Pat Turvey is to stand down as Secretary of the Irish Ladies Golf Union after holding the position for almost 16 years, a period which has witnessed an extraordinary growth in the number of women playing golf. An advertisement to find a successor will appear in The Irish Times on Friday.

The ILGU is the oldest golf union in the world - founded in 1893 when there were just nine affiliated clubs - and administers the sport in Ireland. Since Turvey assumed the position of full-time secretary, there has been a dramatic increase in the numbers playing: in 1984, there were 230 affiliated clubs with 22,640 members and that has grown now to 353 clubs with 46,590 members, an increase in excess of 100 per cent.

Deloitte & Touche are conducting the recruitment campaign to find a new secretary and, it is anticipated, the position should be filled by August or September. A long-time administrator and former chairman of the Eastern Executive, Turvey, however, has agreed to continue on as tournament director with the ILGU after she steps down as secretary.