A Frenchman is to become the first captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club from continental Europe, it was announced on Wednesday.
Pierre Bechmann will take up the prestigious post for 2012/13 following his nomination by past captains, a statement issued by the club said.
Bechmann’s year of office will begin with the traditional driving-in ceremony on the first tee of the Old Course at the Royal and Ancient’s St Andrews headquarters in Scotland on September 21.
Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine on the outskirts of Paris in 1957, Bechmann has served on the executive committee of the French Golf Federation and championship committee of the European Golf Association.
A lawyer and member of the Paris bar, Bechmann is also a former captain of Royal St George’s in Kent, south-east England, which, like St Andrews, is one of the courses used to stage the British Open, golf’s oldest major championship.
Formed in 1754, the male only Royal and Ancient is a private golf club.
When it celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2004 it devolved responsibility for the administration of golf’s rules, which it shares worldwide with the United States Golf Association, the running of the British Open and the global development of the game to a separate group of companies known collectively as the R and A.