Golfer Nick Ludwell is facing a major battle to keep his professional career on course.

The 28-year-old Selby-based golfer, who lost his place on the European Tour at the end of last year, now stares at a far greater challenge posed by a debilitating back injury.

Ludwell is expected to undergo surgery next week to cure a problem caused by excessive wear and tear on his spine.

He is hopeful the surgery, which could use a special protective jelly, will enable him to swing back into his career by next spring.

The former Yorkshire Professional Golfers' Association champion has been plagued by back problems for the past decade.

But by the cruellest twist of fate the injury worsened throughout 2000 - the year he first competed on the high-profile European Tour after gaining his coveted tour card at the third time of trying.

Said Ludwell: "I've had the problem since I was about 18 or 19. It's just been progressively getting worse.

"Now I've been told there are four discs in my spine, where the cartilage in between has worn away.

"So it's more a case of nerve rubbing on bone. It's the worst setback I could have had."

Ludwell was forced to pull out of this week's Yorkshire PGA Overseas championships at the San Lorenzo course in Portugal. All through last year during which he travelled across the world he underwent treatment from the European Tour physiotherapy unit. But as he explained: "It was not enough and it got in the way of my golf."

Specialist advice has insisted surgery is the only way to cure the problem. As Ludwell prepared to travel to Nottingham next week to discuss the options open to him with the surgeon who will perform the operation, he declared: "The sooner the better."

The best prospect to allow him to keep on swinging was the jelly option. "They fill the areas with jelly and basically it should last a lifetime.

"Certainly it will be good for a good few years," said the man, who still holds the joint course record of 65 at his home-town Selby Golf Club.

His main fear was if the surgery involved fusing some of the damaged discs. "That would mean I would lose some mobility, and that's the last thing I need," he sighed.

Since he lost his prized European Tour card at the end of last year thanks to a 188th finish in the Order of Merit Ludwell has played just three times.

"That was as bad as I could have been," he conceded.

However, Ludwell remained optimistic he will soon be back vying for honours on the Challenge Tour, though he thinks his chances of competing in the first event - the Kenya Open - in March are remote. "It will more than likely be April," he said.

Updated: 12:00 Thursday, January 18, 2001