DAVID Miles has moved from Knighton Heath to become Ferndown Golf Club’s director of golf in succession to the late Neil Pike who tragically died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 38 last August.

He becomes only the fifth professional in the club’s history, following Percy Alliss, Doug Sewell and Iain Parker who is now at Royal North Devon.

Miles and another PGA member Steve Pockneall, who now runs Ferndown Forest Golf Club based two miles away, formed a company to provide the professional operation.

Scott Godfrey, a former English amateur champion and now coach to the England women’s under-18 squad, becomes both head professional and the club’s ambassador. James Wilson has moved from Dudsbury as first assistant, while former Dorset county amateur Danielle Bradley, aged 21, will work at both clubs. She played as an amateur at Canford Magna but is now a PGA trainee at Ferndown Forest.

Pockneall’s role will be to liaise with Miles, now 40, who will run the entire golf operation. He completed a career circle by returning to Knight-on Heath as the club professional in 2008 six years after he became assistant to his unrelated namesake Jane Miles. He started at the club as a boy and made his mark as county and club champion and a Dorset player.

He was a trainee assistant at Meyrick Park under Jon Waring who is now club pro at Salisbury. He then served under Warren Butcher and later Lee Thompson, one of the region’s most successful players who is now based at Dudsbury, whom he later succeeded as club pro.

He became golf operations director from 2002-05. But this was an office-based job so he moved to Canford Magna work under Martyn Thompson, the current Parkstone professional, before spending two years at Iford Golf Centre.

Miles said: “It is a great opportunity for me as we have been able to recruit a team of professionals hand-picked from local clubs to give Ferndown the best possible service.”

Miles, who will run the club competitions and the driving range, will succeed well-known Ferndown amateur Richard Thomas as captain of the Bournemouth Alliance next year.