The decision follows revelations that between March and June 2013, that then PGA vice-chairman Shinsaku Maeda and then Board director Tadayoshi Bando allegedly played golf and dined with the head of a yakuza organised crime syndicate in the southern island of Kyushu.

Both Maeda, 61, and 67-year-old Bando were thrown out of the Japan PGA in October after their illicit liaisons were uncovered.

The yakuza gangs are reported to be involved in drug trafficking, human trafficking, extortion, prostitution, fraud and money laundering in Japan and abroad.

According to reports by the Jiji Press news agency, the Japan PGA's Policy Board decided all 91 representatives, including chairman Shizuo Mori, four vice-chairman and around 20 Board directors should voluntarily give up their positions in an effort to limit the damage to the organisation's public image.

"We take the matter very seriously," said current Japan PGA vice-chairman Nobuyuki Abe.

"We want to do our utmost to prevent a recurrence of such a case."

A new raft of representatives will be elected next month according to reports.

The Japan PGA represents the interests of the professional men's game in the country, including the licencing of golfers and development of junior players.

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