellow athlete.
“I'm baffled by the whistleblower as he has been around Scottish golf for a very long time and knows how far back this goes.
“His actions have not only devastated me personally and financially but have taken away the livelihoods of two of Scotland's most promising prospects.”