Michael Sims has suffered the ultimate double bogey ? a missing tour co-ordinator who owes him more than $40,000.

Just as he seemed to have erased the demons from his game, the Bermudian pro, in a cruel twist of fate, has had his golfing world turned upside down as the Maverick Tour, on which he was competing, has lived up to its name in the most undesirable way.

Tour co-ordinator Tim Avramidis has disappeared leaving scores of tour players, including Sims, out of pocket and with their prize-money cheques bouncing all across Florida, USA.

The Tour was abruptly halted Wednesday ? scheduled to be the second day of this week?s event at PGA National ? as players refused to start the round; suspicious at having not seen Avramidis for the second successive day.

?He didn?t show up on Tuesday ? the first day of the tournament ? and everyone thought that was kind of strange. So yesterday (Wednesday) the guys in the first group said they weren?t playing until we heard from him because nobody had heard from him for a day-and-a-half.

?We still haven?t heard from him. He just picked up and left,? said a stunned Sims, recounting the matter to yesterday.

Police in south Florida have been called in to investigate and a group of 30 to 50 regular tour competitors have filed a report.

?We?re just trying to get everything together and figure out what we?re going to do,? added the Island?s ace golfer who is yet to be paid about $42,000 earned in an awesome run of form on the two-year-old tour.

?You know how you guys have been writing about all the cheques I have been getting, well, people have had cheques bouncing from May 1.

?I don?t know what to say. I?m kind of numb right now. We?re all definitely numb here.?

The 25-year-old first had trouble with a ?rubber? cheque from Avramidis last week but ?I talked to the guy (Avramidis) and we sorted things out and I redeposited it (the cheque)?. However, he later learnt the tour organiser had removed all the money from the account. To add to his anguish is the fact that Sims paid a non-refundable deposit of $9,880 to compete on the Tour.

Asked which of his prize cheques were rejected by the bank, he replied in a matter-of-fact tone: ?The ones that are important.?

On June 25 he earned $25,000 ? his biggest pay day to date ? for a one-shot victory at Palm Aire Country Club. The following week, he placed 13th at The Links at Madison Green to add $1,516.66 to his coffers. The Bermudian was in the money for the third week running with $2,875 for seventh place at PGA National-General.

Last Saturday, he excelled again, maintaining second position throughout the Maverick event at Inverrary Country Club; a performance worth $10,025.

His hot streak continued into this week, with Sims shooting six-under 65 in Tuesday?s first round before the tournament was abandoned the next day.

Amid this upheaval, Sims, who was planning to play the entire Maverick schedule, is hurriedly having to rethink his summer.

?I?m doing a Monday qualifier (for the Nationwide Tour) then after that I?m not sure,? he said.

Despite being in limbo right now, the third-year pro is determined not to be thrown off his game by this misfortune.

?I need to get over this because it?s not good for my head. It happened and I just have to move on. It?s one of those things. What can I do? There?s no point in thinking about.

?I played good golf and that?s a positive I can take away from this.?

Meanwhile, a call to Avramidis? phone proved to no avail as a recorded message indicated his mailbox was full.

A brief note from webmaster Brett Atkin, on the now-inactitve Maverick website, hinted at the saga that has been unfolding. It reads: ?A note to Summer Series Members: It has come to my attention that the Maverick Tour Co-ordinator has been unable to be reached in the last couple of days. I have not spoken with Tim directly in over three weeks. I tried to contact Tim today without success.?

Contacted later via e-mail Atkin ? also a golfer who has played on the Tour ? reiterated he knew nothing about what happened.

?Tim Avramidis ran the Tour. I was only involved with the website end of it. Tim was the ?Tour? unfortunately. I had no financial stake or involvement with the day-to-day operations of the Tour.

?Tim was a client of mine through my web design business. The last time I saw Tim was at a tournament I played in on March 23-24, 2004. The last time I spoke with Tim was about a month ago and the last e-mail I received (from him) was about two weeks ago.

?The only information I have is that he is missing and the authorities are investigating. I was not made aware of the situation until yesterday when I started receiving phone calls and e-mails from Tour members,? said Atkin in his response.

?The only information I have has been what I have been told by speaking with several Tour members.?