Eric West is turning his back on golf after becoming disillusioned with his role as head professional at Port Royal Golf Club, and the attitude of some club officials towards him.

West has taken a job at a brokering firm following his resignation from Port Royal last week, less than three months after he was appointed in somewhat controversial circumstances.

According to the Bermudian golfer, internal pressures forced him to change careers, and he laid the blame for his departure squarely at the feet of his former employers.

"The job wasn't going the way I wanted it to go, and on top of other things it was time for me to quit," he said. "It's complicated, but some people in the management thought that the job I was supposed to do wasn't the job I thought I should be doing.

"For me, a club professional plays golf with the members, gives lessons to the members, runs events at the club, travels to certain tournaments and shows, and is an ambassador for the golf club.

"They wanted me to be a receptionist, a cashier, and an administrator, and were always giving me a hard time about teaching.

"It seems to me that very few professionals in Bermuda actually spend time teaching and playing, and are actually more like administrators, and I have absolutely no interest in doing that.

"They (club officials) were pushing for one thing, and that wasn't what I wanted for myself and my career."

Despite his outburst, Port Royal officials are genuinely sorry to be losing West, who they insist was still the right man for the job, despite his premature departure.

"From the company's point of view we are sorry to see him go," said Director of Golf Andrew Brooks. "Eric had, still has, a lot of potential, he was a good coach, an excellent player, and we made our choice based also on the fact that Eric would have been a good ambassador for Port Royal.

"However, from what we understand he has decided to move into another business, and we appreciate that. But we're still sorry to lose him."

There has been speculation over the past few days that West was forced out, something not helped by the leaking of confidential information about an incident at the club where a member was hit with a golf ball.

"I have zero animosity towards Port Royal, and I'm sorry it didn't work out, and I had been in discussions to continue teaching and doing the club fitting, but that is now impossible after this," said West, who claimed confidential documents had been leaked.

"Rumours have been spread that I was being fired for incompetence, that I was given a choice to resign, or that I would be sacked once my six months probation was up.

"All these confidential documents have been leaked, I cannot trust some people at Port Royal, and thankfully my resignation letter was only a couple of lines, otherwise I'm sure that would have been leaked as well.

"The rumours are ridiculous, but only a couple of people have access to the files.

"To release internal documents was unethical, and illegal. Now there are questions being asked at Port Royal because there are some very sensitive budget documents in the same place, and if this person can release these details, then what's to stop him doing it again?"