The Australian Golf Foundation has launched the Peter Thomson Society, an organisation aimed at fostering bequests to help enhance and future-proof the sport.

The launch was held at The Victoria Golf Club today, attended by the late Peter Thomson's wife Mary and their son Andrew as well as the Chair of the PGA of Australia, Ian Baker-Finch, and WPGA Tour of Australasia, Peter Margin, the Chair of Golf Australia and GA's CEO, James Sutherland.

Victoria was Peter Thomson's primary golf club, and his statue looks over the 10th hole at the Melbourne sandbelt course which is co-hosting the ISPS `HANDA Australian Open this week.

In fact Andrew Thomson pointed out to guests today that in the infancy of his father's career as a professional golfer, the members of Victoria banded together in the same members' bar to raise funds to send Peter Thomson on his first overseas trip to New Zealand in the 1940s, long before his five Open Championship victories.

The Thomson Family has endorsed the creation of the society.

The Peter Thomson Society is a concept created by the AGF, which is the national fund-raising organisation for golf in Australia and its projects include the AGF Girls Scholarship Program, and the Give Back Program where successful professionals gift back funds to the High Performance programs of GA.

"In essence what we're trying to do is look for opportunities to transform people's lives through the power of the game," said Stephen Spargo, the AGF Chair.

Andrew Thomson said his father would be "very embarrassed" by the honour but at the same time, supportive of it.

"Somewhere out there is another Ian Baker-Finch, or Hannah Green or Min Woo Lee," he said. "As Australians we face enormous competition from many other countries in producing these champions and it will not be done without this kind of thing," said Andrew Thomson.

Information about the Australian Golf Foundation